Open, Individual Local Communities
Enjoy a relaxed, comfortable
new life
Land is relatively cheap in Hokkaido, and many people take the opportunity to buy a comfortably large family home close to Hokkaido's abundant nature. Commute times to workplaces and schools are relatively short, and you can enjoy a more relaxed pace of daily life. There are also large parks and convenience stores nearby and an abundance of hospitals to make your life comfortable. ■ Average price of residential land (2018) (unit: yen per ㎡)
Proposal for Summer Offices
utilizing Hokkaido's pleasant climate
Escape the heat and stress of the city and spend the summer doing business in Hokkaido's cool, pleasant climate. A new working lifestyle has been proposed in Japan, making use of the pleasant summer climate. A new working lifestyle has been proposed in Japan, making use of the Golf course Museums
■■Number of general hospitals and numbers of doctors
Comments about business life in
Hokkaido from companies that have
expanded here from outside Hokkaido
Here are some thoughts on life in Hokkaido from companies that have expanded here from outside Hokkaido. *There are few natural disasters, and my employees were very satisfied with their experiences of winter here. (Hervé Le Hen, Executive Officer and COO, AXA Life Insurance Co., Ltd.) l chose Sapporo in Hokkaido after researching areas all over Japan. My biggest reason for choosing Sapporo was because there are not many natural disasters. Sapporo has fewer earthquakes and typhoons than Honshu and Kyushu, and the snow doesn't cause many issues either. Another crucial point is the source of employees that this city provides. We signed an agreement with local companies ensuring that if there is a natural disaster in Tokyo and all operations need to be carried out in Sapporo, we will be able to secure housing and everyday items for employees who travel from Tokyo to Sapporo to provide backup. The employees who were transferred from Tokyo seemed to be concerned about the cold winter at first, but they were very satisfied with their experiences of winter here. Their commutes are short, making work-life balance easy, and the working environment is very good. The commute in Tokyo can be up to two hours. l now understand the story of the company employee who cried when he was transferred to Hokkaido and then cried when he had to leave. (Masakazu Sugimoto, former President, Denso Hokkaido Corporation, now Hokkaido Manufacturing Industry Advisor) As expected, we managed to find highly motivated and skilled employees. The employees we hired here are earnest and determined, and our female employees in particular are very strong-willed. I remember the story of the company employee who cried when he was transferred to Hokkaido because he didn't want to go, then cried when he was transferred back home a few years later because he didn't want to leave. I now understand why. lf you love the outdoors, there’s no better place than Hokkaido. (Keiji Inagawa, former President, Muroran Togo Corporation) Muroran is very easy to get to and from. It's even possible to fly to our head office in Togo, Aichi, work there for 5-6 hours and then fly back without having to stay the night. As someone who likes the outdoors, it's great being able to enjoy activities like golfing, kayaking and mountaineering in my free time. A game at a reasonably priced golf course here is a third of the price of a game in Aichi.
