Hokkaido

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Hokkaido

For the dog breed, see Hokkaido (dog).

Hokkaido (北海道 Hokkaidō, literal meaning: "North Sea Route", Ainu: Mosir), formerly known as Ezo, is the second largest island and largest prefecture of Japan. The Tsugaru Strait separates it from Honshu, although it is connected to Honshu by the underwater Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaidō is the prefectural capital, Sapporo.

History

The Nihonshoki is often said to be the first mention of Hokkaido in recorded history. According to the text, Abe no Hirafu led a large navy and army to northern areas from 658 to 660 and came into contact with the Mishihase and Emishi. One of the places Hirafu went to was called Watarishima, which is often believed to be present-day Hokkaido. However, many theories exist in relation to the details of this event, including the location of Watarishima and the common belief that the Emishi in Watarishima were the ancestors of the present-day Ainu.

During the Nara and Heian periods, people in Hokkaido conducted trade with the Dewa Province, the outpost of the Japanese central government. From the medieval ages, the people in Hokkaido began to be called Ezo. Around the same time Hokkaido came to be called Ezochi or Ezogashima. The Ezo mainly relied upon hunting and fishing and obtained rice and iron through trade with the Japanese.

During the Muromachi period, the Japanese created a settlement at the south of the Oshima peninsula. As more people moved to the settlement to avoid battles, disputes arose between the Japanese and the Ainu. The disputes eventually developed into a battle. Takeda Nobuhiro killed the Ainu leader and established a Japanese victory. Nobuhiro's descendants became the rulers of the Matsumae Han, which ruled the south of Ezochi until the end of the Edo period.

The Matsumae Han's economy relied upon trade with the Ainu. The Matsumae family was granted exclusive trading rights with the Ainu in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. The Han gradually changed trade conditions so they came to favor Japanese merchants. As a result, some Ainu rebelled against the Matsumae han, but the rebellions were defeated. During the Meiji Restoration, the Shogunate realized there was a need to prepare northern defenses against Russian aggressions and took over most control of Ezochi. The Shogunate made the Ainu burden slightly easier, but did not change the overall form of rule.

Hokkaido was known as Ezochi until the Meiji Restoration. Shortly after the Boshin War in 1868, a group of Tokugawa loyalists led by Enomoto Takeaki proclaimed the island's independence as the Republic of Ezo, but the rebellion was crushed in May 1869. Ezochi was subsequently put under control of the Colonization Office. When establishing the Colonization Office, the Meiji Government decided to change the name of Ezochi. Matsuura Takeshirō submitted 6 ideas, including names such as Kaihokudo (海北道) and Hokkaido (北加伊道) to the government. The government eventually decided to use the name Hokkaido, but decided to write it as 北海道, as a compromise between 海北道 and because of the similarity with names such as Tokaido (東海道). According to Matsuura, the name was thought up because the Ainu called the region "Kai." In 1882, the Colonization Office was abolished, and Hokkaido was separated into three prefectures, Hakodate, Sapporo, and Nemuro. In 1886, the three prefectures were abolished, and Hokkaido was put under the Hokkaido Agency. Hokkaido became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the revised Local Autonomy Law became effective.

Geography

Hokkaido Island is located at the north end of Japan, near Russia, and has coastlines on the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Pacific Ocean. The center of the island has a number of mountains and volcanic plateaus, and there are coastal plains in all directions. Major cities include Sapporo and Asahikawa in the central region and the port of Hakodate facing Honshu.

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

Seismic Activity

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

An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 struck near the island on September 25, 2003 at 19:50:07 (UTC). In 1993, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 generated a tsunami which devastated Okushiri.

National Parks and Quasi National Parks

There are still many undisturbed forests in Hokkaidō, including:

6 national parks:
- Shiretoko National Park (知床): On July 14, 2005, UNESCO designated the area a World Heritage Site.
- Akan National Park (阿寒)
- Kushiro Shitsugen National Park (釧路湿原)
- Daisetsuzan National Park (大雪山)
- Shikotsu-Toya National Park (支笏洞爺)
- Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park (利尻礼文サロベツ)
5 quasi-national parks (準国立公園)
12 prefectural natural parks (道立自然公園)

Subprefectures

Hokkaidō is one of 8 prefectures in Japan that are divided into subprefectures (the others being Tokyo, Yamagata Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Okinawa Prefecture, Kagoshima Prefecture, Miyazaki Prefecture and Shimane Prefecture). This is mostly due to its great size: many parts of the prefecture are simply too far away to be effectively administered by Sapporo. Subprefectural offices in Hokkaidō carry out many of the duties that prefectural offices would fulfill elsewhere in Japan.

Before the current politicial divisions and after 1869, Hokkaido was divided into provinces. See Former Provinces of Hokkaido.

Climate

Hokkaido is known for its cool summers (which attracts many tourists from other parts of Japan) and icy winters. The average August temperature is around 22°C (72°F), while the average January temperature ranges from −12°C to −4°C (10°F to 25°F) depending on elevation and latitude. The island tends to see isolated snowstorms that develop long-lasting snowbanks, in contrast to the constant flurries seen in the Hokuriku region.

During the winter, passage through the Sea of Okhotsk is often complicated by large ice floes broken loose from the Kamchatka Peninsula. Combined with high winds that occur during winter, this brings air travel and maritime activity almost to a halt on the northern coast of Hokkaido.

Major Cities

Hokkaido's largest city is the capital, Sapporo. Other major cities include Hakodate in the south and Asahikawa in the central region.

Economy

Hokkaidō is Japan's predominant agricultural area. It leads the country in the production of rice and fish, and shares the lead in vegetable farming.

Although there is some light industry (most notably paper milling, brewing (Sapporo beer), and food production), most of the population is employed by the service sector. Tourism is an important industry, especially during the cool summertime that attracts campers and hot spring-goers from across Japan. During the winter, skiing and other winter sports continue to bring tourists to Hokkaido (the Winter Olympics was held in Sapporo in 1972).

Transportation

Hokkaido's only land link to the rest of Japan is the Seikan Tunnel. Most travelers to the island arrive by air: the main airport is New Chitose Airport in Chitose, just south of Sapporo. Tokyo-Chitose is the world's busiest air route, handling 45 widebody round trips on three airlines each day. One of the airlines, Air Do was named after Hokkaidō. Hokkaido can also be reached by ferry from Sendai, Niigata and some other cities.

Within Hokkaido, there is a fairly well-developed railway network (see Hokkaido Railway Company), but many cities can only be accessed by bus or car.

Education

The Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education oversees public schools in Hokkaido. The board directly operates public high schools. ^* has a list of public high schools in Japanese.

In popular culture

A character in the anime and manga series Shaman King, Horohoro (Trey Racer), is an Ainu from Hokkaido.
Nakoruru and Rimururu, two of the characters in the video game Samurai Spirits are also Ainu.
In Sengoku Basara, the fictional Itsuki (Puff in Devil Kings) is said to represent Ainu and Hokkaido.
The second machine in the movie Contact is located in Hokkaido.
In the video game Chaos Theory, one of the missions occurs in Hokkaido.
The German singer, Bettina Storm, produced a song called "Hokkaido" in 1973.
In The Simpsons episode, In Marge We Trust, Homer finds a soap box in the dump and phones to a factory in Hokkaido.
In Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, the land of Shin'ō is based upon Hokkaido, and shares some geographic features.

External links

References

Much of the content of the history section in this article comes from the May 10, 2005 version of the Hokkaido article, ja:北海道, at the Japanese-language Wikipedia.

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