This town’s name is neither of the two former towns’ names. Two towns that had walked separately to the west of Hakodate became one in the Heisei era, and a new city was born. And ten years after the merger, the terminus of the Shinkansen — reaching Hokkaido for the first time — opened within that municipal area. Without knowing how two towns became one and gained a Shinkansen gateway, this city’s numbers cannot be read. Hokuto-shi’s numbers record a town inscribed with the history of how a merger of two towns gained a Shinkansen gateway.
A city in the Donan region of southern Hokkaido, opening out to the west of Hakodate. Two towns — through which a railway leading to Hakodate had long run, and which had walked as a land of rice growing — became one in a new merger in the Heisei era to form the present city. Ten years later, the terminus of the Shinkansen, reaching Hokkaido for the first time, opened within that municipal area. The population fell from 48,032 in 2010 to 44,302 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "the town with a Shinkansen station," but the causal thread: how the history of a merger of two towns and a Shinkansen gateway is translated into today’s population and land prices.
01 · See the present Hokuto-shi in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about forty-four thousand (44,302 in 2020). From the post-merger 48,032 in 2010 it fell through 46,390 in 2015 to 44,302 in 2020. The share aged 65 and over rose from 22.4% in 2010 to 30.1% in 2020, passing three in ten. As a Donan city adjoining Hakodate, the slope of decline and aging is on the gentle side among the cities of the prefecture.
The Official Land Price of residential land is about 15,000 yen per m², and of commercial land about 32,000 yen. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.48 in fiscal 2023 — a level whose own tax revenue covers a little under half of expenditure. The share of households with children was 22.1% in 2020, kept on the higher side among the cities of the prefecture. The Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. Why these numbers line up in this town cannot be read without tracing the history of a merger of two towns and a Shinkansen gateway.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Official Land Price / Prefectural Land Price Survey (MLIT) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
02 · West of Hakodate, the merger of two towns, the terminus of the Shinkansen — the history behind the numbers
What sets Hokuto down is its position to the west of Hakodate, the merger in which two towns that had walked separately became one, and the Shinkansen terminus that opened within that municipal area. The starting layer is the two towns. To the west of Hakodate, one had walked its own history as a seaside port town, the other as an inland land of rice growing. A railway leading to Hakodate had long run through them both.
In the Heisei era these two towns became one city in a new merger. That they chose a new name that is neither of the two former towns’ names is the mark of its having been an equal merger. And ten years after the merger, the Shinkansen, reaching Hokkaido for the first time, made the station within this municipal area its terminus. A station that had long stood in this place was reborn as the terminus of the Shinkansen and given a name bearing the name of the neighboring large city. The land gateway to Hokkaido was placed within this municipal area. Two separate towns became one and welcomed Hokkaido’s land gateway at their boundary — Hokuto’s present lies on the extension of that merger and opening.
Source: Hokuto City, overview and chronicle (2006: born of the new merger of Kamiiso Town and Ono Town; "the town of sea, land, and the Shinkansen") / Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (1902: Hongo Station — later Oshima-Ono Station — opens on the Hakodate–Hongo railway; 2016: renamed Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station on the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, becoming its terminus — overview)
03 · A town adjoining Hakodate keeps the share of households with children high
In this town, which adjoins the large city of Hakodate, the indicators of daily life can be read within the relationship with Hakodate. The share of households with children was 22.1% in 2020, kept on the higher side among the cities of the prefecture. This can be read as a sign that a twofold advantage — being within commuting distance of Hakodate, while land prices are lower than in central Hakodate and a house is easier to set up — has drawn households in the child-rearing years to this town. Its character as a suburban housing district of the neighboring large city supports this height.
The Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025, and the number of elementary schools held at eleven from 2019 through 2023. That it has been able to hold its school count while many cities in the prefecture consolidate schools is not unrelated to the height of the share of households with children. Its position of adjoining Hakodate holds the demand for a place to live in this town, and that demand can be read as supporting the scale of its schools and childcare.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / School Basic Survey (MEXT, via e-Stat System of Social and Demographic Statistics)
04 · A city where two towns became one and gained a Shinkansen gateway
In Hokuto, two histories fold over each other. One is its starting point, in which two towns that had walked separately to the west of Hakodate became one in a new merger. The other is its character that within that municipal area opened the terminus of the Shinkansen, which reached Hokkaido for the first time. Its position to the west of Hakodate and its making as a city born of merger overlaid this town with a new role, that of a Shinkansen gateway.
That said, the terminus of the Shinkansen bears the name of the neighboring large city, and from the station to central Hakodate there is still a distance. The role of land gateway brings this town a flow of people passing through, and at the same time takes on the character that the place those people head for is the neighboring city. The gateway that two towns became one to gain works less as a destination of its own than as a passageway to the neighboring city.
Source: Hokuto City, overview and chronicle (2006: born of the new merger of Kamiiso Town and Ono Town; "the town of sea, land, and the Shinkansen") / Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (1902: Hongo Station — later Oshima-Ono Station — opens on the Hakodate–Hongo railway; 2016: renamed Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station on the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, becoming its terminus — overview)
05 · Atlas note — a Shinkansen station is not, by itself, a reason to live somewhere
Lay out Hokuto’s numbers and the indicators of a Donan city next to Hakodate line up: a population fallen since the merger, an aging rate of 30.1%, a land price of 15,000 yen, fiscal capacity of 0.48, a household-with-children share of 22.1%. But, to put it with the eye of a certified public accountant, what I (Atlas) want to read first here is the history that this town chose "a new name that is neither of the two former towns’ names." Two towns that had walked separately to the west of Hakodate became one in an equal new merger and took a new name. And at their boundary the land gateway of Hokkaido was placed. The history in which a new city born of merger gains the terminus of the Shinkansen ten years later explains this town’s making well.
One more thing to weigh is the point that this Shinkansen gateway bears the name of the neighboring large city. The role of land gateway brings a flow of people passing through this town, but the place those people head for is the neighboring city. In my view, for that very reason, indicators on the side of daily life — this town’s household-with-children share of 22.1%, the eleven elementary schools it holds — become the measure of whether this town works as a place to live rather than a place to pass through. Holding a station where the Shinkansen stops, and being able to settle there and raise children, are two different matters. Holding a land gateway, and being able to settle there and raise children, are to the last two different matters. A station where the Shinkansen stops is not, by itself, a reason to live there.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Hokuto City, overview and chronicle (2006: born of the new merger of Kamiiso Town and Ono Town; "the town of sea, land, and the Shinkansen") / Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (1902: Hongo Station — later Oshima-Ono Station — opens on the Hakodate–Hongo railway; 2016: renamed Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station on the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, becoming its terminus — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (wave28-east 2026-06-04)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: w28e_da4