Hokkaido, Japan: description, facts, reviews, reviews

Japan is a country that is one of the most beloved of many tourists. The magnificent nature of Japan, its unique rich history and unique culture attract many people from all over the world.

The peculiarity of the location below the described corner of the Earth in geographical terms is that it is both the easternmost and the most northern island of the Japanese archipelago.

Japan: Hokkaido Island

This is the second largest island in Japan. Its northernmost point, like all of Japan, is Cape Soy, and the easternmost point is Nosappu-Saki.

The nearest neighbor is Honshu, separated by the Sangar Strait. Waters of the Sea of Okhotsk are washed by its northern shore, the Sea of Japan is in the west, and the Pacific is the east.

Honshu is an island larger than Hokkaido. Previously, it was known as Hondo and Nippon. It is 60% of the total area of the country. But only Hokkaido, which is one of the 4 largest islands in Japan, has preserved its primeval nature best. About 10% of its territory is occupied by national parks (there are 20 of them). Therefore Hokkaido is the center of ecological tourism.

The territory of the island of Hokkaido has a total area of more than 83,453 km2.
It is inhabited by 5,507,456 people (according to statistics for 2010).

A Brief History of Hokkaido Island

The settlement of the territories of Hokkaido began about 20 thousand years ago. At that time the Ainu lived here - one of the most ancient nationalities of the Japanese islands. The history of the development of the Japanese island still holds a huge number of mysteries. The very first mention, known to researchers-scientists today, was made on the pages of "Hon shoki" - a Japanese written monument dating from the eighth century AD.

There is one fairly common theory according to which the island of Vatarishima (about which we are speaking in this chronicle) is Hokkaido, which was so named only in 1869.

Islanders (Ainus) were engaged in fishing and hunting at that time, and the trade ties existing at that time with neighboring islands enabled them to provide themselves with rice and iron.

Their peaceful and peaceful life ended in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when the Japanese gradually began to colonize the neighboring peninsula of Oshima (south-west of Hokkaido). This was aggressively taken by the Ainu, which led to military actions that ended in 1475, when their leader died.

In the heyday of the reign of Prince Matsumae, whose territories were located mainly on the island of. Oshima, the island of Hokkaido gradually became part of their possessions. And again from that moment on the island a long struggle between local native inhabitants and Japanese flared up. The Ainas rose up to the second half of the 18th century, but these actions did not bring any results. The Japanese confidently kept an important island in their hands, especially since there was still a possibility of an attack by Russians from the west.

In the years 1868-1869. In Hokkaido there was an independent republic of Edzo, which was proclaimed after the migration to the island of thousands of soldiers who chose after the first Japanese elections the head of the republic - Admiral E. Takeaki.

The emperor did not suffer such arbitrariness in his territories, and in March 1869 the republic of Edzo was abolished, and its head was convicted.

Heavy times for the island were also in 1945, when his territory was subjected to a terrible bombing. As a result, many cities and villages were badly damaged.

Relief, mined minerals

Hokkaido Island mostly has a mountainous terrain. More than half of the territory is occupied by mountains, the rest is covered with plains. Mountain ridges (Hidaka, Tokati, etc.) are elongated in the submeridional direction. The highest point of Hokkaido is Mount Asahi (height 2290 meters). On the island there are 8 volcanoes, and operating. Often here, as in Japan, earthquakes occur.

Obtain on the island coal coal, iron ore and sulfur.

Cities and ethnic composition of the population

Hokkaido (prefecture) is administratively divided into 14 sub-prefectures.
The capital of the island is Sapporo, home to 1,915,542 people (according to 2010 statistics).

Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido. From the Kurile Islands, its Straits Izmeni and Kunashirsky are separated.

Major cities of the island are Muroran, Tomakomai, Otaru. Ethnic composition is quite simple: Japanese - 98.5% of the total population, Koreans - 0.5%, Chinese - 0.4% and other nationalities (including Ainu) - only 0.6%.

Rivers and lakes

The largest rivers of the island are Ishikari (length 265 km) and Tokati (length 156 km).
The largest lakes are Sikotsu, Toya and Kuttyaro (crater) and Saroma (of lagoon origin). There are a significant number of small volcanic lakes on Hokkaido, which are fed by mineral hot springs.

Climate

The island of Hokkaido has climatic conditions somewhat different than in other Japanese areas. Here the average annual temperature is only +8 ° C. In connection with the neighborhood with the Pacific Ocean in these places for an average of only 17 full sunny days a year. But in summer, about 149 rainy, and in winter - about 123 snowy days are recorded.

And yet, according to Japanese standards, the summer climate on the island of Hokkaido is drier, and the winter one is more severe than in other regions of the country.

And the concept of "north" in Hokkaido is relatively relative. For example, the city of Wakkanai, located in the extreme north of the island, is located south of the city of Paris. In general, this island in Japan is considered a "Severe North".

Flora and fauna

For the most part, the plant cover of Hokkaido is represented by coniferous forests (fir and spruce) alternating with bamboo (occupying 60% of the island area). Cedar, birch forests and shrub wastelands are common in the mountains.

Among mammals there are foxes, bears, sables, ermines and weasels. All Japanese islands (Hokkaido among them) are inhabited by a surprisingly diverse world of birds, and their coastal waters abound in numerous species of fish.

sights

What is interesting, besides the amazing unique nature, you can still see on the island of Hokkaido? The travelers' comments about this island, as well as about the whole of Japan, are the most positive.

In Sapporo there are several notable places: the clock tower with the same name - one of the few surviving buildings of the late 19th century in the American colonial style; A botanical garden with a preserved area of a natural forest once grown on the site of the city; Odori Boulevard; A television tower (height of 147 meters); Mount Mojva in 8 kilometers from the capital; A beer museum (once a factory for its production); Nakajima Park.

In the city of Hakodate there is a five-bastion fortress (1864); The monastery of Koryuji; The Church of the Resurrection and the Catholic Momomati Church; Higashi-Honganji monastery.

On the island of Hokkaido there are national parks: Sikotsu-Toia, Kushiro-Sitsugen, Akan, Shiretoko, Risiri-Rebun and Tisei-i-Uzan. Parks quasi-national - Hidaka, Abashiri, Onuma, the natural prefectural park of Akkes.

In conclusion, a few interesting facts

• It used to be that Hokkaido is a Russian island. Japan showed no interest either in the Kuril Islands or in Sakhalin, until the end of the 18th century. The island earlier in Japan was officially considered a foreign territory. In 1786, the arrived Japanese met there with local residents who bore Russian names and names. These were the ancestors of those same Ainu, who once accepted Russian citizenship and Orthodoxy in the early 18th century. Ayny used to live on the territory of Russia (on Sakhalin, in the south of Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands). This people has a distinctive feature - the European appearance. Today in Japan there are approximately 30,000 of their descendants, but during this long period they managed to assimilate with the Japanese.

• Every year in Sapporo, the Snow Festival takes place, which was first held in 1950. This is a kind of exhibition of snow figures.

• The territory of Hokkaido is full of many hot springs. The most interesting of them is Dzigokudani (the Valley of Hell). On this site are numerous geysers, periodically soaring above the ground.

• The area of Hokkaido is approximately equal to the Austrian territory.

• Since 1859, Sapporo has an Orthodox church erected by the mission of the Russian Church - the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. Since 1983, it officially belongs to the cultural heritage of Japan.