Do you know Hokkaido, in the north of Japan?
Hokkaido is one of Japan’s 47 prefectures, centered on a large island in the northern part of the Japanese archipelago.
Many people live in the central city of Sapporo, but Hokkaido also has areas with wide farmland, mountain towns, coastal towns, and small islands.
In winter, snow piles up in many areas, and some children walk to school through severe cold.
A snow-covered path to school.
A schoolyard blanketed in white.
In Hokkaido, you can see school scenes typical of a snowy region, depending on the area.
Today, the number of schools in Hokkaido is decreasing.
This time, using data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “School Basic Survey,” we made a map that lets you compare the number of elementary, junior high, and high schools in Hokkaido at 3 points in time: 1965, 1990, and 2024.
Why don’t you take a look, together with me, at how the number of schools in Hokkaido has changed, using the map?
Hokkaido’s School Count Change Map
Hokkaido is both the name of a region of Japan and, at the same time, the name of a single prefecture.
The other regions in this series each include multiple prefectures, but the Hokkaido region consists of Hokkaido alone.
Use the buttons at the top of the map to switch between elementary, junior high, and high schools, and between 1965, 1990, and 2024.
The size of each circle on the map represents the number of schools. The color shows how the number of schools has changed compared to 1965.
Select the circle for Hokkaido to see the total number of schools, the number of main and branch schools, and the breakdown by national, public, and private.
If you’d like to see all of Japan, select “All Japan.”
About the map data
This map was compiled and mapped by Visible World by Data, based on data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “School Basic Survey.”
School counts include both main schools and branch schools.
For high schools, this map shows full-time and part-time schools. Schools that are correspondence-only are not included.
1965 covers 46 prefectures, excluding Okinawa; 1990 and 2024 cover all 47 prefectures. Hokkaido is included in the survey at all 3 points in time.
Comparing school counts in Japan and Hokkaido
The data card lets you compare the number of schools in Japan as a whole and in Hokkaido at 3 points in time: 1965, 1990, and 2024.
Use the buttons at the top to switch between elementary, junior high, and high schools.
Elementary schools in Hokkaido went from 2,280 in 1965, to 1,675 in 1990, to 934 in 2024.
Junior high schools went from 1,278 in 1965, to 797 in 1990, to 557 in 2024.
High schools increased from 324 in 1965 to 340 in 1990, then decreased to 271 in 2024.
After checking the numbers for Hokkaido, compare them with the change across Japan as a whole.
What I noticed while making this map
Elementary and junior high schools in Hokkaido have decreased significantly across the 3 points in time compared here.
High schools, on the other hand, increased from 1965 to 1990, then decreased by 2024.
What stood out to me was how, even within Hokkaido, the pattern of change differs by school type.
You may be curious about how the number of schools has changed in your own country, too.
Why not use the map to compare those trends with changes in Hokkaido?
Let’s look at school counts across Japan
In the regional articles, you can look more closely at the change in school numbers using an enlarged map and data card for each region.
Source: Compiled from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “School Basic Survey” (e-Stat)
※ School counts include both main schools and branch schools.
※ The high school counts include full-time and part-time schools.
※ The Hokkaido region consists of just 1 prefecture, Hokkaido.