Hokkaido

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For the dog breed, see Hokkaido (dog).
Hokkaido
???
Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
Japanese ???
Romaji Hokkaido
Ainu transcription(s)
Ainu ??????
Romaji Ainu-Mosir
Flag of Hokkaido
Flag Official logo of Hokkaido
Symbol
Location of Hokkaido
Country Japan
Region Hokkaido
Island Hokkaido
Capital Sapporo
Government
Governor Harumi Takahashi
Area
Total 83,453.57 km2 (32,221.60 sq mi)
Area rank 1st
Population (September 30, 2016)
Total 5,377,435
Rank 8th
Density 64.5/km2 (167/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code JP-01
Districts 74
Municipalities 179
Flower Hamanasu (rugosa rose, Rosa rugosa)
Tree Ezomatsu (Jezo spruce, Picea jezoensis)
Bird Tancho (red-crowned crane, Grus japonensis)
Fish Sea bream
Website www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp
Hokkaido (??? Hokkaido, literally "Northern Sea Circuit") (Japanese: [hokka?ido?]
(About this sound listen)), formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is the
second largest island of Japan, and the largest and northernmost prefecture. The
Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu.[1] The two islands are connected by
the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaido is its capital,
Sapporo, which is also its only ordinance-designated city. About 43 km north of
Hokkaido lies Sakhalin island, Russia, whereas to its east and north-east are the
disputed Kuril Islands.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Naming of Hokkaido
2 Geography
2.1 Seismic activity
2.2 National parks and quasi-national parks
2.3 Wildlife
3 Subprefectures
4 Climate
5 Major cities and towns
6 Economy
7 Transportation
8 Education
9 Sports
9.1 American football
9.2 Association football
9.3 Baseball
9.4 Basketball
9.5 Ice hockey
10 Winter festivals
11 International relations
12 Politics
12.1 Governor
12.2 Assembly
12.3 National representation
13 See also
14 Notes
15 Bibliography
16 External links
History[edit]
Hokkaido was settled by the Ainu,[2] Nivkh, and Orok before recorded history.[3]
The Nihon Shoki, finished in 720 AD, is often said to be the first mention of
Hokkaido in recorded history. According to the text, Abe no Hirafu[3] led a large
navy and army to northern areas from 658 to 660 and came into contact with the
Mishihase and Emishi. One of the places Hirafu went to was called Watarishima (??),
which is often believed to be present-day Hokkaido. However, many theories exist in
relation to the details of this event, including the location of Watarishima and
the common belief that the Emishi in Watarishima were the ancestors of the present-
day Ainu people.

During the Nara and Heian periods (7101185), people in Hokkaido conducted trade
with Dewa Province, an outpost of the Japanese central government. From the Middle
Ages, the people in Hokkaido began to be called Ezo. Hokkaido, formerly known as
Ezochi[4] Ezochi (???, lit. "Ezo-land") or Ezogashima (????, lit. "Island of the
Ezo"). The Ezo mainly relied upon hunting and fishing and obtained rice and iron
through trade with the Japanese.

During the Muromachi period (13361573), the Japanese created a settlement at the
south of the Oshima Peninsula. As more people moved to the settlement to avoid
battles, disputes arose between the Japanese and the Ainu. The disputes eventually
developed into a war. Takeda Nobuhiro killed the Ainu leader, Koshamain,[3] and
defeated the opposition in 1457. Nobuhiro's descendants became the rulers of the
Matsumae-han, which was granted exclusive trading rights with the Ainu in the
Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods (15681868). The Matsumae family's economy relied
upon trade with the Ainu. They held authority over the south of Ezochi until the
end of the Edo period in 1868.

The Matsumae clan rule over the Ainu must be understood in the context of the
expansion of the Japanese feudal state. Medieval military leaders in northern
Honshu (ex. Northern Fujiwara, Akita clan) maintained only tenuous political and
cultural ties to the imperial court and its proxies, the Kamakura Shogunate and
Ashikaga Shogunate. Feudal strongmen sometimes located themselves within medieval
institutional order, taking shogunal titles, while in other times they assumed
titles that seemed to give them a non-Japanese identity. In fact many of the feudal
strongmen were descended from Emishi military leaders who had been assimilated into
Japanese society.[5] The Matsumae clan were of Yamato descent like other ethnic
Japanese people, whereas the Emishi of northern Honshu were a distinctive group
related to the Ainu. The Emishi were conquered and integrated into the Japanese
state dating back as far as the 8th century, and as result began to lose their
distinctive culture and ethnicity as they became minorities. By the time the
Matsumae clan ruled over the Ainu most of the Emishi were ethnically mixed and
physically closer to Japanese than they were to Ainu. This dovetails nicely with
the "transformation" theory that native Jomon peoples changed gradually with the
infusion of Yayoi immigrants into the Tohoku rather than the "replacement" theory
which posits that one population (Jomon) was replaced by another (Yayoi).[6]