■Attractiveness Ranking of Prefectures and

Nature With Four Distinct Seasons
Spring in Hokkaido begins with beautiful cherry blossoms and gets fully underway with profusions of a variety of other flowers. The other seasons are just as distinct, with clear skies in summer, colorful leaves in autumn and silvery white landscapes in winter. ■Temperature: minimum and maximum of the average monthly temperature Average from 1981 to 2010 Nagoya (Source: Japan Meteorological Agency)
Low Humidity, Clean Refreshing Air
Hokkaido has an extremely pleasant climate, with no rainy season and low humidity - the perfect location for biotechnology- or IT-related companies. ■Average Discomfort Days
Comfortable Summer Climate
Hokkaido has very pleasant summer weather, with very few hot days (Over 30°C) or extremely hot days (Over 35°C). ■Number of Hot Days/Extremely Hot Days (Average from 1981 to 2010 (30 Years))
A Substantial Snow Clearing
System and Cold Resistant Houses
Because Hokkaido has a thorough snow clearing system for roads, airports and railways, snow is no obstacle to distribution in winter. Comfortable living is ensured in homes built to withstand snow accumulation and cold weather. ■Snow Accumulation: Greatest Depth of Accumulated Snow (Average from 1981 to 2010 (30 Years)) ■99.6% Snow Clearance Rate of the Roads in Hokkaido (As of April 1, 2018) Hokkaido is a large place, and cars are an essential means of transport. Hokkaido has 6,785km of national highways, and has a snow clearance rate of 99.6%, with only one 24 km road that cannot be cleared. Total length: 6,809km - Length not cleared of snow 1 road 24km 0.4% (Source: Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau) ■Winter Roads are Safe to Walk on with Winter Shoes To walk safely and comfortably in the snow, it is very important to wear shoes with the right kind of sole. In Hokkaido, we have excellent winter shoes that are made for walking on the snow and ice. Summer shoes Winter shoes
Data Centers – Taking Full Advantage of the Cool Climate
Dramatically Reduced Air Conditioning Costs through the Use of Snow and
lce Energy and Cool Air
As the demand for data centers continues to expand rapidly, there are increasing concerns for the amount of power consumed. It is said that 40% of the power used by data cen is for air conditioning, and this consumption needs to be drastically reduced. Hokkaido is gaining a great deal of attention as an ideal location for companies that need to conditioning power consumption because of its naturally cool temperatures, and it is being actively promoted to companies looking to relocate their facilities. ■Reductions in air conditioning power consumption and CO2 levels through the use of outdoor air, free cooling, and snow and ice (estimation) * Values estimated by the Hokkaido GEDC Study Group
Stable Communications Infrastructure
There is a substantial communication infrastructure already in place between the Tokyo metropolitan area and Hokkaido, operated by multiple carriers through multiple routes. There are also plans to further reinforce backbone redundancy and diversify communications infrastructure between Hokkaido and the mainland, Honshu. All of the main business areas in Hokkaido including Sapporo, Ishikari, Chitose, Tomakomai, Sorachi and Asahikawa are fully equipped with the necessary backbone lines. Realization of a low-energy consumption data center through the use of Hokkaido's cool climate Opening of a large-scale suburban data center that takes advantage of scale merits of the land size SAKURA Internet Inc. (Head office: Osaka) SAKURA Internet Inc, which has the largest backbone network in Japan and operates internet data centers, open a new suburban large-scale data center called the "shikari Data Center" in the Ishikari Bay New Port Area in November 2011. The Ishikari Data Center features improved energy efficiency by adopting outdoor air conditioning and harnessing the advantages of its considerable size. With the total adoption of outdoor air conditioning that utilizes the cool climate of Hokkaido, the cost for air conditioning to cool the data center servers has been reduce PUE*, an energy efficiency indicator for data centers, has been decreased to 1.11 simply through using outdoor air conditioning throughout the year. The company aims to make the data center even more energy efficient by using heat generated by the servers in heating offices and some of the roads near the center during th winter. A third building was built in December 2016 with a new, efficient style of air conditioning, and the final plan is for the data center to consist of five buildings with up t The company will make the most of the abundance of land in Hokkaido to build a data center around 1.1 times the size of the Tokyo Dome, with a high level of expandability an cost performance. Talking of future prospects, President and CEO Kunihiro Tanaka says, "It is said that the cost of data centers in Japan is double that of advanced data centers overseas. We built the Ishikari Data Center to reduce costs by half, and to provide customers with a service that delivers a high level of cost performance." *PUE (Power Usage Effectivenes) indicates the energy efficiency of a data center. The closer the value is to 1.0, the more efficient the data center is. Generally values low Many companies, such as SAKURA Internet Inc., NEC and NTT COMWARE Corporation, have relocated their data centers to Hokkaido. Hokkaido provides such benefits as controlled power consumption through the use of the cold climate, excellent access to the mainland of Japan, and low risk of a disaster occurring in both Hokkaido and regions such as the Tokyo metropolitan area at the same time, all of which are gathering a great deal of attention as the ideal location for data centers.
A Prime Location for Risk
Dispersion and as a Backup Center
Length with snow removal 6,785km 99.6%