A 2014 overview of Hokkaido's society, politics, and image in other parts of the country, with the most recent statistics

1. HOKKAIDO: AForeign Journalist’sView
ERIC JOHNSTON
Deputy Editor
The Japan Times
Sept. 5th, 2014

2. First Impressions of
Hokkaido in the West:
Isabella Bird
Published in 1880, this series of letters to her sister from Isabella
Bird, an adventurous English woman who traveled with only an
interpreter to Hokkaido, is the first recorded account of the island
and of the Ainu by a Westerner.

3. -Isabella Bird’s description of
seeing Hokkaido (Hakodate) for
the first time.
``I find the climate here more invigorating
than that of the main island. It is Japan,
but there is a difference somehow. When
the mists lift, they reveal not mountains
smothered in greenery, but naked peaks,
volcanoes only recently burnt out.

4. ``Hokkaido
Reminds Me Of . . .’’

5. CANADA
Pretty Much
Everywhere.

6. SWEDEN
Much of eastern
Hokkaido, especially
around the lake areas

7. FINLAND
Central Hokkaido
(Asahi-dake)
northeastern Hokkaido

8. The
WEST COAST
of IRELAND
Rishiri, Reibun,
Kiritappu, Akkeshi,
parts of Nemuro

9. ALASKA
Shiretoko, Monbetsu,
the Hidaka
mountain range

10. PROVENCE
Biei,
parts of Furuno

11. Nobody ever seems to say ``Hokkaido reminds me of
central Shikoku’’ or
``Hokkaido reminds me of northern Kyushu’’.
Central Shikoku Northern Kyushu

12. So, then, if that’s what Hokkaido
``looks like’’,
what are the attitudes toward it?

13. SOME WESTERN
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
HOKKAIDO:
``I didn’t come to
Japan to experience
Canada. I came to
Japan to experience
`Japan’ (i.e. ultra-
modern Tokyo or
traditional Kyoto)

14. SOME RESIDENT
WESTERN ATTITUDES
TOWARD HOKKAIDO:
``Too far, too expensive’’
. . .they say as they board the plane for Southeast Asia, Oceania, Europe,
or the U.S. for a three night, four day holiday.
北海道ようこそ！
Welcome to Hokkaido!

15. SOME WESTERN
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
HOKKAIDO:
``Hokkaido? Why?
I don’t ski and I don’t
like cold weather.’’

16. SOME RESIDENT
WESTERN
ATTITUDES TOWARD
HOKKAIDO:
``It’s not as historically
important or interesting
as the rest of the
country.’’

17. RESIDENT WESTERN
ATTITUDES TOWARD
HOKKAIDO:
``I’m not into hiking or
camping that much and
I’m not going to spend a
lot of money to go look
at trees and mountains.’’

18. SOME RESIDENT
WESTERN
ATTITUDES TOWARD
HOKKAIDO:
``It’s just easier and
more convenient to
stay in and around
Tokyo/Kansai/the
major urban center
where I live.’’

19. SOME RESIDENT WESTERN ATTITUDES TOWARD HOKKAIDO:
`LOVE IT! The food, the people, the nature,
the open spaces, the healthy lifestyle. . .
. . .maybe someday. I’ll go
back in the winter just to see
what it’s like!”

20. HOKKAIDO: The Food Capital of Japan
Freshest ingredients, simply prepared.

21. Realization of
Greater Diversity
Traditionalimagesof Hokkaidofood
like``GhenghisKhan’’, soft cream, and
SapporoRamennowgivingwayto
realizationof howgood salmon, cod,
andotherfishis, aswellas potatoes,
corn, asparagus, onions, and,of course,
Hokkaido beef, locally-raised
``Suffolk’’lamb,and all formsof
cheeseor diary-baseddesserts.