Matsumae Takahiro, a Matsumae lord of the late Edo period. December 10, 1829 June
9, 1866
There were numerous revolts by the Ainu against feudal rule. The last large-scale
resistance was Shakushain's Revolt in 16691672. In 1789, a smaller movement, the
Menashi-Kunashir Rebellion, was also crushed. After that rebellion the terms
"Japanese" and "Ainu" referred to clearly distinguished groups, and the Matsumae
were unequivocally Japanese. In 17991821 and 18551858 the Edo Shogunate took
direct control over Hokkaido in response to a perceived threat from Russia.

Leading up to the Meiji Restoration, the Tokugawa Shogunate realized there was a
need to prepare northern defenses against a possible Russian invasion and took over
control of most of Ezochi. The Shogunate made the plight of the Ainu slightly
easier, but did not change the overall form of rule.[7]

Hokkaido was known as Ezochi until the Meiji Restoration. Shortly after the Boshin
War in 1868, a group of Tokugawa loyalists led by Enomoto Takeaki temporarily
occupied the island (the polity is commonly but mistakenly known as the Republic of
Ezo), but the rebellion was crushed in May 1869. Ezochi was subsequently put under
control of Hakodate-fu (???), Hakodate Prefectural Government. When establishing
the Development Commission (??? Kaitakushi), the Meiji Government introduced a new
name. After 1869, the northern Japanese island was known as Hokkaido;[1] and
regional subdivisions were established, including the provinces of Oshima,
Shiribeshi, Iburi, Ishikari, Teshio, Kitami, Hidaka, Tokachi, Kushiro, Nemuro and
Chishima.[8]

Ainu are Hokkaido's indigenous people

The primary purpose of the development commission was to secure Hokkaido before the
Russians extended their control of the Far East beyond Vladivostok. Kuroda Kiyotaka
was put in charge of the venture. His first step was to journey to the United
States and recruit Horace Capron, President Grant's Commissioner of Agriculture.
From 1871 to 1873 Capron bent his efforts to expounding Western agriculture and
mining with mixed results. Capron, frustrated with obstacles to his efforts
returned home in 1875. In 1876, William S. Clark arrived to found an agricultural
college in Sapporo. Although he only remained a year, Clark left lasting impression
on Hokkaido, inspiring the Japanese with his teachings on agriculture as well as
Christianity.[9] His parting words, "Boys, be ambitious!" can be found on public
buildings in Hokkaido to this day. The population of Hokkaido boomed from 58,000 to
240,000 during that decade.[10]

In 1882, the Development Commission was abolished. Transportation on the island was
still underdeveloped, so the prefecture was split into several "sub-prefectures"
(?? shicho), namely Hakodate Prefecture (??? Hakodate-ken), Sapporo Prefecture (???
Sapporo-ken), and Nemuro Prefecture (??? Nemuro-ken), that could fulfill
administrative duties of the prefectural government and keep tight control over the
developing island. In 1886, the three prefectures were demoted, and Hokkaido was
put under the Hokkaido Agency (???? Hokkaido-cho). These sub-prefectures still
exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and
during World War II: they now exist primarily to handle paperwork and other
bureaucratic functions.

In mid-July 1945 shipping, cities and military facilities in Hokkaido were attacked
by the United States Navy's Task Force 38. On 14 and 15 July aircraft operating
from the task force's aircraft carriers sank and damaged a large number of ships in
ports along Hokkaido's southern coastline as well as in northern Honshu. In
addition, on 15 July a force of three battleships and two light cruisers bombarded
the city of Muroran.[11] Before the Japanese surrender was formalized, the Soviet
Union made preparations for an invasion of Hokkaido, but President Harry Truman
made it clear that the surrender of all of the Japanese home islands would be
carried out by General MacArthur per the 1943 Cairo Declaration.[12]

Hokkaido became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the revised Local
Autonomy Law became effective. The Japanese central government established the
Hokkaido Development Agency (?????? Hokkaido Kaihatsucho) as an agency of the Prime
Minister's Office in 1949 to maintain its executive power in Hokkaido. The Agency
was absorbed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2001. The
Hokkaido Bureau (???? Hokkaido-kyoku) and the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau
(?????? Hokkaido Kaihatsukyoku) of the Ministry still have a strong influence on
public construction projects in Hokkaido.

