Tell me some interesting facts for Hokkaido, the big northern japanese island
MapAlso it's the snowiest major city in the world!
This! Warm[er] water comes off the Sea of Japan and precipitates as snow during the winter.
Massive powder skiing!
So like lake effect snow but it’s the ocean and you don’t have to live in buffalo. Nice.
Buffalo catching strays out here in a thread about The Japans
Justified
Freezing to death on the highway has got to be one of the worst ways to go. Fuck living in Buffalo. I actually want to visit, I'll be doing it in the summer lol
The schools are great in Buffalo. Well, in Amherst
JAPOW!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapporo#Climate
Holy crap, average 54" (137cm) of snow in January and 29.1 snowy days. Dec/Feb average ~26 snow days and ~45". That's wild.
Sapporo beer rocks
I remember growing up whenever we went out for sushi that's what my dad would get. I'd continue the tradition but I'm not much of a beer drinker, so it's hot sake for me
Always been a “Sapporo + hot sake” guy
About 20 years ago there was a sushi place in San Diego that had a large Sapporo + hot sake happy hour deal for $4.50. Even then it was a goddamn steal
Some say the city was named after the beer
One of my faves
There are also Hokkaido exclusive variants of Sapporo called Sapporo Classic and, most interesting, Sapporo Oyster Black made with Akkeshi (small fishing village on the east coast famous for its oysters which are delicious and gigantic) oyster oils I believe it is.
Sapporo Classic is great, so much better than normal Sapporo
^ THIS... I knew a shop in Europe that had import beers, and the only Sapporo they had was classic.... I considered myself both lucky and Spoiled to know it.
Agree!
I'll take a pass on the shellfish-flavored beer, including the Spicy Clamato Budweiser.
Surprisingly you'd have no idea! It's just a dark malty beer. Think it's more gimmick than anything.
I love that shit on a hot day, especially the Bud Light version… lime with Tajin and a frozen mug… perfect
I am no food coward and will give that a try.
Very good. Crisp and on the lighter side but lots of flavor. Great with a lot of food. Fish ball soup.
I had it for the first time at Korean BBQ a couple weeks ago and oh my god it washes down miso short ribs perfect
Goes well with sushi as well!
I always get the hot sake and tall Sapporo combo special when we go to sushi
Sapporo tastes like Liquid Honor
And this is the first thing I thought of followed by skiing
The island gets extremely heavy snowfall. For example the city of Sapporo, while having similar temperatures with Stockholm, gets about five times as much snow.
It's actually the second snowiest city on earth, behind Aomori, which is just 250km away on the island of Honshu
The abundant snowfall is also very light and fluffy, arguably making Hokkaido the best place for powder skiing/snowboarding in the world.
JaPOW, as they say.
Have been and can confirm. It was the best skiing in my life and it's not close. I have skied in most of the big spots in the Western US and Canada over the last 20 years so have some decent reference points. Hokkaido has the best snow by miles.
Just went in February and it was straight ice every day. 55 degrees at the base and called the trip early it was so bad. Such a waste of money for all that lol
As you can tell I’m still salty
The niseko-hirafu ski area is amazing. I stayed there for 4 months on a working holiday visa working on the mountain, and I got to snowboard/ski almost every day.
Can confirm. I spent a February around Mount Furano in my 20s and skiied the shit out of that place.
But it is mostly on the North and middle side of the Island and the South side gets significantly less because the snow is brought in by the Siberan winds that come from the North
There is a significant population of the Ainu people, one of Japan’s few ethnic minorities.
About 90% (>200K) of them were assimilated into Japanese culture over the last 150-200 years, only about 25,000 remain that self-identify as Ainu
in more recent times there is a slow cultural awareness/ appreciation of the Ainu culture, by japanese society and Ainu themselves.
I know the ainu people because of "Golden Kamuy"
GOLDEN PEAKMUY MENTIONED
Best historical manga/anime of all time. So much homoeroticism <3
In Japan and I hate the cold
Watched this show to practice Japanese
Not only did my Japanese improve but I learnt so much and I’m really interested in visiting Hokkaido
Awesome series in general to boot, great plot and ideas
That is really good to hear, finally after centuries of discrimination!