22. Foodie Heaven
NewgenerationofHokkaidochefs,farmers,andrestaurantsnow
offeringgourmetitemslikesmokedrainbowtroutor smokedtofu,
and–thenextbigthing?- artisanalcheese.``LocalProduction,
LocalConsumption’’philosophygrowingstronger.Betterhotels,
eveninternationalchains,featureFrenchorItalianmealsprepared
mostlywithHokkaidoingredients.
MICHELIN GUIDE HOKKAIDO,
Published in 2012 in Japanese but
translated, online, into English.
699 restaurants, including French
chef Michel BrasTOYA Japon,
located at the Windsor Hotel,
where the 2008 G-8 Summit was
held, as well as SushiTanabe,
Nukumi, and the Sapporo French
restaurant Moliere.

23. Microbeers
Abundant supplies of fresh water,
local foods that go well with beer,
and a cool climate that
encourages brewers and
customers to try a wide variety
of ales, pilsners, lagers, porters,
wheat beers, and stouts makes
Hokkaido Japan’s most
important microbeer location
after the Kanto region.

24. Hokkaido: Asia’s Pantry?
In 2013, for the first time ever, over 1 million
foreigners visited Hokkaido. Of these, about
386,000 were from Taiwan, 137,000 were from
South Korea, slightly more than 100,000 were
from mainland China, and another 73,000 were
from Thailand, thanks to introduction of direct
flights to Sapporo. Due to relaxed visa restrictions,
the number of Malaysian tourists is increasing.
Hokkaido merchants in some areas are reporting
shortage of certain foods like Suffolk lamb and
melons because of tourists from Asia are buying it
in greater numbers. Evidence suggests that
Hokkaido food in particular is prized by mainland
Chinese tourists because it’s both delicious and,
more importantly, safe.

25. Of course, when it comes to restaurants and the service industry, Hokkaido does have a
certain reputation. . . .
Ingredients: 1st Class Facilities: 2nd Class Service: 3rd Class

26. And Speaking of Food,
That Brings Us To the
Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement
(TPP)

27. The TPP
1) There is a general perception among pro-
TPP media outlets (foreign and Japanese)
that JA Hokkaido because it simply wishes
to protect its position and that Japan joining
TPP means more choice, and cheaper
options, at the local supermarket.
2) There is a general perception among anti-
TPP media, or those who are skeptical of
official claims, that joining TPP means a
loss of food security. This means (a)
increased reliance on foreign imports that
might be cut off suddenly; and (2) a greater
danger of contaminated food from Asian
TPP countries with lower health
regulations than Japan; and (3) food from
non-TPP countries with very low countries
that is processed in a TPP country and then
sold to Japan as being from that country.

28. Hokkaido produces:
2/3rds of Japan’s wheat
86 percent of its salmon
100 percent of its sugar
beets
60 percent of its onions
49 percent of its
pumpkins
51 percent of its milk
47 percent of its sweet
corn
77 percent of its spuds

29. FACTS AND FIGURES
Hokkaido: 25 percent of
Japan’s cultivated area
for agriculture
12% of Japan’s total
agricultural output
Two-thirds of Hokkaido
farmers are under 65
years old (37 percent
nationally)
72 percent are business
farmers (21 percent
nationally)

30. HOKKAIDO
Calorie-based food
self-sufficiency ratio
is 191%, the highest
in Japan.
Output-based food
self-sufficiency ratio
is 201%-- fourth in
the nation after
Miyazaki, Kagoshima,
and Aomori
prefectures

31. Effects of TPP on Hokkaido
(as predicted by the Hokkaido prefectural government)
DIRECT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 476 billion yen
Dairy Industry 167 billion yen
• Fishing Industry 45 billion yen
Total # of Hokkaido Farms: 43,000 23,000
Dairy Industry: 56,000 people lose their jobs
Rice Industry: 14,000 people lose their jobs

