Hokkaido

The variety of landscapes and panoramas during the different seasons have made the island of Hokkaido an increasingly popular destination to admire how climate changes affect the perception of colors and reflections on nature due to various atmospheric effects.

Summer is the best season to get to know this island better, for example by combining landscape tourism, called ‘landscape tourism’, with cultural tourism.

Since 2016, Hokkaido University has in fact promoted the ‘Hokkaido Summer Program’, encouraging knowledge of the local area and its inhabitants, from a sustainable perspective, but also from an economic development perspective.

The Ainu, the indigenous population of the island, represent the traditional Japanese culture still present in Hokkaido, deviating from the frenetic life of Tokyo. In the capital Sapporo, a Cultural Center contains the entire history of the Ainu, including their craft production, clothing, and their habits and customs.

Hokkaido University has proposed an in-depth study on indigenous populations and sustainable development for this summer 2020, also evaluating how the Covid_19 event has affected these inhabitants of the island.

Certainly with this summer program, the University wants to take advantage of the favorable climate to be able to spread international cultural interaction and the beauty of Hokkaido to the Japanese themselves, but above all to foreigners, with a view to development.

Unfortunately, however, here too, the adversity of the ‘Coronavirus’ has temporarily blocked the possibility of adhering to this program as best as possible, as well as the enrollment of international students at the same University.