Some have grey or blue-ish eyes. They appear to be Mongolian and Caucasian looking than Japanese.
Apparently, remnants of indigenous Paleolithic tribes isolated on the islands. Later forced into assimilation. Ainu people - Wikipedia The Untold Story of Japan's First People – SAPIENS
Thanks for that latter article - very interesting indeed
I used to live in Sapporo and occasionally I’d see an Ainu person at the train station. You can definitely tell that they’re Ainu due to their facial hair or 5 o’clock shadow.
When I went to Sapporo earlier this year, I went to Family Mart to grab some snacks. The cashier has a quite distinctive look from an average Japanese that I was almost compelled to speak English with her thinking she's a Gaijin living or studying in Japan. She's a bit whitish compared to an average Japanese and has some fusion between a Mongoloid and Caucasian facial feature. Could she actually be Ainu.
Possibly. Ainu men have a more distinctive non-Japanese look (tan skin, more facial hair, less almond eye shape, larger brow ridges) and Ainu women look like a cross between indigenous Siberians and Mongolian so it’s a bit more challenging to “spot” an Ainu women imo. My biggest regret while living in Hokkaido was passing by the Ainu museum and never visiting it (forget where it was but it’s in the middle of nowhere between Sapporo and Obihiro). I saw it as I passed by on the train multiple times.
The Kyoshi people in Avatar are actually based off of them!
The language is also almost extinct. It's estimated that 5 people are still conversant in it.
They rode on red elk…but that’s just a legend I heard
The legend of Princess Monenoke, I presume?
I don't know if this is true or just a weird form of orientalism, but I've heard they are famous for their facial hair
Their face tattoos are wild
Practically speaking the Ainu are gone from Japan. Go try and find an Ainu restaurant in Tokyo, the biggest city on earth. You might find one, and it won't be busy.
Sure there are somewhat more in Hokkaido but you're talking about a highly diluted culture at this point.
Even in Hokkaido I just saw a single Ainu restaurant near the Akan lake. The food was quite bland and tasteless (which I guess it’s understandable since the Ainus probably didn’t use the variety of seasonings of modern Japanese cuisine) so I don’t really wonder why they aren’t more popular. Maybe a “modern Ainu” or “Ainu-inspired” restaurant, if such thing exists, would be more popular.
The Sinnoh region in Pokemon is just the island of Hokkaido with slight changes in its shape
That's actually pretty interesting
Wait until you google the Kanto region
Every region across Pokémon’s nine generations is based on a real world location and the maps line up more or less with the country/region they’re based on (except gen 5, which although it’s based on the U.S., the map doesn’t really line up).
The map of unova lines up with NYC and parts of NJ, and it contains many things specific to that area, such as the subway and the Staten Island ferry.
It’s based on New York City
Except the northeastern island, which is based off the southern point of Sakhalin, Russia.
Which used to be part of Japan until Japan lost World War 2.
Widely known for having some of the best skiing in the world
They hosted the Winter Olympics!
Wasn’t that in Nagano? Or was it some other Winter Olympics?
It is a powder snow heaven!
But why? The terrain?
The POW. Cold air from Siberia crosses the Sea of Japan picking up moisture then dumping when it hits the mountains.
The quantity of snow. Northwestern Japan is among the snowiest places on earth.
During the Meiji Restoration, in 1869, military remnants loyal to the Tokugawa Shogun fled to Hokkaido and stablished a brief breakaway nation there called the Republic of Ezo (Ezo being the common name for the island at the time).
It only lasted half a year, but the alternative history of Hokkaido as a Taiwan-like breakaway state are super interesting.
I for sure will check these alternative histories, thank you.
To continue a bit on this super interesting story, the troops were accompanied by 10 French soldiers who had come to Japan to train the Shogun military, and had decided to stay to help the trainees when the civil war broke out. They were led by Jules Brunet, said to be a key inspiration for the character of Nathan Algren in Last Samurai. The army of the Republic of Ezo was organized under the control of these officers, and Brunet, acting as a "Foreign minister" tried to convince foreign powers to recognize the new Republic.
The Army Superintendent of the Republic was Hijikata Toshizo, vice-commandant of the famed Shinsengumi militia (he died during the final battle of the republic).
