Hokkaido

File:Former government office, Hokkaido.JPG in Chūō-ku, Sapporo]]

When establishing the Development Commission, the Meiji government decided to change the name of Ezochi. Matsuura Takeshirō submitted six proposals, including names such as {{Nihongo3||海北道|Kaihokudō}} and {{Nihongo3||北加伊道|Hokkaidō}}, to the government. The government eventually decided to use the name Hokkaidō, but decided to write it as {{nihongo2|北海道}}, as a compromise between {{nihongo2|海北道}} and {{nihongo2|北加伊道}} because of the similarity with names such as {{Nihongo|Tōkaidō|東海道}}. According to Matsuura, the name was thought up because the Ainu called the region Kai. The kai element also strongly resembles the On'yomi, or Sino-Japanese, reading of the characters {{nihongo2|蝦夷}} (on'yomi as [{{IPA|ka.i}}, カイ], kun'yomi as [{{IPA|e.mi.ɕi}}, えみし]) 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 {{nihongo2|蝦夷}} Ka-i, of the Nivkh exonym for the Ainu, namely Qoy or {{IPA|niv|kʰuɣɪ}}."Chapter 3: Nivkh as an Aspiration Language," p. 53 [http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/2006/h.shiraishi/03_c3.pdf RUG.nl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928112148/http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/2006/h.shiraishi/03_c3.pdf |date=2011-09-28 }}

In 1947, Hokkaidō became a full-fledged prefecture. The historical suffix 道 (-dō) translates to "prefecture" in English, ambiguously the same as 府 (-fu) for Osaka and Kyoto, and 県 (-ken) for the rest of the "prefectures". Dō, as shorthand, can be used to uniquely identify Hokkaido, for example as in 道道 (dōdō, "Hokkaido road"){{cite web |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%81%93%E9%81%93-638548 |title=道道 |publisher=kotobank.com |access-date=2022-01-12 |archive-date=2021-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803082810/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%81%93%E9%81%93-638548 |url-status=live }} or 道議会 (Dōgikai, "Hokkaido Assembly"),{{cite web |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%81%93%E8%AD%B0%E4%BC%9A-579846 |title=道議会 |publisher=kotobank.com |access-date=2024-09-01 }} the same way 都 (-to) is used for Tokyo. The prefecture's government calls itself the "Hokkaidō Government" rather than the "Hokkaidō Prefectural Government".

With the rise of indigenous rights movements, there emerged a notion that Hokkaido should have an Ainu language name. If a decision to change the name is made, however, whichever Ainu phrase is chosen, its original referent is critically different from the large geographical entity. The phrase {{lang|ain|aynumosir}} ({{lang|ain|アイヌモシㇼ}}) has been a preferred choice among Japanese activists.{{cite book

|author=Kojima Kyōko 児島恭子

|title=Emishi Eo kara Ainu e |script-title=ja:エミシ・エゾからアイヌへ

|publisher=Yoshikawa Kobunkan

|language=ja

|year=2009

}} Its primary meaning is the "land of humans", as opposed to the "land of gods" ({{lang|ain|kamuymosir}}). When contrasted with {{lang|ain|sisammosir}} (the land of the neighbors, often pointing to Honshu or Japanese settlements on the southern tip of Hokkaido), it means the land of the Ainu people, which, depending on context, can refer to Hokkaido,{{cite book

|author=Kayano Shigeru 萱野茂

|title=Kayano Shigeru no Ainu-go jiten |script-title=ja:萱野茂のアイヌ語辞典.

|language=ja

|year=1996

}} although from a modern ethnolinguistic point of view, the Ainu people have extended their domain to a large part of Sakhalin and the entire Kuril Islands. Another phrase, {{lang|ain|yaunmosir}} (ヤウンモシㇼ), has gained prominence. It literally means the "onshore land", as opposed to the "offshore land" ({{lang|ain|repunmosir}}), which, depending on context, can refer to the Kuril Islands, Honshu, or any foreign country. If the speaker is a resident of Hokkaido, {{lang|ain|yaunmosir}} can refer to Hokkaido.{{cite book

|author=Tamura Suzuko 田村すず子

|title=Ainu-go Saru-hōgen jiten |script-title=ja:アイヌ語沙流方言辞典

|language=ja

|year=1996

}} Yet another phrase, {{lang|ain|akor mosir}} (アコㇿモシㇼ) means "our (inclusive) land". When used by Hokkaido Ainus, it can refer to Hokkaido or Japan as a whole.

{{see also|Historic Sites of Hokkaidō|Zoku-Jōmon period|Satsumon culture|Okhotsk culture}}

During the Jomon period the local culture and the associated hunter-gatherer lifestyle flourished in Hokkaidō, beginning over 15,000 years ago. In contrast to the island of Honshu, Hokkaidō saw an absence of conflict during this time period. Jomon beliefs in natural spirits are theorized to be the origins of Ainu spirituality. About 2,000 years ago, the island was colonized by Yayoi people, and much of the island's population shifted away from hunting and gathering towards agriculture.{{cite web|url=https://www.hkd.mlit.go.jp/ky/ki/renkei/ud49g70000000mki-att/en_all.pdf|title=A Journey into the culture and history of Hokkaidō.|website=hkd.mlit.go.jp|access-date=2019-05-29|archive-date=2020-09-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917161923/https://www.hkd.mlit.go.jp/ky/ki/renkei/ud49g70000000mki-att/en_all.pdf|url-status=live}}

The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}, finished in 720 AD, is often said to be the first mention of Hokkaidō in recorded history. According to the text, Abe no HirafuJapan Handbook, p. 760 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 {{nihongo|Watarishima|渡島}}, which is often believed to be present-day Hokkaidō. However, many theories exist concerning 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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

During the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185), people in Hokkaidō conducted trade with Dewa Province, an outpost of the Japanese central government. From the feudal period, the people in Hokkaidō began to be called Ezo. Hokkaidō subsequently became known as {{nihongo|Ezochi|蝦夷地||lit. "Ezo-land"}}{{cite book|last1=McClain|first1=James L.|title=Japan, A Modern History|date=2002|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|location=New York, N.Y.|isbn=978-0-393-04156-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/japanmodernhisto00mccl/page/285 285]|edition=First|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/japanmodernhisto00mccl/page/285}} or {{nihongo|Ezogashima|蝦夷ヶ島||lit. "Island of the Ezo"}}. The Ezo mainly relied upon hunting and fishing and obtained rice and iron through trade with the Japanese.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

File:Palace reception near Hakodate in 1751. Ainu bringing gifts.jpg in 1751. Ainu bringing gifts (cf. omusha)]]

During the Muromachi period (1336–1573), the Japanese established a settlement at the south of the Oshima Peninsula, with a series of fortified residences such as that of Shinoridate. As more people moved to the settlement to avoid battles, disputes arose between the Japanese and the Ainu. The disputes eventually developed into war. Takeda Nobuhiro (1431–1494) killed the Ainu leader, Koshamain, 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 (1568–1868). The Matsumae family's economy relied upon trade with the Ainu,{{cn|date=March 2024}} who had extensive trading networks.