32. Is Most of Hokkaido Opposed to the TPP?
Opposed
Support
Unsure
HOKKAIDO SHIMBUN, MARCH 2013
50%47%

33. Comments heard in Hokkaido aboutTPP
• ``JA is corrupt and doesn’t want to
change. Younger farmers and those who
want to the system to change probably
support TPP negotiations as a way to
put pressure on JA to change its ways.’’
• - Forest ranger in Kurodake, July 2011
• ``Opposition to TPP is less strong in
western Hokkaido, where the cities of
Sapporo, Otaru, Niseko, and Hakodate
are, and where large-scale agricultural
isn’t as powerful as it is in the central
and western parts of the prefecture.’’
• - Hokkaido politician in Sapporo, March 2013
• ``Hokkaido produce, dairy, and meat
products are the best, and healthiest, in Asia.
If a TPP allows more Hokkaido farmers,
especially younger Hokkaido farmers, to sell
more Hokkaido agricultural products to high-
end customers in other parts of Asia, they
can make a lot of money.’’
• - Restaurant owner in Kushiro, July 2013
``The TPP would be disaster. Not because of
cheap foreign foods but because it would allow
huge U.S. agricultural businesses like
Monsanto into Japan. The TPP is not really
about the food you eat. It’s about imposing
U.S. corporate desires regarding seed patents
and crop development in Japan.’’
- Hokkaido prefecture bureaucrat, in Sapporo, April
2013

34. The Ainu: Policy and Reality

35. The Basic Situation
2006Hokkaido prefecture survey showedthat 24,000Ainu
people live in Hokkaido, and a fewthousandmore live in
Tokyo.
No Ainu people are believedto use the Ainulanguage for
daily conversation. There are no Ainu settlements of the
type Native Americans, for example, have.
The ratio of Ainu householdreceiving publicassistance
was 2.5 times the national average. College entrance rate
among Ainu under 30 was half the national average.

36. Main English
sources on Ainu
`OurLandWasa Forest’ by Kayano
Shigeru was translated into English,
and, along with Isabella Bird’s book,
is one of the few works about the
Ainu known among Westerners
with an interest in Japan.

37. Report by NGO Network for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Japan to the
United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (August 2014)
PROBLEM:
Insufficient guarantee of Ainu participation in relevant government bodies, especially the Council for Ainu Policy
Promotion.
SUGGESTIONS
GOJ should guarantee at least half the members of the Council for Ainu Policy Promotion are Ainu representatives
Support for Ainu living outside of Hokkaido

38. Good Suggestions, but. . .
Efforts by both Tokyo and Hokkaido to promote Ainu culture have been made in the
past few years. But questions about traditional fishing and hunting rights remain a
sore point for some Ainu groups, who find themselves up against politically powerful
fishing and agriculture lobbies if they try to assert their rights. To return to traditional
practices in a wide area of Hokkaido will mean legislation exempting Ainu from
current hunting laws and regulations -- not an impossible task but one that will take
time.

39. The Four Disputed Islands. . .

40. Japan’s Position
• The 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Declaration did not apply to the Northern Territories because those islands had never
belonged to Russia even before 1904–1905.
• Russia had not previously claimed the disputed islands, not in all the time since it began diplomatic relations with Japan in 1855. Therefore
the disputed islands could not be considered part of the territories acquired by Japan "by violence and greed".
• The Yalta Agreement "did not determine the final settlement of the territorial problem, as it was no more than a statement by the then
leaders of the Allied Powers as to principles of the postwar settlement. (Territorial issues should be settled by a peace treaty.) Furthermore,
Japan is not bound by this document, to which it did not agree."
• Russia's 1945 entry into the war against Japan was a violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, and the occupation of the islands was
therefore a violation of international law. The Soviet Union repudiated the neutrality pact on April 5, 1945, but the pact remained in effect
until April 13, 1946.
• Although by the terms of Article (2c) of the 1951 San Francisco treaty, Japan renounced all rights to the Kuril Islands, the treaty did not
apply to the islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai rocks since they are not included in the Kuril Islands. Also, the Soviet
Union did not sign the San Francisco treaty.

41. Russia’s Position
• Russia maintains that all the Kuril Islands, including those that Japan calls the Northern Territories, are legally a part ofRussia
as a result of World War II, and that this acquisition was as proper as any other change of international boundaries following
the war.Moscow cites the following basic points:
• The explicit language of the Yalta Treaty gave the Soviet Union a right to the Kurils, and the Soviet Union upheld its own
obligations under that treaty.
• Russia inherited possession of the islands from the former Soviet Union, as its successor state, in accordance with international
law.
• The Japanese assertion that the disputed islands are not part of the Kurils is simply a tactic to bolster Tokyo's territorialclaim
and is not supported by history or geography.
• Russia has said it is open to a negotiated "solution" to the island dispute while declaring that the legality of its own claim to the
islands is not open to question.In other words, Japan would first have to recognize Russia's right to the islands and then try to
acquire some or all of them through negotiations.