After the fall of the Republic in June 1869, its President, Enomoto Takeaki, was arrested, tried for high-treason, imprisoned, but pardonned in 1872. He served the newly formed Meiji government which was looking for talented people, became Vice-Admiral of the Japanese Navy and occupied several posts of Minister (Navy, Foreign Minister, Education...).
Did you watch golden kamuy?
Hokkaido has a small population of Ussuri brown bears.
This is legit a movie plot manifested into reality.
Japanese jaws
Knew what this was before I opened it
One of the most terrifying stories I’ve ever heard
That bear was a local terrorist. Absolute muscle, cunning, rage, and hunger in action
You can feed them in this bear sanctuary in this town called Noboribetsu.
Soviets planned an invasion of Hokkaido in 1945, proposing a division of the island by occupying its entire northern shoreline, but got cancelled due to Japanese surrender in August of the same year, happening prior to their plans.
It's also another reason why Japan surrendered, out of fear of a Soviet invasion of the home isles as they already captured the Kuril islands to the east, and Karafuto Prefecture in the south of neighboring Sakhalin.
Yes, and one of the reasons convincing the US to drop the bombs -- didn't want the USSR getting there first.
The idea of a North and South Japan, similar to East and West Germany, is a super interesting alt history topic.
And a rather horrifying one considering the strength of the JCP back then. A regime not too far different from North Korea might emerge in the end if it did happen.
I live here. Climate is very very windy, snowy and cold even in the summer. Today felt like 15c or so. Lots of open flat empty land. We're famous for agriculture and dairy. The city is a grid city built by American architects. I honestly can't wait to leave lol.
Edit: why do I want to leave? I find Hokkaido boring. I'm a regular Japanese uni student. We don't have driving liscenses or anything, and also even if you did it's so hard to travel in Japan. You must pay $50 for tolls to the next city, it's crazy. As a result, most uni people don't ever leave their main city of Sapporo. And honestly, the nature + cool stuff Hokkaido is famous for is not accessible unless you drive about 2 hrs from Sapporo. What you're left with is a grid city of boring structures, terribly maintained roads, and bad climate. Not to mention jobs here are horribly hard to find, with low pay and more of the traditional ideas of working hours Japan is infamous for. Overall, I think it would be great to be a tourist in Hokkaido but I can't wait to move to Tokyo and hopefully make the most of my mixed race to work at a nice chill international company.
That being said I haven't lived in Tokyo. I just idealize it and have no idea how different it will be. I have to say my favourite place was Naha so far in Japan. It's not gridded like Sapporo, amazing hills, amazing commute with the monorail that overseas the whole city. I return to Sapporo and get very bored of the same terrain, same streets, lack of diverse food etc. it gets to you after some time.
It has a popular beer festival and some winter snow events lol that's all I know because I was curious about it when I was in Japan
Why do you want to leave? I’m guessing the climate?
I'm here because I'm a uni student. I think there's not much in terms of jobs, especially because I'm mixed race and therefore trying to work for 外資系. Salaries and work life here is brutal, and I can't help always feeling I'm missing out on Tokyo life, which just seems more fun
cold even in the summer.
Sold. Fuck this heat.
I also live here and.... It's "cold"
I'll try to explain.
Some days are in fact cold. Yesterday I wanted a jacket, because the wind was like 15 or so, when the wind stopped however it was like being melted by a Lazer beam.
The temperature fluctuates a lot in the summer. It can go from 18 one day to 28 to 35 over 2 days, sit at 35 for a week then drop to 18 overnight again before blasting up to 35 again 2 days later. The humidity is also insanely variable. It will be 35 and like 20 percent humidity, then 28 and 75 percent the next day. It means there's no real "getting used" to the temperature. When I lived in Osaka it was the same temp every day so it just felt normal, here I don't get that.
The UV index is also really rough. I burn in 10 to 15 minutes here easily, when I lived in Osaka I could spend all day at the beach with no sunscreen and not even tan.
Do you recommend spending some time visiting the island? If yes, where would you begin with? My wife has to go there for work June next year and we'll join her together with my son. Unfortunately we'll only have 16-17 days so we have to make choices!
You have to eat at Hachikyo! They have really good sushi and the ikura will blow your mind.