{{cite book

|last1 = Lie

|first1 = John

|author-link1 = John Lie (professor)

|year = 2009

|orig-date = 2001

|title = Multiethnic Japan

|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3aGeH0keCGUC

|edition = revised

|publication-place = Cambridge, Massachusetts

|publisher = Harvard University Press

|pages = 89–90

|isbn = 9780674040175

|access-date = 15 March 2024

|quote = By the fifteenth century Ainu people were principally hunter-fisher-gatherers and engaged in far-flung trade with others, ranging from Aleutian islanders to the east, Russians and Chinese to the west, and Shamo (as the Ainu call Wajin, or Japanese people) to the south [....].

}}

The Matsumae held authority over the south of Ezochi until the end of the Edo period.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

File:Samurai and Ainu Fuzoku Ema.jpg and the Ainu, {{circa|1775}}]]

The Matsumae clan rule over the Ainu must be understood{{cn|date=March 2024}} 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 defined their own roles within the medieval institutional order, taking shogunate 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.Howell, David. "Ainu Ethnicity and the Boundaries of the Early Modern Japanese State", Past and Present 142 (February 1994), p. 142 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. From this, the "transformation" theory postulates that native Jōmon peoples changed gradually with the infusion of Yayoi immigrants into the Tōhoku region of northern Honshu, in contrast to the "replacement" theory that posits the Jōmon was replaced by the Yayoi.Ossenberg, Nancy (see reference) has the best evidence of this relationship with the Jōmon. Also, a newer study, Ossenberg, et al., "Ethnogenesis and craniofacial change in Japan from the perspective of nonmetric traits" (Anthropological Science v.114:99–115) is an updated analysis published in 2006 which confirms this finding.

File:Matumae Takahiro.jpg, 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 1669–1672. In 1789, a smaller movement known as the Menashi–Kunashir rebellion was crushed. After that rebellion, the terms "Japanese" and "Ainu" referred to clearly distinguished groups, and the Matsumae were unequivocally Japanese.

According to John A. Harrison of the University of Florida, prior to 1868 Japan used proximity as its claim to Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands; however, Japan had never thoroughly explored, governed, or exploited the areas, and this claim was invalidated by the movement of Russia into the Northeast Pacific area and by Russian settlements on Kamchatka (from 1699), Sakhalin (1850s) and the Sea of Okhotsk Coast (1640s onwards).{{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3740831 |jstor=3740831 |title= The Capron Mission and the Colonization of Hokkaido, 1868-1875 |last1=Harrison |first1=John A. |journal=Agricultural History |year=1951 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=135–136}}

Prior to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate realized the need to prepare northern defenses against a possible Russian invasion and took over control of most of Ezochi in 1855-1858.Nakamura, Akemi, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/07/08/news/japans-last-frontier-took-time-to-tame-cultivate-image/ Japan's last frontier took time to tame, cultivate image] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131104100311/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/07/08/news/japans-last-frontier-took-time-to-tame-cultivate-image/ |date= 2013-11-04 }}", The Japan Times, 8 July 2008, p. 3. Many Japanese settlers regarded the Ainu as "inhuman and the inferior descendants of dogs".

Compare:

{{cite journal

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uu0YAQAAMAAJ

| journal = The American Asian Review

| publisher = Institute of Asian Studies, St. John's University

| publication-place = New York

| publication-date = 1995

| volume = 13

| issue = 1–2

| page = 77

| quote = Using the expressive sound 'ah', and the Japanese copula da ('it is'), wajin encountering an Ainu person would shout out the insulting pun, 'ah, inu da,' 'It's an Ainu' or 'Oh, it's a dog!'

| access-date = 15 March 2024

}}

The Tokugawa irregularly imposed various assimilation programs on the Ainu due to the Tokugawa's perception of a threat from Russia. For example, assimilation programs were implemented in response to perceived threats from Russia, which included the {{ill|Laxman expedition|ru|Посольство Адама Лаксмана в Японию}} of 1793 and the Golovnin Incident of 1804. Once the respective Russian threats appeared to subside, the assimilation programs were halted until 1855. However, in 1855, once the Treaty of Shimoda was signed, which defined the borders between Russian Empire and Tokugawa Japan, the Tokugawa again viewed Russia as a threat to Japanese sovereignty over Hokkaido and reinstated assimilation programs on the Ainu.

Prior to the Meiji era, the island was called Ezochi, which can be translated as "land of the barbarians" or "the land for people who did not obey the government."{{Cite journal |last=Siripala |first=Thisanka |date=2020 |title=Far-Right Politics and Indigenous Ainu Activism in Japan |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1059391/GJAA%20Vol.6_Far-Right%20Politics%20and%20Indigenous%20Ainu%20Activism%20in%20Japan.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=6 |pages=36–37}} 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 defeated in May 1869. Through colonial practices, Ezochi was annexed into Japanese territory.{{Cite journal |last=Siripala |first=Thisanka |date=2020 |title=Far-Right Politics and Indigenous Ainu Activism in Japan |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1059391/GJAA%20Vol.6_Far-Right%20Politics%20and%20Indigenous%20Ainu%20Activism%20in%20Japan.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=6 |pages=36–37}} Ezochi was subsequently put under control of Hakodate Prefectural Government. When establishing the {{Nihongo|Development Commission|開拓使|Kaitakushi}}, the Meiji government introduced a new name. After 1869, the northern Japanese island was known as Hokkaidō, which can be translated to "northern sea route," and regional subdivisions were established, including the provinces of Oshima, Shiribeshi, Iburi, Ishikari, Teshio, Kitami, Hidaka, Tokachi, Kushiro, Nemuro and Chishima.Satow, Ernest. (1882). "The Geography of Japan" in {{Google books|gGYYAAAAYAAJ|Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vols. 1–2, p. 88.|page=33}}