Naming of Hokkaido[edit]

Former Hokkaido Government Office in Chuo-ku, Sapporo

When establishing the Development Commission (??? Kaitakushi), the Meiji Government
decided to change the name of Ezochi. Matsuura Takeshiro submitted six proposals,
including names such as Kaihokudo (???) and Hokkaido (????), to the government. The
government eventually decided to use the name Hokkaido, but decided to write it
as ???, as a compromise between ??? and because of the similarity with names such
as Tokaido (???). According to Matsuura, the name was thought up because the Ainu
called the region Kai. Historically, many peoples who had interactions with the
ancestors of the Ainu called them and their islands[dubious discuss] Kuyi, Kuye,
Qoy, or some similar name, which may have some connection to the early modern form
Kai. The Kai element also strongly resembles the On'yomi, or Sino-Japanese, reading
of the characters ?? (on'yomi as [ka.i, ??], kun'yomi as [e.mi.?i, ???]) which have
been used for over a thousand years in China and Japan as the standard orthographic
form to be used when referring to Ainu and related peoples; it is possible that
Matsuura's Kai was actually an alteration, influenced by the Sino-Japanese reading
of ?? Ka-i, of the Nivkh exonym for the Ainu, namely Qoy or IPA: [k?u?i].[13]

There is no known established Ainu language word for the island of Hokkaido.
However, the Ainu people did have a name for all of their domain, which included
Hokkaido along with the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and parts of northern Honshu,
which was Aynu Mosir (??????), a name taken by the modern Ainu to refer to their
traditional homeland.[14][15][16][17][18] "Ainu Mosir" literally translates as "The
Land Where People (the Ainu) Live", and it was traditionally used to be contrasted
with Kamuy Mosir, "The Land of the Kamuy (spirits)".[19]

In 1947, Hokkaido became a full-fledged prefecture, but the -ken suffix was never
added to its name, so the -do suffix came to be understood to mean "prefecture".
"Hokkai-do-ken" (literally "North Sea Province Prefecture") is therefore,
technically speaking, a redundant term, although it is occasionally used to
differentiate the government from the island itself. The prefecture's government
calls itself the "Hokkaido Government" rather than the "Hokkaido Prefectural
Government".

Geography[edit]
Hokkaido
Native name: ???
Hokkaidomap-en.png
Geography
Location East Asia
Coordinates 43N 142E
Archipelago Japanese archipelago
Area 77,981.87 km2 (30,108.97 sq mi)
Highest elevation 2,290 m (7,510 ft)
Highest point Mount Asahi
Administration
Japan
Prefectures Hokkaido
Largest settlement Sapporo (pop. 1,890,561)
Demographics
Population 5,377,435 (September 30, 2016)
Pop. density 64.5 /km2 (167.1 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups Ainu
Japanese

Sounkyo, a gorge in the Daisetsu-zan Volcanic Area.

Satellite image of Hokkaido

The Oyashio Current colliding with the Kuroshio Current off the coast of Hokkaido.
When two currents collide, they create eddies. Phytoplankton growing in the surface
waters become concentrated along the boundaries of these eddies, tracing out the
motions of the water.
The island of Hokkaido is located at the north end of Japan, near Russia, and has
coastlines on the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Pacific Ocean. The
center of the island has a number of mountains and volcanic plateau, and there are
coastal plains in all directions. Major cities include Sapporo and Asahikawa in the
central region and the port of Hakodate facing Honshu.

The governmental jurisdiction of Hokkaido incorporates several smaller islands,

including Rishiri, Okushiri Island, and Rebun. (By Japanese reckoning, Hokkaido
also incorporates several of the Kuril Islands). Because the prefectural status of
Hokkaido is denoted by the do in its name, it is rarely referred to as "Hokkaido
Prefecture", except when necessary to distinguish the governmental entity from the
island.

The island ranks 21st in the world by area. It is 3.6% smaller than the island of
Ireland while Hispaniola is 6.1% smaller than Hokkaido. By population it ranks
20th, between Ireland and Sicily. Hokkaido's population is 4.7% less than that of
the island of Ireland, and Sicily's is 12% lower than Hokkaido's.

