Living in Hokkaido

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Hokkaido is the northernmost of the four major islands of Japan. Its administrative body is a single prefectural government. Hokkaido's prefectural government is distinct from other prefectures in 2 ways. First, Hokkaido does not use the -ken as its suffix, using instead the archaic -do (sometimes directly romanized from Japanese as -dou). Second, due to its size, Hokkaido's administration is subdivided into shicho, often romanized as subprefectures. The only other such prefecture is Nagasaki prefecture which manages a remote island as a subprefecture.

Compared to the rest of Japan, Hokkaido is a wild, open land with a wealth of natural spaces and opportunities for outdoor recreation. Its long, snowy winters and a proliferation of ski-jos make for good snow sports, and its cool summers make for enjoyable hiking and camping experiences.

Hokkaido has a reputation for extreme winters, which is true, but this often leads to the incorrect assumption that Hokkaido is an uncomfortable place to live. In general, Hokkaido has better heating systems than most places in Honshu. Thus, residents in Hokkaido often stay warmer than Honshu residents in the wintertime. However, in spite of having an abundance of snow removal equipment and crews to operate them, Hokkaido also has the highest auto accident rate in Japan. Thus, awareness of Winter driving safety is a must. Furthermore, the abundance of wildlife presents a very real risk of serious collisions with both large and small animals.

Geologically speaking, Hokkaido is quiet compared to the rest of Japan. However, quiet does not mean silent - in September of 2004, a sizable earthquake occurred in Hokkaido. Due to the relatively rural location of the quake, there was little damage and few casualties. Although Hokkaido is geologically quiet, the widespread geothermal activity and geological character of the island make for a wide variety of onsens.

Foreigners living in Hokkaido should be aware that discrimination against caucasians exists, and occurs mainly in large seaport towns. This may stem from several reasons:

  • Ongoing Japanese/Russian conflicts over territory and fishing rights
  • The belief held by Japanese that Russian sailors cause disturbances and commit crimes when they are in port.
  • The belief held by Japanese that foreigners cannot be made aware of rules (such as bathing in onsens), thus they will disturb other patrons by violating them.

This discrimination is often manifested as "no foreigner" signs displayed on businesses, conveniently written in Japanese. Also, proprietors of various establishments may interrogate visitors as to their nationality and Japanese language ability prior to admitting them. Recently, a naturalized Japanese citizen named Arudou Debito (formerly David Aldwinckle of the United States) has gained notoriety for organizing efforts to gain injunctions against institutionalized racism on Monbetsu, Otaru, and other places in Hokkaido and Japan.

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