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HokkaidoThe island was originally inhabited by Ainu, aborigines of uncertain ancestry. Until 1800 the Ainu outnumbered the Japanese, who had begun (16th cent.) to settle the southwest peninsula; there are now c.16,000 Ainu in Hokkaido. With the Meiji restoration (1868) Japan began the first serious effort to people the island as a means of strengthening the northern frontier. Under a government-sponsored plan to develop the island, Horace Capron, an American agriculturalist, introduced (1872–76) scientific methods of farming. In 1885, Hokkaido was made an administrative unit and was granted a central government. The growth of the railroads helped speed settlement, but despite subsidies, the severe winters discouraged emigration from S Japan. Parts of the island, particularly in the north, are still relatively underpopulated. The completion of the Seikan Tunnel (1988), which carries a rail line connecting Hokkaido and Honshu, has further decreased the isolation of Japan's northernmost island.
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- Abashiri
Abashiri, city (1990 pop. 44,416), Hokkaido prefecture, E Hokkaido, Japan, on the Sea of Okhotsk and the Abashiri River, lying on the Abashiri plain. It is an important local port city and rai...
- Chitose
Chitose, city (1990 pop. 78,946), Hokkaido prefecture, central Hokkaido, Japan, on the Chitose River. It is a communications center and has one of Japan's largest major airports.
- Otaru
Otaru, city (1990 pop. 163,211), SW Hokkaido, Japan, on Ishikari Bay. A major port and Hokkaido's main commercial and industrial center, Otaru is the site of the Asarigawa Spa and the Otaru Aq...
- Tomakomai
Tomakomai, city (1990 pop. 160,118), Hokkaido prefecture, S Hokkaido, Japan, on the Pacific Ocean. It is a commercial port and the site of Japan's largest paper and newsprint industry.
- Ebetsu
Ebetsu, city (1990 pop. 97,201), Hokkaido prefecture, central Hokkaido, Japan. It is an industrial suburb of Sapporo and the site of a huge electric power company. Its industries include food ...
- Kitami
Kitami, city (1990 pop. 107,247), Hokkaido prefecture, NE Hokkaido, Japan, on the Tokoro River. It is an agricultural market and a major center for the production of peppermint. Kitami also pr...
- Bibai
Bibai, city (1990 pop. 35,176), Hokkaido prefecture, central Hokkaido, Japan. Due to the decline of the Ishikari coal field, the population of Bibai has decreased steadily since the 1960s. The...
- Sapporo
Sapporo, city (1990 pop. 1,671,742), capital of Hokkaido prefecture, SW Hokkaido, Japan. It is one of Japan's most rapidly growing urban centers. Food processing, electronics, beer, lumbering,...
- Kushiro
Kushiro, city (1990 pop. 205,640), SE Hokkaido, Japan, on the Pacific Ocean. The main port of E Hokkaido and the island's only ice-free trading port, it exports timber, fish, and coal. Kushiro...
- Muroran
Muroran, city (1990 pop. 117,855), SW Hokkaido, Japan, on Uchiura Bay. It is a major industrial center and port, with iron, steel, and cement works and an oil refinery. Hot spring resorts are ...