I went in 2017 was amazing. Arrived in Sapporo, drove to Obihiro which is really beautiful too. Drove northeast in the national parks there in the mountains. Amazing scenery. Then to Abashiri driving to Shiretoko national park. That was wild, I recommend everyone see that if possible. Feels so desolate and wild. Last hide out for Japanese brown bears if I recall
Sapporo’s grid was designed by Americans? I would assume this was during the post war occupation but I can’t find anything on the Wikipedia about it? Also your description of Hokkaido reaffirms my belief that it is the Montana-Dakota region of Japan.
"During 1870–1871, Kuroda Kiyotaka, vice-chairman of the Hokkaido Development Commission (Kaitaku-shi), approached the American government for assistance in developing the land. As a result, Horace Capron, Secretary of Agriculture under President Ulysses S. Grant, became an oyatoi gaikokujin and was appointed as a special advisor to the commission."
Second paragraph on the History tab in the English language version.
We love the grid, huge fan of the grid
My great great grandfather was once the governor of Hokkaido
The Seikan tunnel connects Hokkaido to Honshu so it’s possible to get the train from Tokyo to the island
It's part of the Shinkansen high speed rail network and at 53.8 km in length, it's the longest under sea tunnel in the world!
However, the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France at 50.5 km has the longest under water section, with 37.9 km under water, Vs 23.3 km of the Seikan tunnel under water. The reason for this is that the Seikan tunnel is much deeper, reaching 240 m below sea level compared to 115 m below sea level for the Channel Tunnel.
So more tunnel is under water, but for less distance?
half the tunnel but under twice as much water...
same same, but different
Help I'm so slow I don't understand
Japanese tunel has a long entry and exit, but undersea part is not so long.
What’s interesting is it’s by far the largest prefecture in Japan I wonder why that is
lowest population desity of all the prefectures.
Think Alaska for the States... Biggest and nature wildlife space.
Oddly, not a sister city with Anchorage/Juno but with Seattle and Oregon
It was last major Japanese island to come under the control of the central government in Tokyo. It's very sparsely populated by Japanese standards and a long way away, so had a high degree of autonomy. For a few decades there were a few prefectures in Hokkaido, but these were amalgamated after WWII.
It’s technically in the North American tectonic plate.
My mom was from Yubari. It used to have lots of coal mines and a population over 100,000. Today, it’s estimated to have a little over 6,000.
I came through one of these old coal areas in Hokkaido by accident... I had no idea and it was pretty interesting I have to say.
I also came through that town where Japan Steel is located, don't recall the name rn. Seeing the facility from the surrounding hillside was more than impressive, I had never seen something like that in person. A massive plant.
Also, Hokkaido was amazing. One of the best parts of my Japan trip. I really enjoyed it up there. Just beautiful. Quite wild. Bathed in some random natural hot spring next to an ice cold stream. 10/10 can recommend.
Towards the end of the Bakumatsu (period covering from 1853 to 1868, when Japan left its isolationnism and saw major political, societal, economical, cultural and technical changes), Hokkaido ended as the last bastion of the Shogunate forces supported by France, against the progressing Imperial forces of Matsuhito (Emperor Meiji) supported by Great Britain.
The secessionist camp proclaimed there the brief (6 months) Republic of Ezo, based on the American system, the only kind having ever existing in Japan lands. It was leaded by admiral Enomoto Takeaki (president), Matsudaira Tarō (vice-president and minister of the foreign affairs), Ōtori Keisuke (minister of the army), Arai Ikunosuke (minister of the navy) mainly. The former vice-commandant of the notorious shogunate militia called Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizō, was co-minister of the armies and head commander of the troops along Ōtori, and... French officer Jules Brunet (who inspired the Last Samurai movie).
They held before losing the desperate battle of Hakodate Bay and being embanked. Finally Enomoto and his government accepted to surrender, they would be gracied later. The foreign officers were ordered (or evaded according some sources) to go back in France. Hijikata Toshizō, a tough but respected officer and dutiful bushido follower, died 7 days before the surrender in a last offensive from Imperial troops.
You can still see and visit the Vauban forteress of Goryōkaku, transformed into a nice park and the last vestige of this era as the Benten Daibai fort has been dismantled.
