What to See in Hokkaido, Japan

Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost main island, known for its snowy climate, open landscapes, productive farmland, surrounding seas and distinctive Ainu history. From Sapporo’s urban sights to Hakodate’s historic buildings and the smaller towns of central Hokkaido, the island offers a very different experience from much of Honshu. Neywo has free audio guides for five cities in Hokkaido, covering 136 narrated places in total across nine walking tours.

What to see and do in Hokkaido

Hokkaido is a large region, so the best way to explore it is to combine its major cities with smaller towns and landscapes. These are some of the most important places to include in a Hokkaido travel guide.

Sapporo

Sapporo is Hokkaido’s capital, largest city and only designated city. It is also the main urban centre of the island, while the surrounding region remains known for agriculture, open spaces and a relatively low population density.

The city’s sights include the Sapporo Clock Tower, one of the places covered by Neywo, as well as Ōdōri Station. The Historical Village of Hokkaido offers a way to explore the island’s modern history, while the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium connects the city with Hokkaido’s winter-sports identity. Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972.

Sapporo is also closely associated with the island’s food culture. Hokkaido is Japan’s leading region for products including wheat, potatoes, raw milk and beef, and Sapporo ramen and Jingisukan are among the foods linked with the region. Beer brewing is another part of Hokkaido’s light industry.

Explore the city with the Sapporo audio guide, which covers 80 narrated places.

Hakodate

Hakodate lies on the southern Oshima Peninsula and has a history connected with some of the earliest Japanese settlements in Hokkaido. During the Muromachi period, fortified residences appeared in the area, including Shinoridate. At that time, however, most of the island remained Ainu land.

Among Hakodate’s important sights is Goryōkaku. The city also has places that reveal different aspects of the region’s cultural history, including the Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples, UCCJ Hakodate Church and the Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido. Hakodate is one of the key centres in southern Hokkaido and an important point of connection between the island and the rest of Japan.

The Hokkaido Shinkansen carries railway passengers from Tokyo to near Hakodate through the Seikan Tunnel, Hokkaido’s only land connection with the rest of Japan.

The Hakodate audio guide includes 21 narrated places.

Asahikawa

Asahikawa is an important centre in central Hokkaido. Its attractions include the Hokuchin Memorial Museum, the Asahikawa Museum of Sculpture, the Miura Ayako Literature Museum and Tokiwa Park.

The city is a useful stop for seeing a side of Hokkaido beyond the capital. The island’s central region forms part of a landscape shaped by cold winters, agriculture and wide spaces, and Asahikawa’s museums and park provide several ways to explore its local culture.

The Asahikawa audio guide covers 14 narrated places.

Biei

Biei is one of the smaller towns covered by Neywo in Hokkaido. Its narrated places include Takushinkan, Shirahige Falls and Shikisai-no-oka.

Together, these sites reflect the contrast between Hokkaido’s cultivated landscapes and its natural environment. The island has nearly a quarter of Japan’s total arable land, and its farms are notably large by Japanese standards. Water, snow and open land are equally important parts of the northern setting.

The Biei audio guide includes three narrated places.

Otaru

Otaru is another important Hokkaido town available on Neywo. Its narrated places include Suitengū Shrine and the Bank of Japan Otaru Museum.

These sites offer a glimpse of the town’s religious and financial history, while Otaru’s position within Hokkaido’s wider coastal region connects it to the importance of the surrounding seas. Hokkaido is Japan’s leading region for marine products and aquaculture, and fishing remains an important part of life and the economy.

The Otaru audio guide covers 18 narrated places.

Hokkaido’s Ainu history

Hokkaido’s history cannot be separated from the history of the Ainu people. Local Jōmon culture flourished here for more than 15,000 years, supported by a hunter-gatherer way of life. Unlike Honshu, Hokkaido experienced no conflict during this early period.

The island was once known as Ezo or Ezochi. Japanese settlements appeared on the southern Oshima Peninsula during the Muromachi period, but most of Hokkaido remained Ainu land. After the Meiji Restoration, in 1869, Japan annexed and colonized the whole island and gave it the name Hokkaido.

Japanese settlers dispossessed Ainu people of their land and imposed forced assimilation. This led to the near-erasure of Ainu cultural practices, traditions and language. The name Hokkaido was chosen by the Meiji government after proposals from Matsuura Takeshirō; according to Matsuura, it was connected with Kai, a name the Ainu used for the region.

Any visit to Hokkaido benefits from acknowledging this history alongside the island’s later development. Its modern identity was shaped not only by new settlements and government, but also by the losses imposed on the Ainu people.

Nature, climate and food in Hokkaido

Hokkaido is Japan’s second-largest main island, separated from Honshu by the Tsugaru Strait. The Sea of Japan lies to the west, the Sea of Okhotsk to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Russia’s Sakhalin is about 43 kilometres to the north.

The island is Japan’s coldest region. Summers are relatively cool, while winters are icy and snowy, with significant snowfall across Hokkaido. It is also seismically active, reflecting the geological movement that continues to shape the region.

Hokkaido supports three distinct lineages of Ussuri brown bear and has more brown bears than anywhere else in Asia outside Russia. Cold, snow, open spaces and surrounding seas all contribute to the island’s particular character.

The same environment supports Hokkaido’s role as one of Japan’s great producing regions. The island has nearly a quarter of the country’s total arable land, and the average farm is almost eleven times the national average. Hokkaido leads Japan in the production of wheat, potatoes, raw milk and beef, while its waters support the country’s leading production of marine products and aquaculture.

Explore Hokkaido with Neywo

Neywo offers free audio guides for five cities in Hokkaido, with 136 narrated places in total and nine walking tours. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace. There is no group and no schedule: walk independently, arrive at the sights, and listen when each story plays. Download Neywo to explore Japan and discover Hokkaido through its cities, history and landscapes.