Protected local food
Hokkaido Rice
北海道米
Rice from Hokkaido, grown from varieties bred for a cold climate where rice was once thought impossible. Today it ranks among Japan's best-known rice.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 25 March 2026
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Official name in Japanese
- 北海道米
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 北海道
Rice where it should not grow
Hokkaido was thought too cold for rice, and the Meiji government nearly gave up on it. Settlers who longed for rice kept trying, and in 1873 they finally succeeded with a variety called Akage. More than a century of breeding from Akage has produced many varieties that no one thought a cold region could grow.
Many rices, many uses
Hokkaido's own cold-climate varieties are rare worldwide. They range widely in sweetness, softness and stickiness, so there is a Hokkaido rice for almost every use. Its taste ratings have risen sharply, and buyers also value the large, steady supply.
How to eat it
Plain steamed rice is the test. In Hokkaido, try it in kaisendon, a bowl of rice under fresh seafood, or as onigiri from a local shop.
Good to know
- Look for Hokkaido variety names such as Yumepirika or Nanatsuboshi on rice bags and restaurant menus.
- On Hokkaido, pair it with Hamanaka uni on a seafood bowl, or with Tokachi Raclette for something different.
Questions travellers ask
When did rice farming start in Hokkaido?
Settlers first succeeded in 1873, using a variety called Akage.
Is Hokkaido rice short-grain?
Yes, it is Japanese short-grain rice, sticky and tender when cooked.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Coal, steel and port: Hokkaido's northern industrial revolution
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Masuda: a medieval masterpiece of Japan
- Otaru, the heart of Hokkaido: a merchant city saved by its people
- Sacred land of salmon: 10,000 years on the Nemuro Strait
- Takaoka: the castle town that became a merchant town
- The Kamikawa Ainu: living with the kamuy of Daisetsuzan
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.