Wow, thank you for the interesting information, man, exactly the stuff I hoped to find here.
It is renowned for its many soap factories.
Silence Fish Bulb!
I was looking for this one
They make a dish detergent there that banishes dirt to the land of wind and ghosts.
In the late nineties it was the secret location of the second machine.
Why build one when you can have two for twice the price?
Actually, the third one. The Soviet one broke, and the Wyoming one was destroyed, killing Drumlin.
Edit: The book is canon, not the stupid movie.
The book is incredible, but I strongly dispute that the movie is stupid. I think it was pretty inspiring for lots of ppl
Definitely need to get around to reading the book. Watched the movie religiously growing up.
A lot of traffic between North America and Korea or China passes between Hokkaido and Honshu. This is a deeper strait than those near Sakhalin or between the other major Japanese islands.
Japan’s first brewery is from Hokkaido (Sapporo) if I’m not mistaken and they have an interesting story
The original natives of the island are the Ainu and the women of the Ainu used to tattoo around their lips in black
You can kinda see Russia (the Kuril islands and maybe sakhalin I’m not sure about that) from some points from Hokkaido
One of the snowiest places on earth with world class skiing and
Sapporo is around the same latitude as nice
which is nice.
Might get shot for this statement but, Otaru may have the best sushi in all of Japan. Colder waters, fatter fish, etc. Plus you can hop over to Yoichi to the first Nikka Whisky distillery. Soup curry (look it up) originated here as did Jingisukan.
Been to Hokkaido seven times and will keep returning.
Great arc in Food Wars takes place there
It has some of the highest snow events in the world. When my sister stayed there for a year they had to shovel 2m of snow from the roof for weeks. The streets had 6m high walls of snow to both sides. The pictures were amazing.
Since you asked like we are ChatGPT, I'm going to read every answer in Scarlet Johanson's voice.
famous for potato and lavender
Site of one of the worst series of Bear attacks in history.
Hokkaido pumpkin can be eaten without peeling it
There is an ongoing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over three islands and one smaller group of islands, the Soviet Union took the territory after WW2 but Japan claims they weren’t part of the historic Kuril islands and therefore claims them as the Northern Territories. Japan and Russia have still not signed a treaty formally ending WW2 because of this dispute.
This wasn't considered part of Japan until only about 150ish years ago.
I can highly recomment Daisetzusan National Park hiking. Mt. Asahidake is quite a view if you're up there.
It was settled by the japanese as late as the 19th century. The former inhabitants, the Ainu, are now completely assimilated in the japanese population.
They have snowy winters
That's Murodo, on the Tateyama Kurobe alpine route, very far from Hokkaido. I've been there 3 times.
Snowfall in this region is much worse than in Hokkaido, but because the temperatures are rarelly below zero, the snow has time to melt before the next snowstorm. So it doesn't accumulate as much except in higher altitudes in the mountains, where the temperatures stay below zero (where that picture was taken).
Just a dusting
Originally home to the Native Ainu people that were ethnically cleansed by the Japanese. The Ainu were a totally separate culture before Japanese conquest
It was the last of the main islands to become part of “Japan.” It was still mostly a foreign backwater until the Meiji Restoration.
You can in fact see Russia from some sort of house…
It is the only one of the main islands of Japan that is not accessible on foot from Tokyo - while Yaun-mosir* is connected to Sisam-mosir** by a tunnel, said tunnel is rail only. On the other hand, the other main islands are connected by a pedestrian tunnel (Tsukushi/Kyushu) or a walkable system of causeways and bridges along islands in between (Iyo/Shikoku).
* The least politically charged and least ambiguous Ainu name for this island, and as such it is the name most used in apolitical works
** "Land on the Other Side" or "Land of the Japanese".
The best snow sculpture festival in Sapporo. The sculptures are bigger than houses.
Hokkaido was settled relatively recently by the Japanese beginning in 1869. For context, the Civil War had already ended in America and there were 36 states, more than half the current number of 50.
The island was home to the Republic of Ezo, which was a separatist state established by the famous Tokugawa Shogunate after they got booted off the lower islands. Apparently the first state in Japan to institute democracy, it lasted a grand 5 months.