42. Why are the islands important?
• Personal Reasons: Many people in eastern
Hokkaido in particular were born on one of the four
islands and their family graves are still there. Now, two or
three generations of Russian settlers have also lived on the
islands.
• Economic Reasons: The islands have mineral
resources, which include offshore hydrocarbon deposits,
gold, silver, iron, and titanium. Etorofu is the only source
in Russia of the rare metal rhenium, which has important
uses in electronics. The waters off the islands are an
exceptionally rich source for fish and seafood production,
worth an estimated 4 billion dollars a year.
•
• Defense/Strategic Reasons: The deep
channels between the southern Kuril Islands allow
Russian submarines to transit to the open ocean
underwater. Russian military planners have argued that
the loss of these channels would reduce the effectiveness
of the Russian Pacific Fleet and thereby reduce Russian
security in the region. Control of the islands by either
Russia or Japan also serves as a check on Chinese navy
moving into northeast Asia.
• Diplomatic Reasons: The islands represent a
form of diplomatic chess between Japan and Russia,
which still not have signed a peace treaty, and who both
have some concerns about China. But neither side
wants to blink first.

43. TheTwo-Island Compromise
During negotiations in the 1950s,
Japan was prepared to the return of
only Habomai and Shikotan, before
the U.S. stepped in and told the
Japanese government it would
keep Okinawa if it made such a deal
with Russia. Japan. Since then,
Japan has demanded the return of
all four islands.
This has formed the basis for the
stalemate every since.

44. NEMURO
The Front Line of the
Dispute
Foggy, chilly Nemuro feels like
Another Country. Here, the desire
for the Four Islands to be returned
is at its strongest, yet there is also
a strong desire to get along with
the Russians. People here see the
Russians more as neighbors than
as distant foreigners. Lots of
marriages between Russians and
local Japanese. Large numbers of
visiting Russians from the Four
Islands give Nemuro a feel unlike
any other city in Japan. Whatever
deal Japan and Russia eventually
reach, Nemuro is likely to play a
very large role in shaping.

45. Finally. . .Hokkaido and Renewable Energy

46. Renewable Energy Potential The Best in Japan
• By some estimates, there is enough
offshore wind in Hokkaido to
generate the same amount of
electricity as 556 nuclear reactors
• For solar and on-shore wind,
Hokkaido is estimated have the
greatest potential for any of Japan’s
47 prefectures.
• Biomass and Biogas plants,
especially in central Hokkaido, have
huge potential and local farmers are
moving into these areas even as the
national government shows little
enthusiasm.

47. In Conclusion• Hokkaido is an incredibly diverse, fascinating place with a very high quality of life, natural beauty, the
greenest and cleanest environment in the country, excellent food, and a population that has something
of a pioneer spirit. It is especially attractive to people who are exhausted with the grey, dense urban
jungles of Honshu.
• Hokkaido may remindWestern residents of somewhere else. But many like Hokkaido because it gives
them a chance to enjoy a Japan that is similar to what they grew up with, while tourists, especially from
Asia where the climate is very different, love Hokkaido because you have to go to far-away Europe or
Canada to find a similar environment.
• Hokkaido’s future lies primarily in both traditional and specialized agriculture, tourism, and renewable
energy. Heavy investment in these three areas will attract Japan’s, and the world’s, best and brightest.
• Controversial issues that direct effect Hokkaido likeTPP and the NorthernTerritories issue are unlikely to
be resolved anytime soon, but whatever the solutions, they will be ``Hokkaido-based’’
• AS HOKKIADO RESIDENTS,YOU LIVE IN A WONDERFUL PART OF JAPAN. PLEASE DOYOUR PART
TO PRESERVE ITS ENVIROMENTTHROUGH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTAND INNOVATIVE,
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY BUSINESSVENTURES.

48. THANKYOU!!!
ご清聴ありがとうございます。
イヤイライケレ
（アイヌ語）