In the east, there are two areas (surrounding, for example, Shari and the
Nakashibetsu Airport) where a grid with spacing of nearly 3 km is formed by narrow
bands of forest.[citation needed] It was designed to buffer wind, especially during
blizzards, to protect cattle. It also serves as habitat and transportation
corridors for animals and hikers.

Seismic activity[edit]
Like many areas of Japan, Hokkaido is seismically active. Aside from numerous
earthquakes, the following volcanoes are still considered active (at least one
eruption since 1850):

Mount Koma
Mount Usu and Showa-shinzan
Mount Tarumae
Mount Tokachi
Mount Meakan
See also: Category:Volcanoes of Hokkaido
In 1993, an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 generated a tsunami which devastated
Okushiri, killing 202. An earthquake of magnitude 8.3 struck near the island on 26
September 2003.

National parks and quasi-national parks[edit]

Main article: National parks in Hokkaido

Overview of Kushiro Wetland

Lake Akan and Mount Meakan

Overview of Lake Mashu

Lake Shikotsu
There are still many undisturbed forests in Hokkaido, including:

National parks
Shiretoko National Park* ??
Akan National Park ??
Kushiro-shitsugen National Park ????
Daisetsuzan National Park ???
Shikotsu-Toya National Park ????
Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park ????????
* designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 2005-07-14.

Quasi-national parks (????)

Abashiri Quasi-National Park ??
Hidaka-sanmyaku Erimo Quasi-National Park ??????
Niseko-Shakotan-Otaru Kaigan Quasi-National Park ?????????
Onuma Quasi-National Park ??
Shokanbetsu-Teuri-Yagishiri Quasi-National Park ???????
Twelve prefectural natural parks (??????). The prefectural natural parks cover
146,802 ha, the largest area of any prefecture.[20]
Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park
Esan Prefectural Natural Park
Furano-Ashibetsu Prefectural Natural Park
Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park
Kariba-Motta Prefectural Natural Park
Matsumae-Yagoshi Prefectural Natural Park
North Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park
Nopporo Shinrin Koen Prefectural Natural Park
Notsuke-Furen Prefectural Natural Park
Sharidake Prefectural Natural Park
Shumarinai Prefectural Natural Park
Teshiodake Prefectural Natural Park
Ramsar wetland sites
since
Kushiro Wetland ???? 1980-06-17
Lake Kutcharo ?????? 1989-07-06
Lake Utonai ????? 1991-12-12
Kiritappu Wetland ????? 1993-06-10
Lake Akkeshi, Bekkanbeushi Wetland ????????? 1993-06-10,
enlarged 2005-11-08
Miyajima Marsh ??? 2002-11-18
Uryunuma Wetland ????? 2005-11-08
Sarobetsu plain ??????
Lake Tofutsu ???
Lake Akan ???
Notsuke Peninsula, Notsuke Bay ???????
Lake Furen, Shunkunitai ??????
Wildlife[edit]
There are three populations of the Hokkaido brown bear subspecies (Ursus arctos
yesoensis). There are more brown bears than anywhere else in Asia besides Russia.
The Hokkaido brown bear is separated into three distinct lineages. There are only
eight lineages in the world.[21] Those on Honshu died out long ago.

Subprefectures[edit]

Map of Hokkaido showing the subprefectures and the primary cities

Main articles: Subprefectures of Hokkaido and List of mergers in Hokkaido
See also: List of municipalities of Hokkaido
1a23b4c5d6789e(disputed)(disputed)
Subprefecture Japanese Capital Largest city Pop.
(2009) Area
(km2) Municipalities
1 Sorachi ??????? Iwamizawa Iwamizawa 338,485 5,791.19 10
cities 14 towns
a ? Ishikari ????? Sapporo Sapporo 2,324,878 3,539.86 6 cities
1 town 1 village
2 Shiribeshi ??????? Kutchan Otaru 234,984 4,305.83 1 city
13 towns 6 villages
3 Iburi ??????? Muroran Tomakomai 419,115 3,698.00 4 cities
7 towns
b ? Hidaka ????? Urakawa Shinhidaka 76,084 4,811.97 7
towns
4 Oshima ??????? Hakodate Hakodate 433,475 3,936.46 2
cities 9 towns
c ? Hiyama ????? Esashi Setana 43,210 2,629.94 7
towns
5 Kamikawa ??????? Asahikawa Asahikawa 527,575 10,619.20 4
cities 17 towns 2 villages
d ? Rumoi ????? Rumoi Rumoi 53,916 3,445.75 1 city 6 towns
1 village
6 Soya ??????? Wakkanai Wakkanai 71,423 4,625.09 1 city
8 towns 1 village
7 Okhotsk ????????? Abashiri Kitami 309,487 10,690.62 3
cities 14 towns 1 village
8 Tokachi ??????? Obihiro Obihiro 353,291 10,831.24 1 city
16 towns 2 villages
9 Kushiro ??????? Kushiro Kushiro 252,571 5,997.38 1 city
6 towns 1 village
e ? Nemuro ????? Nemuro Nemuro 84,035 3,406.23 1 city
4 towns
*
* Japan claims the southern part of Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), currently
administered by Russia,
belong to Nemuro Subprefecture divided into six villages. However, the table above
excludes these islands' data.
From April 2010, Hokkaido has 9 General Subprefectural Bureaus (?????) and 5
Subprefectural Bureaus (???). Prior to that, Hokkaido is one of eight prefectures
in Japan that have subprefectures (?? shicho). However, it is the only one of the
eight to have such offices covering the whole of its territory outside the main
cities (rather than having them just for outlying islands or remote areas). This is
mostly due to its great size: many parts of the prefecture are simply too far away
to be effectively administered by Sapporo. Subprefectural offices in Hokkaido carry
out many of the duties that prefectural offices fulfill elsewhere in Japan.