Hakodate, the 3rd largest city on Hokkaido located on the island’s southernmost tip, was the first Japanese city to be opened to foreign trade, in 1854.
Mt. Yōtei is famous for looking identical to Mt. Fuji, and is referred to as Ezo-Fuji sometimes. It is clearly visible in this photo.
Lake Mashū is also said to be one of the clearest lakes in the world. Lake Kuttara is an almost perfectly round lake. Both are also clearly visible in this photo.
There is a Hokkaido-Pumpkin (Uchiki Kuri). At least it is sold in Germany as Hokkaido Pumpkin, because the first seed of this pumpkin variety was imported from Hokkaido.
Unlike the rest of Japan which is broke up into smaller regions, the island of Hokkaido is one large, singular region/province.
I found the regional train travel in winter incredibly quaint. One car trains, trudging thru the deep snow-covered countryside , up the gentle valleys towards the ski resorts. Great car, modern and comfortable tho, and packed with tourists!
And the small town seafood soup restaurants on Uchiura bay were amazing. In January the winds would howl in off the water , athwart a vaguely industrial corniche, but the sun was often shining brightly.
Spicy Miso Ramen is a specialty there and it is amazing. Lots of underground tunnels with lots of shopping connecting different parts of Sapporo. The tunnels in Toronto were modeled after Sapporo.
If you’re into ancient Japanese culture, Hokkaido isn’t the place to go.
The Sinnoh region in pokemon was based on Hokkaido
The native inhabitants of Hokkaido are the Ainu, whose ancestors have inhabited the island since the Ice Age but nowadays their native language is unfortunately dying out. The island's previous name was Ezo or Yezo but it was changed during the Meiji restoration. The old Government Office Building located in Sapporo was designed by an American architect and advisor Horace Capron and its have octagonal dome which has been restored every time after several fires. Hokkaido is also inhabited by the northernmost macaques, aka snow monkeys, who like to bathe in hot springs and are therefore the island's most iconic animal. The town of Sobetsu, Hokkaido is the friendship city of the Finnish town of Kemijärvi and Sobetsu is known for its snowball fight tournaments.
The Japanese Type 90 tank is only operated in Hokkaido. This is due to the fact that Hokkaido's plains allow an infrastructure able to support the weight of the tank unlike the other Japanese islands.
The Japanese did a whole bunch of ethnic cleansing on the native Ainu people, to the point where an unknown number of Ainu are unaware of the heritage and only about a 100 people speak the language natively.
Wildlife other than bears? Looking it up. Some Australian birds stop off in Hokkaido on their migration north to Eastern Russia.
Wildlife includes the Yezo Sika deer, red fox, sea otters, red squirrel, Ezo squirrel, Ezo chipmunk, flying squirrel (momonga), crying rabbit (pika), least weasel.
Blakiston's fish owl, Japanese crane, Steller's sea eagle, white-fronted geese, long tailed tit.
There are more Australians in Hokkaido than Australia itself during the Japan Ski season
/s
Where is this picture from? It's such a confusing perspective. Why is that cloud underneath the left side of the inlet on the left?
It snows so much they have to haul the snow away from ski resort base areas by the truck load and dump it in the ocean
Niseko Ramen in Niseko produces my favorite bowl of hot noods.
It’s very easy to drink too much beer at the Sapporo Brewery, and then take the wrong stop and almost miss check in on base at Chitose.
By early 1945, American submarines, harbor mining and aerial bombing had effectively cut Japan's sea trade to a trickle. Japan produces no oil, so they had to fall back on coal to... well, do anything that requires heat.
Hokkaido had large coal mines. Those kept Japan going (more or less) for the remainder of the war. The strait separating Hokkaido from Honshu is short enough (and coal barges small enough) that the US Navy never shut the traffic down before the war ended.
Quite possibly the best scallops in the world come from Hokkaido
That's where Kunimitsu Takahashi invented the Drift.
It has a different vibe than the rest of Japan since the rest of Japan has millennia of history and Hokkaido only became part of Japan in the 19th Century. So you won’t find the old shrines, temples and castles that you would on the other islands (sure, many of those are reconstructions, but the sites have deep history).