The initiative to colonize Ezo, which later became Hokkaido, traces back to 1869, where Japanese proponents argued that the colonization of Ezo would serve as a strategic move to enhance Japan's standing and influence on the global stage, particularly in negotiations with Western powers, specifically Russia.{{Cite book| url=http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/71693/1/29.pdf.pdf|title=Dominant Narratives of Colonial Hokkaido and Imperial Japan: Envisioning the Periphery and the Modern Nation-State | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan| pages=14–15 |year=2012|last1=Mason | first1=Michele | isbn=978-1-349-45025-1}} The Meiji government invested heavily in colonizing Hokkaido for several reasons.{{cite journal|first=John|last=Hennessey|title=Engineering Japanese Settler Colonialism in Hokkaido: A Postcolonial Reevaluation of William Wheeler's Work for the Kaitakushi|url=https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/99779409/AIF_ISSUE6_Final_Hennessey.pdf|journal=Asia in Focus|volume=6|issue=6|pages=3|date=2018}} Firstly, they aimed to assert their control over the region as a buffer against potential Russian advances. Secondly, they were attracted to Hokkaido's rich natural resources, including coal, timber, fish, and fertile land. Lastly, since Western powers viewed colonial expansion as a symbol of prestige, Japan viewed the colonization of Hokkaido as an opportunity to present itself as a modern and respected nation to Western powers.

File:Hakodate Goryokaku Panorama 1.JPG fort in Hakodate]]

File:Ainu old man circa 1930.JPG, Hokkaidō's indigenous people]]

The primary purpose of the Development Commission was to secure Hokkaidō before the Russians extended their control of the Far East beyond Vladivostok. The Japanese failed to settle in the interior lowlands of the island because of aboriginal resistance.{{Cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3740831 | jstor=3740831 | title=The Capron Mission and the Colonization of Hokkaido, 1868-1875 | last1=Harrison | first1=John A. | journal=Agricultural History | year=1951 | volume=25 | issue=3 | pages=135–142 }} The resistance was eventually destroyed, and the lowlands were under the control of the commission. The most important goal of the Japanese was to increase the farm population and to create a conducive environment for emigration and settlement. However, the Japanese did not have expertise in modern agricultural techniques, and only possessed primitive mining and lumbering methods. Kuroda Kiyotaka was put in charge of the project, and turned to the United States for help.

His first step was to journey to the United States and recruit Horace Capron, President Ulysses S. Grant's commissioner of agriculture. From 1871 to 1873 Capron bent his efforts to expounding Western agriculture and mining, with mixed results. Frustrated with obstacles to his efforts, Capron 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 a lasting impression on Hokkaidō, inspiring the Japanese with his teachings on agriculture as well as Christianity.McDougall, Walter A. (1993). Let the Sea Make a Noise, pp. 355–356. His parting words, "Boys, be ambitious!", can be found on public buildings in Hokkaidō to this day. The population of Hokkaidō increased from 58,000 to 240,000 during that decade.McDougall, p. 357.

Kuroda hired Capron for $10,000 per year and paid for all expenses related to the mission. Kuroda and his government were likely intrigued by Capron's previous colonial experience, particularly his involvement in the forced removal of Native Americans from Texas to new territories after the Mexican–American War.{{cite web | url=https://manifold.uhpress.hawaii.edu/read/migrant-ecologies/section/b03b25af-b873-47e5-9417-dce686ed0a37 | title=University of Hawai'i Press - Manifold }} Capron introduced capital-intensive farming techniques by adopting American methods and tools, importing seeds for Western crops, and bringing in European livestock breeds, which included his favorite North Devon cattle.{{cite web | url=https://manifold.uhpress.hawaii.edu/read/migrant-ecologies/section/b03b25af-b873-47e5-9417-dce686ed0a37 | title=University of Hawai'i Press - Manifold }} He founded experimental farms in Hokkaido, conducted surveys to assess mineral deposits and agricultural potential, and advocated for improvements in water access, mills, and roads.{{cite web | url=https://manifold.uhpress.hawaii.edu/read/migrant-ecologies/section/b03b25af-b873-47e5-9417-dce686ed0a37 | title=University of Hawai'i Press - Manifold }}

The settler colonization of Hokkaido by the Japanese was organized and supported through collaboration between the Japanese state and American experts and technology. From the 1870s to the 1880s, Japanese leaders placed their efforts on settling Hokkaido by systematically migrating former samurai lords, samurai retainers, and common citizens, which included farmers and peasants, providing them with "free" land and financial assistance. This transformation was facilitated with the expertise of American advisors who introduced various colonization technologies, transforming Hokkaido into land suitable for Japan's capitalist aspirations.