Before the current political divisions and after 1869, Hokkaido was divided into
provinces. See Former provinces of Hokkaido.
Climate[edit]

Satellite image of Hokkaido in winter

Japan's coldest region, Hokkaido has relatively cool summers and icy/snowy winters.
Most of the island falls in the humid continental climate zone with Kppen climate
classification Dfb (hemiboreal) in most areas but Dfa (hot summer humid
continental) in some inland lowlands. The average August temperature ranges from 17
to 22 C (62.6 to 71.6 F), while the average January temperature ranges from -12
to -4 C (10.4 to 24.8 F), in both cases depending on elevation and distance from
the ocean, though temperatures on the western side of the island tend to be a
little warmer than on the eastern.

The northern portion of Hokkaido falls into the taiga biome[22] with significant
snowfall. Snowfall varies widely from as much as 11 metres (400 in) on the
mountains adjacent to the Sea of Japan (East Sea) down to around 1.8 metres (71 in)
on the Pacific coast. The island tends to see isolated snowstorms that develop
long-lasting snowbanks, in contrast to the constant flurries seen in the Hokuriku
region. Total precipitation varies from 1,600 millimetres (63 in) on the mountains
of the Sea of Japan (East Sea) coast to around 800 millimetres (31 in) (the lowest
in Japan) on the Sea of Okhotsk coast and interior lowlands and up to around 1,100
millimetres (43 in) on the Pacific side.

Unlike the other major islands of Japan, Hokkaido is normally not affected by the
JuneJuly rainy season and the relative lack of humidity and typically warm, rather
than hot, summer weather makes its climate an attraction for tourists from other
parts of Japan.

In winter, the generally high quality of powder snow and numerous mountains in
Hokkaido make it a popular region for snow sports. The snowfall usually commences
in earnest in November and ski resorts (such as those at Niseko, Furano, Teine and
Rusutsu) usually operate between December and April. Hokkaido celebrates its winter
weather at the Sapporo Snow Festival.

During the winter, passage through the Sea of Okhotsk is often complicated by large
floes of drift ice. Combined with high winds that occur during winter, this
frequently brings air travel and maritime activity to a halt beyond the northern
coast of Hokkaido. Ports on the open Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan (East Sea) are
generally ice-free year round, though most rivers freeze during the winter.

Major cities and towns[edit]

See also: List of cities in Hokkaido

Hokkaido's largest city, Sapporo

Hokkaido's largest city is the capital, Sapporo, which is a designated city. The
island has two core cities: Hakodate in the south and Asahikawa in the central
region. Other important population centers include Rumoi, Iwamizawa, Kushiro,
Obihiro, Kitami, Abashiri, Wakkanai, and Nemuro.

