Hokkaido is not one resort or a single sightseeing district. It is Japan’s northernmost main island and the country’s largest prefecture, a place where long distances connect port cities, mountain ranges, wetlands, volcanic lakes and communities with distinct local traditions. Its scale shapes the visit: a trip based in Sapporo feels very different from one focused on the eastern peninsula of Shiretoko or the islands off the northern coast.
Hokkaido lies north of Honshu across the Tsugaru Strait. The prefecture covers about 83,422 square kilometres, roughly 22 percent of Japan’s land area, according to the 2026 Hokkaido Data Book. Four broad travel regions help make sense of that expanse: central Hokkaido around Sapporo and the resort areas to its west and south; northern Hokkaido around Asahikawa, Furano, Biei and Wakkanai; the southern peninsula around Hakodate and Matsumae; and the east, where Shiretoko, Abashiri, Kushiro, Akan and Nemuro look toward the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific.