Japanese leaders drew inspiration from American settler colonialism during their diplomatic visits to the United States. Japanese colonial officials learned settler colonial techniques from Western imperial powers, particularly the United States. This included declaring large portions of Hokkaido as ownerless land, providing a pretext for the dispossession of the Ainu people.{{Cite book|title=Dominant Narratives of Colonial Hokkaido and Imperial Japan: Envisioning the Periphery and the Modern Nation-State | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan| pages=7–9|year=2012|last1=Mason | first1=Michele | isbn=978-1-349-45025-1}} Japan established the Hokkaido Colonization Board in 1869, a year after the start of the Meiji era, with the goal of encouraging Japanese settlers to Hokkaido.{{Cite news |title=Recognition for a People Who Faded as Japan Grew |work=The New York Times |date=3 July 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/world/asia/03ainu.html |access-date=2024-04-11 |last1=Onishi |first1=Norimitsu }} Mainland Japanese settlers began migrating to Hokkaido, leading to Japan's colonization of the island. Motivated by capitalist and industrial goals, the Meiji government forcefully appropriated fertile land and mineral-rich regions throughout Hokkaido, without consideration for their historical Ainu inhabitancy. The Meiji government implemented land seizures and enacted land ownership laws that favored Japanese settlers, effectively stripping Ainu people of their customary land rights and traditional means of subsistence. The 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act further marginalized and impoverished the Ainu people by forcing them to leave their traditional lands and relocating them to the rugged, mountainous regions in the center of the island.{{Cite web |title=Japan's forgotten indigenous people |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200519-japans-forgotten-indigenous-people |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=www.bbc.com|date=20 May 2020 }}{{Cite journal |last=Siripala |first=Thisanka |date=2020 |title=Far-Right Politics and Indigenous Ainu Activism in Japan |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1059391/GJAA%20Vol.6_Far-Right%20Politics%20and%20Indigenous%20Ainu%20Activism%20in%20Japan.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=6 |pages=37}} The act prohibited the Ainu from fishing and hunting, which were their main source of subsistence.{{Cite journal |last=Siripala |first=Thisanka |date=2020 |title=Far-Right Politics and Indigenous Ainu Activism in Japan |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1059391/GJAA%20Vol.6_Far-Right%20Politics%20and%20Indigenous%20Ainu%20Activism%20in%20Japan.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=6 |pages=36–38}} The Ainu were valued primarily as a source of inexpensive manual labor, and discriminatory assimilation policies further entrenched their sense of inferiority as well as worsened poverty and disease within Ainu communities.{{Cite journal |last=Siripala |first=Thisanka |date=2020 |title=Far-Right Politics and Indigenous Ainu Activism in Japan |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1059391/GJAA%20Vol.6_Far-Right%20Politics%20and%20Indigenous%20Ainu%20Activism%20in%20Japan.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=6 |pages=38}} These policies exacerbated diasporic trends among the Ainu population, as many sought employment with the government or private enterprises, often earning meager wages that barely sustained their families.

The Meiji government embarked on assimilation campaigns aimed not only at assimilating the Ainu but also eradicating their language and culture entirely. They were forced to take on Japanese names and language, and gradually saw their culture and traditions eroded. The Ainu were forbidden to speak their own language and taught only Japanese at school.{{Cite news |title=Recognition for a People Who Faded as Japan Grew |work=The New York Times |date=3 July 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/world/asia/03ainu.html |access-date=2024-04-11 |last1=Onishi |first1=Norimitsu }} Facing pervasive stigma, many Ainu concealed their heritage. UNESCO has recognized the Ainu language as critically endangered.{{cite web |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/ainu/ |title=Ainu in Japan |publisher=Minority Rights Group |access-date=22 January 2025}} Given the Meiji state's full political control over the island, the subsequent subjugation of its indigenous inhabitants, aggressive economic exploitation, and ambitious permanent settlement endeavors, Hokkaido emerged as the sole successful settler colony of Japan.

After the Meiji colonization of Hokkaido, Meiji Japan depended on prison labour to accelerate the colonization process. The Japanese built three prisons and rendered Hokkaido a prison island, where political prisoners were incarcerated and used as prison labour. During the opening ceremony of the first prison, the Ainu name “Shibetsuputo” was replaced with the Japanese name “Tsukigata,” as an attempt to “Japanize” Hokkaido's geography. The second prison opened near the Hokutan Horonai coal mine, where Ainu people were forced to work. Cheap prison labour played an important role in coal and sulphur mining, as well as road construction in Hokkaido. Eventually, several types of indentured labour, Korean labour, child labour and women labour replaced convict labour in Hokkaido. Working conditions were difficult and dangerous. Japan's transition to capitalism depended heavily on the growth of the coal mining sector in Hokkaidō. The importance of coal from Hokkaidō increased throughout the First World War, and the mines required a large amount of labourers.

In mid-July 1945, various shipping ports, cities, and military facilities in Hokkaidō were attacked by the United States Navy's Task Force 38. On 14–15 July, aircraft operating from the task force's aircraft carriers sank and damaged a large number of ships in ports along Hokkaidō'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.{{cite web|title=Chapter VII: 1945|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1945.html|work=The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II|publisher=Hyperwar|access-date=20 September 2011|archive-date=2 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002213903/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1945.html|url-status=live}} Before the Japanese surrender was formalized, the Soviet Union made preparations for an invasion of Hokkaidō, but U.S. President Harry Truman made it clear that the surrender of all of the Japanese home islands would be accepted by General Douglas MacArthur per the 1943 Cairo Declaration.{{Cite web |title=Translation of Message from Harry S. Truman to Joseph Stalin |url=https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/translation-message-harry-s-truman-joseph-stalin |access-date=2024-04-11}}

Hokkaidō became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the revised Local Autonomy Act became effective. The Japanese central government established the {{Nihongo|Hokkaidō Development Agency|北海道開発庁|Hokkaidō Kaihatsuchō}} as an agency of the Prime Minister's Office in 1949 to maintain its executive power in Hokkaidō. The agency was absorbed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2001. {{Nihongo|The Hokkaidō Bureau|北海道局|Hokkaidō-kyoku}} and the {{Nihongo|Hokkaidō Regional Development Bureau|北海道開発局|Hokkaidō Kaihatsukyoku}} of the ministry still have a strong influence on public construction projects in Hokkaidō.

{{main|Geography of Hokkaido}}

{{Infobox islands

| name = Hokkaidō

| image_name = Hokkaidomap-en.png

| image_caption =

| locator_map =

| native_name = {{lang|ja|北海道}}

| native_name_link = Japanese language

| location = East Asia

| coordinates = {{coord|43|N|142|E|scale:500000|display=inline}}

| archipelago = Japanese archipelago

| area_km2 = 77981.87

| highest_mount = Mount Asahi

| elevation_m = 2,290

| country = Japan

| country_admin_divisions_title = Prefectures

| country_admin_divisions = Hokkaidō

| country_largest_city = Sapporo

| country_largest_city_population = 1,890,561

| population = 5,377,435

| population_as_of = September 30, 2016

| density_km2 = 64.5

| ethnic_groups = Ainu
Japanese

}}

The island of Hokkaidō is located in the north of Japan, near Russia (Sakhalin Oblast). It has coastlines on the Sea of Japan (to the west of the island), the Sea of Okhotsk (to the north), and the Pacific Ocean (to the east). The center of the island is mountainous, with volcanic plateaux. Hokkaidō has multiple plains such as the Ishikari Plain {{convert|3800|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}, Tokachi Plain {{convert|3600|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}, the {{ill|Kushiro Plain|ja|釧路平野}} {{convert|2510|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} (the largest wetland in Japan) and Sarobetsu Plain {{convert|200|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}. Hokkaidō is {{convert|83,423.84|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} which make it the second-largest island of Japan.

