About Hokkaido
Hokkaido is the northernmost region of Japan. It has the largest area of any of Japan's prefectures, with cities, farmland, mountains and coastline spread across it.
Hokkaido includes a large city, Sapporo, but many of its towns lie far apart. In some areas, railways play an important role in everyday travel and tourism. Many parts of Hokkaido are also known for heavy winter snow.
So which stations in Hokkaido see the most passengers? See where a station you know appears in the ranking.
This page draws on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), National Land Numerical Information (Station Passenger Data) (国土数値情報（駅別乗降客数）) to present the Hokkaido rankings for 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
TOP50 Stations in Hokkaido by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
Use the year buttons to switch between the TOP50 for 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Stations that share a name but differ in railway operator or line are listed as separate entries.
What the Ranking Shows
Sapporo (札幌) on the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido, 北海道旅客鉄道) Hakodate Main Line (函館線) had the most daily passenger entries and exits in Hokkaido in all four years.
The daily figures were 196,244 in 2019, 132,306 in 2021, 154,528 in 2023 and 172,084 in 2024. They dropped in 2021, then climbed in 2023 and 2024, though the 2024 figure still falls short of the 2019 level.
Among the 51 stations that were in Hokkaido's TOP50 in 2019 or 2024 and have figures for both years, Kitahiroshima (北広島) on the JR Hokkaido Chitose Line (千歳線), which rose 13 places from 44th to 31st. Its daily passenger entries and exits were 15,410 in 2019 and 19,150 in 2024.
Your own country may have snowy regions or towns far from the nearest city. Picture the stations there as you read through Hokkaido's ranking.
Hokkaido's Stations on a Map
Use the station passenger map to locate any station that catches your eye in the ranking.
Compare the stations clustered around Sapporo with those in areas far from the city.
Explore Japan and the Other Regions
The national edition lets you search for a station by name to find its national rank. Compare the other regional articles to see how the leading stations and the scale of passenger numbers differ.
- Japan Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
- Tohoku Region Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
- Kanto Region Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
Methodology and Notes
Each row in the ranking is a combination of station name, railway operator and line. Stations with the same name are not combined when the operator or line differs.
Ranks are calculated only for stations that have a positive passenger count recorded in the given year. The number of eligible Hokkaido stations was 207 in 2019, 157 in 2021, 157 in 2023 and 157 in 2024.
The 2023 data includes 50 stations recorded as 0 passengers. These are excluded from the ranking. Because the number of eligible stations varies by year, keep this in mind when comparing ranks across years.
Stations with identical passenger counts share the same rank, and the next rank is skipped.
Source
Visible World by Data processed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), National Land Numerical Information (Station Passenger Data) (国土数値情報（駅別乗降客数）) for use in these rankings.
The figures shown are based on the data published for each year. For current train operations and station status, please check the information provided by each railway operator.
—