Investing in Japan

Regional Information Hokkaido
The ideal data center, in Hokkaido
Your Regional Guide
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Industrial Promotion Division, Department of Economic Affairs, Hokkaido Government
Kita3, Nishi6, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-city, Hokkaido, 060-8588, |

Hokkaido
- If you can't find the information you need, please contact JETRO
.
- Please note that inquires not regarding investment in Japan may not be answered.
The information below is as of November 2017. (Basic Information: September 2018)
Basic Information
Population *1 | 5.38 million |
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Labor force *1 | 2.47 million |
Area (square kilometer) *2 | 83,423.84 |
GDP *3 | 18,961,154 million yen |
Major industries | Food products; pulp, paper, and paper products; petro chemicals and coal chemicals; iron and steel; transport equipment instruments |
Wage *4 |
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Land price(for 1square meter) *5 |
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Number of Establishments *6 | 252,036 |
Number of Employees *6 | 2,445,372 |
Offices overseas |
Shanghai, China /Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russian Federation / Seoul, South Korea |
JETRO office |
JETRO Hokkaido |
Regional Profile
Strength of the region's industries and economy
Hokkaido is a region advancing the cluster for the manufacturing industry, in particular, spurring a dramatic expansion in the local concentration of automotive and electronic parts companies. In the food-related industry, there are more resource-centered locations where the food resources produced in Hokkaido are manufactured there. Moreover, there is a trend in encouraging Hokkaido to be a cluster region for super low-power consumption-type data centers that take advantage of the island’s snowy and cold climate in advancing the concentration of measures to reduce energy consumption for cooling purposes at data centers. Hokkaido is also the site of one of Japan's leading biotechnology clusters.

SHIKISAINOOKA (Biei Town)
Foreign company(s) operating in the industry
Against the backdrop to the rich human resource ground in the field of information, the Japanese arm of the global management consulting firm Accenture established its system development center in Sapporo in 2006. With the low risk of natural disasters and ease of recruiting, the Japanese arm of a French insurance/asset management group, AXA established its Sapporo Headquarters in 2014, and US-based American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (commonly called “Aflac”) embarked on business in Sapporo in 2016, both of which aimed to diversify risks in its headquarters' functions.
Available incentives
The Government of Hokkaido has established the Hokkaido Code on Industrial Promotion, which aims to encourage businesses to locate branches in the prefecture. Subsidies are available for automotive-related industries, electrical and electronics manufacturing industries, food industries, plant factories, new-energy industries and data center industries of a value up to 1.5 billion yen (for automotive-related industries). Moreover, subsidies of up to 10 million yen were also available in 2014 for transferring headquarters’ functions.
- Related Link
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Industrial location guide: Hokkaido Business Location Guidebook