The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu (Aomori Prefecture); La Pérouse Strait separates Hokkaidō from the island of Sakhalin in Russia; Nemuro Strait separates Hokkaidō from Kunashir Island in the Russian Kuril Islands.

The governmental jurisdiction of Hokkaidō incorporates several smaller islands, including Rishiri, Okushiri Island, and Rebun. (By Japanese reckoning, Hokkaidō also incorporates several of the Kuril Islands.) Hokkaidō Prefecture is the largest and northernmost Japanese prefecture. The island ranks 21st in the world by area.

File:130922 Lake Toya Toyako Hokkaido Japan03s3.jpg|Lake Tōya, a volcanic caldera lake

File:Hokkaido-Japan-ISS-Space.png|Hokkaido seen from the International Space Station

File:140829 Ichiko of Shiretoko Goko Lakes Hokkaido Japan04s3.jpg|Shiretoko Goko Lakes in the town of Shari, Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaidō

File:Spring Bloom Colors the Pacific Near Hokkaido.jpg|The Oyashio Current colliding with the Kuroshio Current off the coast of Hokkaido

File:SapporoCity Skylines2020.jpg

File:Hokkaido prefecture population pyramid in 2020.svg

{{historical populations|13=1721|14=15,615|15=1750|16=21,807|17=1786|18=26,310|19=1798|20=28,711|21=1822|22=61,948|23=1834|24=67,862|25=1846|26=70,887|27=1873|28=123,668

|29=1890|30=414,430|31=1903|32=1,089,503|33=1920|34=2,359,183|35=1930|36=2,812,335|37=1940|38=3,272,718|39=1950|40=4,295,567|41=1960|42=5,039,206|43=1970|44=5,184,287|45=1980|46=5,575,989|47=1990|48=5,643,647|49=2000|50=5,683,062|51=2010|52=5,506,419|53=2020|54=5,281,297|percentages=pagr|footnote=source:{{Cite web |url=http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index.html |title=Statistics Bureau of Japan |access-date=2019-07-21 |archive-date=2020-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108132422/http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index.html |url-status=live }}Hokkaidō Population during Tokugawa Shogun{{Circular reference|date=August 2020}}}}

Hokkaidō has the third-largest population of Japan's five main islands, with 5,111,691 people {{as of|2023|lc=on}}.{{cite web|url= http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_gyousei/c-gyousei/daityo/index.html|title= 総務省｜住基ネット|work= soumu.go.jp|access-date= 2019-09-15|archive-date= 2021-02-24|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210224144613/https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_gyousei/c-gyousei/daityo/index.html|url-status= live}} It has the lowest population density in Japan, with just {{convert|61|PD/km2}}. Hokkaidō ranks 21st in population among the world's islands. Major cities include Sapporo and Asahikawa in the central region, and the port of Hakodate facing Honshu in the south. Sapporo is Hokkaidō's largest city and the fifth-largest in Japan. It had a population of 1,959,750 {{as of|2023|July|31|lc=on}} and a population density of {{convert|1,748|PD/km2|abbr=on}}.

{{see also|List of Natural Monuments of Japan (Hokkaidō)}}

There are three populations of the Ussuri brown bear found on the island. There are more brown bears in Hokkaidō than anywhere else in Asia besides Russia. The Hokkaidō brown bear is separated into three distinct lineages. There are only eight lineages in the world.{{cite journal|last1=Hirata|first1=Daisuke|title=Molecular Phylogeography of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) in Northeastern Asia Based on Analyses of Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequences|journal=Mol Biol Evol|date=2013|volume=30|issue=7|pages=1644–1652|doi=10.1093/molbev/mst077|display-authors=etal|pmid=23619144|doi-access=free}} Those on Honshu died out long ago.

The native conifer species in northern Hokkaidō is the Sakhalin fir (Abies sachalinensis).{{cite iucn |author1=Zhang, D. |author2=Katsuki, T. |author3=Rushforth, K. |date=2013 |title=Abies sachalinensis |volume=2013 |page=e.T42298A2970610 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42298A2970610.en |access-date=7 September 2021}} The flowering plant Hydrangea hirta is also found on the island.

:

{{See also|Category:Volcanoes of Hokkaido}}

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

• Hokkaido Koma-ga-take
• Mount Meakan
• Mount Tarumae
• Mount Tokachi
• Mount Usu and Shōwa-shinzan

In 1993, an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 generated a tsunami which devastated Okushiri, killing 202 inhabitants. An earthquake of magnitude 8.3 struck near the island on September 26, 2003. On September 6, 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck with its epicenter near the city of Tomakomai, causing a blackout across the whole island.{{cite web |title=M 6.6 - 27km E of Tomakomai, Japan |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us2000h8ty#executive |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=6 September 2018 |archive-date=6 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906015303/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us2000h8ty#executive |url-status=live }}

On May 16, 2021, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck off Japan's Hokkaidō prefecture.{{cite web|date=2021-05-16|title=Earthquake ALERT! 6.1-magnitude quake strikes this country|url=https://www.zeebiz.com/world/news-earthquake-alert-61-magnitude-quake-strikes-this-country-156754|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Zee Business|archive-date=2021-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516133541/https://www.zeebiz.com/world/news-earthquake-alert-61-magnitude-quake-strikes-this-country-156754|url-status=live}}

{{Main|National parks in Hokkaido}}

{{smaller|* designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 2005-07-14.}}

File:Kottaro situgen 2009.jpg|Overview of Kushiro Wetland

File:Lake Akan and Mount Oakan - 2005.jpg|Lake Akan and Mount Meakan

File:Image-2008 Lake Masshu.jpg|View of Lake Mashū

File:Lake Shikotsu17n4272.jpg|Lake Shikotsu

File:Sounkyo1.jpg|Sōunkyō, a gorge in the Daisetsu-zan Volcanic Area

• Twelve prefectural natural parks (道立自然公園). The prefectural natural parks cover 146,802 ha, the largest area of any prefecture.{{cite web|url=http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/nps/park/doc/files/np_6.pdf|title=General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture|date=31 March 2008|publisher=Ministry of the Environment Japan|access-date=2009-06-02|archive-date=2012-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421180819/http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/nps/park/doc/files/np_6.pdf|url-status=live}}
• 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 Kōen Prefectural Natural Park
• Notsuke-Fūren Prefectural Natural Park
• Sharidake Prefectural Natural Park
• Shumarinai Prefectural Natural Park
• Teshiodake Prefectural Natural Park