Hokkaido has the highest rate of depopulation in Japan. In 2000, 152 (71.7%) of
Hokkaido's 212 municipalities were shrinking. Altogether, shrinking municipalities
in Japan in the same year numbered 1,171.[citation needed]

Sapporo City

Asahikawa
Hakodate

Kushiro

Obihiro

Kitami

Iwamizawa

Abashiri

Wakkanai

Nemuro

Rumoi
Economy[edit]

Large farm of Tokachi plain

Although there is some light industry (most notably paper milling and beer brewing)
most of the population is employed by the service sector. In 2001, the service
sector and other tertiary industries generated more than three-quarters of the
gross domestic product.[23]

However, agriculture and other primary industries play a large role in Hokkaido's
economy. Hokkaido has nearly one fourth of Japan's total arable land. It ranks
first in the nation in the production of a host of agricultural products, including
wheat, soybeans, potatoes, sugar beet, onions, pumpkins, corn, raw milk, and beef.
Hokkaido also accounts for 22% of Japan's forests with a sizable timber industry.
The prefecture is also first in the nation in production of marine products and
aquaculture.[23]

Tourism is an important industry, especially during the cool summertime when

visitors are attracted to Hokkaido's open spaces from hotter and more humid parts
of Japan and other Asian countries. During the winter, skiing and other winter
sports bring other tourists, and increasingly international ones, to the island.
[24]

Transportation[edit]
Hokkaido's only land link to the rest of Japan is the Seikan Tunnel. Most
travellers travel to the island by air: the main airport is New Chitose Airport at
Chitose, just south of Sapporo. Tokyo-Chitose is in the top 10 of the world's
busiest air routes, handling more than 40 widebody round trips on several airlines
each day. One of the airlines, Air Do was named after Hokkaido. Hokkaido can also
be reached by ferry from Sendai, Niigata and some other cities, with the ferries
from Tokyo dealing only in cargo. The Hokkaido Shinkansen takes passengers from
Tokyo to near Hakodate in slightly over four hours. [1]

Within Hokkaido, there is a fairly well-developed railway network (see Hokkaido

Railway Company), but many cities can only be accessed by road.
Hokkaido is home to one of Japan's three Melody Roads, which is made from grooves
cut into the ground, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible
rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the car body.[25][26]

Education[edit]
The Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education oversees public schools (except
colleges and universities) in Hokkaido. Public elementary and junior high schools
(except Hokkaido Noboribetsu Akebi Secondary School and schools attached to
Hokkaido University of Education) are operated by municipalities, and public high
schools are operated by either the prefectural board or municipalities.

Hokkaido has 37 universities (7 national, 5 local public, and 25 private

universities), 34 junior colleges, and 5 colleges of technology (4 national and 1
local public colleges). National universities located in Hokkaido are:

Hokkaido University (former Sapporo Agricultural College)[27]

Hokkaido University of Education
Muroran Institute of Technology
Otaru University of Commerce
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
Asahikawa Medical University
Kitami Institute of Technology
Hokkaido government runs Sapporo Medical University, a medical school in Sapporo.

Sports[edit]
The 1972 Winter Olympics were held in Sapporo.

The sports teams listed below are based in Hokkaido.

American football[edit]
Hokkaido American Football Association
Association football[edit]
Consadole Sapporo (Sapporo)
Baseball[edit]
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (Sapporo)
Basketball[edit]
Levanga Hokkaido (Sapporo) Japan Basketball League (JBL)
Ice hockey[edit]
Nippon Paper Cranes (Kushiro)
Oji Eagles (Tomakomai)
Winter festivals[edit]
Sapporo Snow Festival
Asahikawa Snow Festival
Sounkyo Ice Festival
Big Air snowboarding freestyle competition
International relations[edit]
Hokkaido has relationships with several provinces, states, and other entities
worldwide.[28]

Canada Alberta, Canada, since 1980[29][30]

China Heilongjiang, China, since 1980[29]
United States Massachusetts, USA, since 1988[29][31]
Russia Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, since 1998[29]
South Korea Busan, South Korea, since 2005
South Korea Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, since 2006
South Korea Seoul, South Korea, since 2010[32]
As of January 2014, 74 individual municipalities in Hokkaido have sister city
agreements with 114 cities in 21 different countries worldwide.[33]
Politics[edit]
Governor[edit]
The current governor of Hokkaido is Harumi Takahashi. She won a fourth term in the
gubernatorial election in 2015 with centre-right support. Her first election in
2003 in a close race against centre-left supported Yoshio Hachiro and seven other
candidates ended a 20-year streak of victories by Socialist Party heavyweight
Takahiro Yokomichi and then his former vice governor Tatsuya Hori who beat Hideko
Ito twice by large margins. Ito, a former Socialist Diet member was supported by
the Liberal Democratic Party against Hori in 1995 (at the time, Socialists and
Liberal Democrats formed the ruling "grand" coalition on the national level); In
1999, Hori was supported by all major non-Communist parties and Ito ran without
party support. Before 1983, the governorship had been held by Liberal Democrats
Naohiro Dogakinai and Kingo Machimura for 24 years. In the 1971 election when
Machimura retired, the Socialist candidate Shohei Tsukada lost to Dogakinai by only
13,000 votes;[34] Tsukada was also supported by the Communist Party the leftist
cooperation in opposition to the US-Japanese security treaty had brought joint
Socialist-Communist candidates to victory in many other prefectural and local
elections in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1959, Machimura had defeated Yokomichi's
father Setsuo in the race to succeed Hokkaido's first elected governor, Socialist
Toshibumi Tanaka who retired after three terms. Tanaka had only won the
governorship in 1947 in a run-off election against Democrat Eiji Arima because no
candidate had received the necessary vote share to win in the first round as
required by law at the time.