Of course the Ainu have millennia of history themselves and you can visit their ethnic villages, but it’s markedly different than mainstream Japanese culture.
Honestly, it feels like the Western US in some ways: lots of farms and cows, wide plains, grid style cities, only 200 years or so of written-down history, and a much more visible native population.
Hokkaido’s phone book is available at the Springfield Library.
They have a breed of dog unique to them, the Hokkaido Ken. I have one - they usually have more of a scream than a bark, sounds like a loud, angry seal. They look similar to a Shiba Inu but larger and more muscular.
Hokkaido is home to Japan's absolut best Konbini - Seico Mart!! ☺️
It was known as Ezo until it was colonized by Japan in 1869. Japanese settlers stole the land of the Ainu people and forcibly assimilated them into Japanese society. Today, most Ainu people have no knowledge of their culture and aren't even aware that they're Ainu. There is no independence movement, unlike in Okinawa and the rest of the Ryukyu Islands, which were colonized by Japan in 1879.
Sapporo Giant Cabbage was once a prized product of Hokkaido. They can grow up to 44 pounds but are typically 17-37 pounds. It is the largest naturally growing cabbage species (behind hybrid cabbages and products of breeding)
It's also super famous for Hokkaido milk. It's often used in Asia as a soft serve flavor (with Hokkaido synonymous with cold)
I'll tell you an interesting story, one of my favorite memories...
22 ish years ago, I went to Japan with a friend and a couple acquaintances, and about half way through our 4 weeks, we were in Hokkaido. It was September, so the weather was perfect for hiking, and we went to one of the mountains there (I don't remember exactly which one, I think it was Asahidake) with the intent of doing a long but simple hike.
I'm not sure why, but when we were deciding which trail to follow, I said we should just follow the creek. The guys didn't want to do that, so they took one of the established trails, but I went ahead and just followed the creek.
I saw birds, lizards, bugs, flowers and all kinds of stuff.. Including a bunch of otherwise hidden to the world little shrines & Jizo along the way. Apparently this way had been a path for someone at some point, but it was now completely overgrown and I got a real kick out of seeing it slowly returning to nature.
When I got to the top, the others were already there, to no surprise, but we were quickly met by a large group of school children that all wanted to practice their English. We weren't in any hurry, so we spent an hour or so chatting with them, and each one would give us an origami, or part of a snack, as thank you.
Looking back it never fails to make me smile... Somehow got to experience nature, society, learning and get in a great workout all in one day.
The flower fields of Biei and Furano are breathtaking
Imagine if Scandinavia and Japan had a baby. That’s Hokkaido.
In Sōbetsu they play this snowball fight game that’s kinda like paintball, dodgeball, and capture the flag combined…but with snow. I teach it to my gym class every year.
Hokkaido was colonized in 1869 and developed as a test bed for kinds of new western agriculture, forestry, and industrial practices under a nationalized charter. Notable industries included: ranching, dairy farming, beer brewing, and whiskey distilling. These ventures were nationalized ventures which eventually split into the main private corporations of today - Sapporo, Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, Nikka, Mars, etc). New shipping routes were also developed to transport goods from Hokkaido to the Japanese heartland, including the 'new' port city of Niigata (incorporated in 1889).
Asahikawa (meaning “morning sun River”) is the second largest city on the island with over 320,000 people, possessing over 130 rivers/streams and 700 bridges, and is known for its ramen
The capital, Sapporo, holds a massive beer festival in the summer. It’s amazing.
It's the home of one of the world's greatest guitarists, Oumura Shin (aka: Machiya).
Completely infested with Oni, exercise caution at all times
Its home to the Ainu, a people genetically different than Japanese who colonised the island from the south.
Japan had almost no native hydrocarbon production, but what little there is happens to be on the south coast of Hokkaido.
Nearly 100% of its human population are mammals
beautiful mountains range view from a rice field, sea side hot springs where you can bathe with an ocean view, skiing, lots of hot springs and thermal lakes, great food
Nobody mentioned that they build the largest snow sculptures in the entire world 😭
Snowy. Special type of cabbage and signs with arrows pointing down
The largest city on the island is Sapporo, which has 50% of the island’s population. There’s beer from there also called Sapporo. It was the first domestic beer in Japan. Pretty good too imo