{{Main|Subprefectures of Hokkaido|List of mergers in Hokkaido}}

{{See also|List of municipalities of Hokkaido|Former provinces of Hokkaido}}

File:Large map of Hokkaido within Japan.png

File:Hokkaido_in_Japan_(claimed).svg

{{As of|2010|April}}, Hokkaidō has nine General Subprefectural Bureaus (総合振興局) and five Subprefectural Bureaus (振興局). Hokkaidō is one of eight prefectures in Japan that have subprefectures (支庁 shichō). 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 because of its great size; many parts of the prefecture are simply too far away to be effectively administered by Sapporo. Subprefectural offices in Hokkaidō carry out many of the duties that prefectural offices fulfill elsewhere in Japan.

Hokkaidō is divided into 179 municipalities.

File:Map of Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg

There are 35 cities in Hokkaidō:

These are the towns and villages in Hokkaido Prefecture:

File:Satellite image of Hokkaido, Japan in January 2003.jpg

File:Hokkaido Season Winter Summer 2008.png

As Japan's coldest region, Hokkaidō has relatively cool summers and icy/snowy winters. Most of the island falls in the humid continental climate zone with Köppen climate classification Dfb (hemiboreal) in most areas but Dfa (hot summer humid continental) in some inland lowlands. The average August temperature ranges from {{convert|17|to|22|C|F|1}}, while the average January temperature ranges from {{convert|-12|to|-4|C|F|1}}, 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 highest temperature ever recorded is {{convert|39.5|C|F|1}} on 26 May 2019.{{Cite news|url = https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hokkaido-sizzling-in-temperatures-as-high-as-395-deg-c-as-unseasonal-heat-wave-grips|title = Hokkaidō sizzling in temperatures up to 39.5 deg C as unseasonal heat wave grips Japan|newspaper = The Straits Times|date = 26 May 2019|last1 = Sim|first1 = Walter|access-date = 27 May 2019|archive-date = 27 May 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190527001259/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hokkaido-sizzling-in-temperatures-as-high-as-395-deg-c-as-unseasonal-heat-wave-grips|url-status = live}}

The northern portion of Hokkaidō falls into the taiga biomeC.Michael Hogan. 2011. [http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/171390/ Taiga. eds. M.McGinley & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104122600/http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/171390/ |date=2013-11-04 }} with significant snowfall. Snowfall varies widely from as much as {{convert|11|m|in|-2}} on the mountains adjacent to the Sea of Japan down to around {{convert|1.8|m|in|0}} on the Pacific coast. The island tends to have isolated snowstorms that develop long-lasting snowbanks. Total precipitation varies from {{convert|1600|mm|in}} on the mountains of the Sea of Japan coast to around {{convert|800|mm|in}} (the lowest in Japan) on the Sea of Okhotsk coast and interior lowlands and up to around {{convert|1100|mm|in|0}} on the Pacific side. The generally high quality of powder snow and numerous mountains in Hokkaidō 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. Hokkaidō 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 Hokkaidō. Ports on the open Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan are generally ice-free year round, though most rivers freeze during the winter.

Unlike the other major islands of Japan, Hokkaidō is normally not affected by the June–July 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.

{{sort under}}

File:Sapporo at Night (HOKKAIDO-JAPAN) (2374185648).jpg

Hokkaidō'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 Tomakomai, Iwamizawa, Kushiro, Obihiro, Kitami, Abashiri, Wakkanai, and Nemuro.

File:4 Chome Sakaigawa, Chūō-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaidō 064-0943, Japan - panoramio.jpg|Sapporo City

File:Asahibashi Bridge and Mt. Daisetsuzan Range.jpg|Asahikawa

File:Cityscapes of Hakodate Hokkaido pref Japan01n.jpg|Hakodate

File:Nusamai-Bridge.jpg|Kushiro

File:ObihiroMainSummer.jpg|Obihiro

File:春光町から北見市中心部方向 - panoramio.jpg|Kitami

File:Hokkaido-prefectural-road R6 central-Iwamizawa.JPG|Iwamizawa

File:Abashiri River09n.jpg|Abashiri

File:Wakkanai station001.JPG|Wakkanai

File:Hokkaido pref road No35 Nosappu Cape.jpg|Nemuro

File:Rumoi city nightview.JPG|Rumoi

File:Tokachi Plain aerial view near Obihiro Hokkaido.jpg

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.pref.hokkaido.jp/keizai/kz-bkkry/env/env-e.html|title=Hokkaido's Business Environment|publisher=Trade and Economic Exchange Group, Commerce and Economic Exchange Division, Department of Economic Affairs, Hokkaido Government|access-date=2008-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721020826/http://www.pref.hokkaido.jp/keizai/kz-bkkry/env/env-e.html|archive-date=2010-07-21}}

Agriculture and other primary industries play a large role in Hokkaidō's economy. Hokkaidō 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 beets, onions, pumpkins, corn, raw milk, and beef. Hokkaidō also accounts for 22% of Japan's forests with a sizable timber industry. The prefecture is first in the nation in production of marine products and aquaculture. The average farm size in Hokkaidō is 26 hectares per farmer in 2013, which is almost 11 times bigger than the national average of 2.4 hectares.{{Cite news |title=Trend toward stronger agriculture seen in Hokkaidō |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Biotechnology/Trend-toward-stronger-agriculture-seen-in-Hokkaido/ |work=The Nikkei |date=5 January 2015 |access-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407200056/https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Biotechnology/Trend-toward-stronger-agriculture-seen-in-Hokkaido/ |archive-date=7 April 2019 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}

File:Nakafurano 02.jpg in Nakafurano]]

Tourism is an important industry, especially during the cool summertime when visitors are attracted to Hokkaidō'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.{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/07/08/news/boom-time-for-hokkaido-ski-resort-area/#.UnYe43CVPeM|title=Boom time for Hokkaido ski resort area|last=Takahara|first=Kanako|date=July 8, 2008|work=The Japan Times|publisher=The Japan Times Ltd.|access-date=2008-09-27|archive-date=2013-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413123055/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/07/08/news/boom-time-for-hokkaido-ski-resort-area/#.UnYe43CVPeM|url-status=live}}

Coal mining played an important role in the industrial development of Hokkaidō, with the Ishikari coalfield. Cities such as Muroran were primarily developed to supply the rest of the archipelago with coal.

