Discover Hokkaidō

Hokkaido is the northernmost island in Japan and is bordered by the East Sea/Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. Hokkaida was created by both the coalescence of the Chishima and Karafuto arcs. Hokkaido is a province and makes up 21% of Japan's total land area. The climate of Hokkaido consists of cool weather. It also boasts of new mountains and volcanos. Japan began settling the area in 1869 but before that the Ainu people dominated Hokkaido for many years. Hokkaido was renamed from Yezo also in 1869. It has a total island size mass of 30,107 square miles. The Province itself is 32,331 square feet. Finally the population of Hokkaido consists of 5,627,737 people.

The industries that are present in Hokkaido are steel, wood pulp, dairy and fishing. Along with these industries Hokkaido also grow rice, soy, kidney beans, oats, barley, hay, and potatoes. These are all very important crops in Hokkaido and rice is the staple crop. Hokkaido also has one of the largest oil refineries in all of Japan. Seikan Tunnel was started in 1964 but was not finished till 1998. This tunnel was built under the Tsugaru Strait. This tunnel links Hokkaido to the main Japanese Island, Honshu.

Sapparo is the Administrative Headquarters for Hokkaido. It is also a big tourist spot, Tourist center, and commercial. Hokkaido University is also located in Sapparo. The other important towns that are located inside of Hokkaido are Hakodate, Otaru, and Muroran. The rail connects Hokkaido to Hokkaido and Aomori on Honshu.