Assembly[edit]
The Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly has 101 members from 47 electoral districts. As
of April 30, 2015, the LDP caucus holds a majority with 51 seats, the DPJ-led group
has 26 members. Other groups are the Hokkaido Yushikai of New Party Daichi and
independents with twelve seats, Komeito with eight, and the Japanese Communist
Party with four members.[35] General elections for the Hokkaido assembly are
currently held together with gubernatorial elections in the unified local elections
(last round: April 2015).

National representation[edit]
For the lower house of the National Diet, Hokkaido is divided into twelve single-
member electoral districts. In the 2014 election, candidates from the governing
coalition of Liberal Democrats and New Komeito won nine districts, Democrats three.
For the proportional election segment, Hokkaido and Tokyo are the only two
prefectures that form a regional "block" district of their own. The Hokkaido
proportional representation block elects eight Representatives. In 2014, the
Liberal Democratic Party received 29.8% of the proportional vote and won three
seats, the Democratic Party won two (27.6% of the vote), one seat each went to
Komeito (12.3%), Japan Innovation Party (9.9%) and for the first time since the
2000 lower house election the Japanese Communist Party (12.1%). More than four
percent of Hokkaido proportional votes in 2014 went to a minor protest group named
shiji seito nashi ("no party supported"/"[I/we] support no party").

In the upper house of the National Diet, a major reapportionment in the 1990s
halved the number of Councillors from Hokkaido per election from four to two. After
the elections of 2010 and 2013, the Hokkaido electoral district like most two-
member districts for the upper house is represented by two Liberal Democrats and
two Democrats. In the 2016 upper house election, the district magnitude will be
raised to three, Hokkaido will then temporarily be represented by five members and
six after the 2019 election.

See also[edit]