In 2023, Rapidus Corporation announced Hokkaido's largest business investment with a 5 trillion yen plan to build a semiconductor manufacturing factory in Chitose. The site is expected to eventually host over 1,000 employees.{{Cite web |title=New Hokkaido chip plant will 'stun the world,' Rapidus says |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14851046 |first1=Kenji |last1=Izawa |first2=Satoshi |last2=Shinden |first3=Takumi |last3=Wakai |date=2023-03-01 |website=The Asahi Shimbun |language=en}}

File:JRH H5 H2 JRE E5 U14 Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station north 20160406.jpg on the Hokkaido Shinkansen]]

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 Hokkaidō.

Hokkaidō can 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.{{cite news |last1=Bender |first1=Andrew |title=Japan Opens a Futuristic Bullet Train Line from Tokyo to Hokkaido |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2016/03/28/japan-opens-a-futuristic-bullet-train-line-from-tokyo-to-hokkaido/#42c829643168 |work=Forbes |date=28 March 2016 |language=en |access-date=4 September 2017 |archive-date=8 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908191628/https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2016/03/28/japan-opens-a-futuristic-bullet-train-line-from-tokyo-to-hokkaido/#42c829643168 |url-status=live }} There is a fairly well-developed railway network, but many cities can be accessed only by road. The coal railways were constructed around Sapporo and Horonai during the late 19th century, as advised by American engineer Joseph Crawford.

Hokkaidō is home to one of Japan's Melody Road{{Broken anchor|date=2025-05-09|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Musical road#Melody Road|reason= The anchor (Melody Road) has been deleted.|diff_id=989373386}}s, 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.{{cite news |first=Bobbie |last=Johnson |title=Japan's melody roads play music as you drive |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/13/japan.gadgets |work=The Guardian |publisher=GMG |location=Farringdon Road, London, England |page=19 (International section) |date=13 November 2007 |access-date=2008-10-20 |archive-date=2013-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901025639/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/13/japan.gadgets |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/09/car-musical-instrument-melody-roads-japan/ |title=Your car as a musical instrument – Melody Roads |access-date=20 October 2008 |date=29 September 2008 |publisher=Noise Addicts |archive-date=13 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913223414/http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/09/car-musical-instrument-melody-roads-japan/ |url-status=live }}

{{multiple image

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| width1 = 175

| image1 = 131103 Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens Sapporo Hokkaido Japan18o.jpg

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}}

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

{{Further|List of high schools in Japan|ja:北海道高等学校一覧}}

{{As of|2016}},{{Cite web |url=http://www.dokyoi.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/hk/ksk/chosa/settihai/gsu2016_2top.htm |title=H28道内の学校数 ｜ 教育庁総務政策局教育政策課 |access-date=2022-10-28 |archive-date=2016-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002202018/http://www.dokyoi.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/hk/ksk/chosa/settihai/gsu2016_2top.htm |url-status=dead }} there are 291 high schools in Hokkaido: 4 national schools, 55 private schools,{{cite web | url=https://www.doshigaku.jp/search/?taxonomy%5B%5D=privatehighschool | title=学校検索 | 私学ナビHokkaido 北海道の私立学校協会 }} 233 public schools,{{cite web | url=http://www.hokkaido-c.ed.jp/kouritsu/index.html | title=公立高等学校 - 北海道スクールネットポータルサイト }} and 2 integrated junior-senior schools.

{{Further|List of universities in Japan}}

Hokkaidō has 34 universities (7 national, 6 local public, and 21 private universities), 15 junior colleges, and 6 colleges of technology (3 national, 1 local public, and 2 private colleges).

File:中空土偶.jpg, the only National Treasure on the island (Hakodate Jōmon Culture Center)]]

• Historical Village of Hokkaido
• Hokkaido Archaeological Operations Center
• Hokkaidō Heritage
• Hokkaido Museum
• Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
• Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples
• Pacific Music Festival
• Sapporo ramen, Jingisukan

File:Sapporo Dome01.jpg in Sapporo]]

The 1972 Winter Olympics were held in Sapporo.

The sports teams listed below are based in Hokkaidō.

• Consadole Sapporo (association football)
• Hokkaido American Football Association
• Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
• Japan Basketball League
• Levanga Hokkaido (basketball)
• Loco Solare (curling)
• Nippon Paper Cranes (ice hockey)
• Oji Eagles (ice hockey)

• Asahikawa Ice Festival
• Big Air – snowboarding freestyle competition
• Sapporo Snow Festival
• Shōwa-Shinzan International Yukigassen - competitive snowballing
• Sōunkyō Ice Festival

Hokkaidō has relationships with several provinces, states, and other entities worldwide.[http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/koryujyokyo.htm "Exchange Affiliates"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524080923/http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/koryujyokyo.htm |date=2015-05-24 }}. Retrieved on 5 December 2008.

