Flag of Hokkaido
Locally Hokkaidō · 北海道
What the flag looks like
A seven-pointed red star edged in white on a dark navy field.
What it means
The seven-pointed star updates the five-pointed North Star of the Meiji-era Development Commission and stands for the pioneer spirit; navy is the northern sea and sky, red the people's unyielding energy, and white the light and the snow.
How to remember it
Hokkaido
flies a red seven-pointed star rimmed in white on navy: a North Star for the far north.
Fun facts
- Hokkaido covers about a fifth of Japan's land area, making it by far the largest prefecture.
- Sapporo Beer's red star comes from the same North Star of the Development Commission that inspired the flag.
Hokkaido at a glance
- Type
- Circuit (dō)
- Island
- Hokkaidō
- Capital
- Sapporo
- Region
- Hokkaidō
- Population
- 5.0 million
- Area
- 83,424 km²
- Languages
- Japanese
- Currency
- Japanese yen (¥)
- Flag adopted
- 1967