Red-crowned cranes in Hokkaido

2006 Kuril Islands earthquake
Asia League Ice Hockey
Former Hokkaido Government Office
Hokkaido dialects
Kuril Islands dispute
People from Hokkaido
Red-crowned crane
Sankebetsu brown bear incident
Notes[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Nussbaum, Louis-Frdric. (2005). "Hokkaido" in Japan
Encyclopedia, p. 343, p. 343, at Google Books
Jump up ^ "Recognition at last for Japan's Ainu ". BBC News. July 6, 2008
^ Jump up to: a b c Japan Handbook, p. 760
Jump up ^ McClain, James L. (2002). Japan, A Modern History (First ed.). New York,
N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 285. ISBN 0-393-04156-5.
Jump up ^ Howell, David. "Ainu Ethnicity and the Boundaries of the Early Modern
Japanese State", Past and Present 142 (February 1994), p. 142
Jump up ^ Ossenberg, Nancy (see reference) has the best evidence of this
relationship with the Jomon. Also, a newer study, Ossenberg, et al., "Ethnogenesis
and craniofacial change in Japan from the perspective of nonmetric traits"
(Anthropological Science v.114:99115) is an updated analysis published in 2006
which confirms this finding.
Jump up ^ Nakamura, Akemi, "Japan's last frontier took time to tame, cultivate
image", The Japan Times, 8 July 2008, p. 3.
Jump up ^ Satow, Ernest. (1882). "The Geography of Japan" in Transactions of the
Asiatic Society of Japan, Vols. 12, p. 88., p. 33, at Google Books
Jump up ^ McDougall, Walter A. (1993). Let the Sea Make a Noise, pp. 355356.
Jump up ^ McDougall, p. 357.
Jump up ^ "Chapter VII: 1945". The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War
II. Hyperwar. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
Jump up ^ "Translation of Message from Harry S. Truman to Joseph Stalin," August
19, 1945, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, RGASPI Fond 558, Opis
11, Delo 372, Listy 112-113. Translated by Sergey Radchenko.
http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/122333. Retrieved 2017 September
22.
Jump up ^ "Chapter 3: Nivkh as an Aspiration Language," p. 53 RUG.nl
Jump up ^ "Ainu Mosir. The land of human beings Nanni Fontana photographer".
Nanni Fontana. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
Jump up ^ July.04.2008 (2008-07-04). "ICU Students Support Indigenous Peoples
Summit in Ainu Mosir 2008 ICU BackNumbersite". Web.icu.ac.jp. Retrieved 2012-09-
14.
Jump up ^ "Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir 2008 * News". Win-ainu.com.
Retrieved 2012-09-14.
Jump up ^ Lewallen, Ann-Elise (November 30, 2008). "Indigenous at last! Ainu
Grassroots Organizing and the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir". The Asia-
Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. 48-6-08. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
Jump up ^ Okada, Mitsuharu Vincent (2012). "The Plight of Ainu, Indigenous People
of Japan" (PDF). Journal of Indigenous Social Development. University of Hawaii. 1
(1): 114. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
Jump up ^ "National Museum of Ethnology, Japan: Permanent Exhibitions". Retrieved
2011-08-26.
Jump up ^ "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture" (PDF).
Ministry of the Environment Japan. 31 March 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
Jump up ^ Hirata, Daisuke; et al. (2013). "Molecular Phylogeography of the Brown
Bear (Ursus arctos) in Northeastern Asia Based on Analyses of Complete
Mitochondrial DNA Sequences". Mol Biol Evol. 30 (7): 16441652.
doi:10.1093/molbev/mst077. PMID 23619144. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
Jump up ^ C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Taiga. eds. M.McGinley & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia
of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
^ Jump up to: a b "Hokkaido's Business Environment". Trade and Economic Exchange
Group, Commerce and Economic Exchange Division, Department of Economic Affairs,
Hokkaido Government. Archived from the original on 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2008-12-
05.
Jump up ^ Takahara, Kanako (July 8, 2008). "Boom time for Hokkaido ski resort
area". The Japan Times. The Japan Times Ltd. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
Jump up ^ Johnson, Bobbie (13 November 2007). "Japan's melody roads play music as
you drive". The Guardian. Farringdon Road, London, England: GMG. p. 19
(International section). Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ "Your car as a musical instrument Melody Roads". Noise Addicts. 29
September 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
Jump up ^ Nussbaum, "Hokkaido Daigaku" in p. 343, p. 343, at Google Books
Jump up ^ "Exchange Affiliates". Retrieved on 5 December 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Hokkaido Alberta Relations" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-05-30.
Jump up ^ "Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks & Wildlife Foundation". Retrieved 2010-
05-30.
Jump up ^ "Massachusetts Hokkaido Association". Retrieved 2010-05-30.
Jump up ^ "??????????". Retrieved 2013-11-03.
Jump up ^ ?????????? (Sister city partnerships). Retrieved on 3 November 2013. (in
Japanese)
Jump up ^ Hokkaido prefectural government: Gubernatorial election results since
1947[permanent dead link] (in Japanese)
Jump up ^ Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly: Members by electoral district and
parliamentary group (in Japanese)
^[note 1] Source: English edition of Sightseeing in Hokkaido, Winter Festival and
Events

Bibliography[edit]
Bisignani, J. D. (1993). Japan Handbook. Chico, California: Moon Publications. ISBN
9780960332229; ISBN 9780908054145; OCLC 8954556
McDougall, Walter A. (1993). Let the Sea Make a Noise: A History of the North
Pacific from Magellan to MacArthur. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465051526; OCLC
28017793
Nussbaum, Louis-Frdric and Kthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
John Batchelor; Japanese Central Association (1893). An itinerary of Hokkaido,
Japan, Volume 1. Tokyo: Hakodate Chamber of Commerce.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hokkaido.
Look up Hokkaido in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Hokkaido.
Hokkaido Official Website (in Japanese)
Hokkaido Official Website (in English)
[show] v t e
Shadow picture of Hokkaido Hokkaido
[show] v t e
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Russia Japan Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk
Flag of Japan.svgJapan portal Icne Ile.svgIslands portal
Coordinates: 43N 142E

Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 147183664 LCCN: n80076150 GND: 4095546-1 SELIBR: 148029
BNF: cb11940409w (data) NDL: 00258064
Categories: HokkaidoPrefectures of JapanHokkaido regionAinu geographyJapanese
archipelago
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