• {{flagicon|CAN}} Alberta, Canada, since 1980{{cite web | title = Hokkaido – Alberta Relations | url = http://www.international.alberta.ca/documents/International/Hokkaido-AB.pdf | access-date = 2010-05-30 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101204174811/http://www.international.alberta.ca/documents/International/Hokkaido-AB.pdf | archive-date = 2010-12-04 }}{{cite web | title = Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks & Wildlife Foundation | url = http://www.asrpwf.ca/sport/international-sport-exchange.aspx | access-date = 2010-05-30 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111028170719/http://www.asrpwf.ca/sport/international-sport-exchange.aspx | archive-date = 2011-10-28 }}
• {{flagicon|PRC}} Heilongjiang, China, since 1980
• {{flagicon|USA}} Massachusetts, United States, since 1988{{cite web | title=Massachusetts Hokkaido Association | url=http://www.masshokkaido.org/Default.aspx?pageId=151052 | access-date=2010-05-30 | archive-date=2015-06-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630212650/http://www.masshokkaido.org/Default.aspx?pageId=151052 | url-status=live }}
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, since 1998
• {{flagicon|KOR}} Busan, South Korea, since 2005
• {{flagicon|KOR}} Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, since 2006
• {{flagicon|KOR}} Seoul, South Korea, since 2010{{cite web|url=http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/teikei/gaiyou_seoulkouryu.htm|access-date=2013-11-03|title=ソウル特別市との交流|archive-date=2018-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809111552/http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/teikei/gaiyou_seoulkouryu.htm|url-status=live}}
• {{flagicon|THA}} Chiang Mai, Thailand, since 2013{{cite web |url=http://www.northernsistercity.org/file/event/5bbed4b49f7eb_LOI_EnglishVersion.pdf |access-date=2018-12-29 |title=MOU of the Establishment of Friendship between Province of Chiang Mai and Prefecture of Hokkaido |archive-date=2018-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229171546/http://www.northernsistercity.org/file/event/5bbed4b49f7eb_LOI_EnglishVersion.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{flagicon|BHU}} Thimphu, Bhutan
• {{Flagicon|USA}} Hawaii, United States of America{{cite web |title=Hawaii's Sister-States|publisher=State of Hawai'i|url=https://invest.hawaii.gov/international/sister-states/|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016200107/https://invest.hawaii.gov/international/sister-states/|archive-date=October 16, 2020}}

{{As of|2014|January}}, 74 individual municipalities in Hokkaidō have sister city agreements with 114 cities in 21 countries worldwide.[http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/teikei/teikei_s.htm 市町村の姉妹友好提携 (Sister city partnerships)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228112247/http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/teikei/teikei_s.htm |date=2017-12-28 }}. Retrieved on 3 November 2013. {{in lang|ja}}

The current governor of Hokkaido is Naomichi Suzuki.{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/30/national/politics-diplomacy/japans-youngest-governor-hokkaido/|title=In Hokkaido, Japan's youngest governor seen as 'safe driver,' but critics want him to go off script|date=30 August 2019|website=Hokkaido Shimbun|publisher=The Japan Times|quote=When 38-year-old Naomichi Suzuki was elected governor of Hokkaido in April, he simultaneously achieved another feat: becoming the youngest serving prefectural leader in the nation.|access-date=3 June 2024}} He won the governorship in the gubernatorial election in 2019 as an independent. In 1999, Hori was supported by all major non-Communist parties and Itō ran without party support. Before 1983, the governorship had been held by Liberal Democrats Naohiro Dōgakinai and Kingo Machimura for 24 years. In the 1971 election when Machimura retired, the Socialist candidate Shōhei Tsukada lost to Dōgakinai by only 13,000 votes;Hokkaido prefectural government: [http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/file.jsp?id=45912 Gubernatorial election results since 1947]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{in lang|ja}} 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 Hokkaidō'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.

The Hokkaido Legislative Assembly has 100 members from 47 electoral districts. {{As of|2015|April|30|df=US}}, the LDP caucus holds a majority with 51 seats, the DPJ-led group has 26 members. Other groups are the Hokkaidō Yūshikai of New Party Daichi and independents with twelve seats, Kōmeitō with eight, and the Japanese Communist Party with four members.Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly: [http://www.gikai.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/_/meibo/grp/senkyoku-kaiha.pdf Members by electoral district and parliamentary group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809214231/http://www.gikai.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/_/meibo/grp/senkyoku-kaiha.pdf |date=2014-08-09 }} {{in lang|ja}} General elections for the Hokkaido assembly are currently held together with gubernatorial elections in the unified local elections (last round: April 2015).

{{Main|Hokkaido's Diet electoral districts}}

For the lower house of the National Diet, Hokkaidō is divided into twelve single-member electoral districts. In the 2017 election, candidates from the governing coalition of Liberal Democrats and Kōmeitō won seven districts and the main opposition Constitutional Democrats five. For the proportional election segment, Hokkaidō 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 2017, the Liberal Democratic Party received 28.8% of the proportional vote and won three seats, the Constitutional Democratic Party won three (26.4% of the vote), one seat each went to Kibō no Tō (12.3%) and Kōmeitō (11.0%). The Japanese Communist Party, who won a seat in 2014, lost their seat in 2017 while receiving 8.5% of the votes.

In the upper house of the National Diet, a major reapportionment in the 1990s halved the number of Councillors from Hokkaidō 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, Hokkaidō will then temporarily be represented by five members and six after the 2019 election.

• Former Hokkaidō Government Office
• Golden Kamuy, a manga and anime series set mainly in Hokkaido.
• Hokkaido dialects
• List of cities in Hokkaido by population
• People from Hokkaido
• Sankebetsu brown bear incident
• Sinnoh, a fictional region in the Pokémon franchise which is based on Hokkaido.

{{reflist}}

{{note|Hokkaidō|[note 1]}} Source: English edition of Sightseeing in Hokkaido, Winter Festival and Events

• {{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4bN3cJSx0gC

|title=An itinerary of Hokkaido, Japan, Volume 1

|year=1893

|first=John

|last=Batchelor

|author2=Japanese Central Association

|publisher=Hakodate Chamber of Commerce

|location= Tokyo

}}

• Bisignani, J. D. (1993). Japan Handbook. Chico, California: Moon Publications. {{ISBN|9780960332229}}; {{ISBN|9780908054145}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8954556 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}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28017793 OCLC 28017793]
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC Japan encyclopedia]. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128 OCLC 58053128]

{{Wiktionary|Hokkaido}}

• [http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ Hokkaido Official Website] {{in lang|ja}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120504004215/http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/foreign/English.htm Hokkaido Official Website] {{in lang|en}}
• [https://www.thetopmatters.com/2021/08/Hokkaido-Japan.html Amazing Details on Hokkaido] (In English)
• [https://ninjapan.org/2020-best-10-ski-resort-in-hokkaido/ Hokkaido Ski Resort] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814100958/https://ninjapan.org/2020-best-10-ski-resort-in-hokkaido/ |date=2020-08-14 }}

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Category:Ainu geography

Category:Japanese archipelago

Category:Prefectures of Japan