「赤れんが庁舎」の愛称で親しまれている北海道庁旧本庁舎は、1888（明治21）年12月に完成。アメリカ風ネオ・バロック様式で、約250万個のれんがを使用し、多くの資材には道産品が使われた。屋根の上には八角塔がそびえ、間口61m、奥行36m、塔頂部までの高さ33m、当時としては国内有数の大建築物だった。1969（昭和44）年に国の重要文化財に指定された赤れんが庁舎は、北海道のシンボル的存在であり、また緑豊かな庭園はオフィス街のオアシスとして市民から愛されている。

The Former Hokkaido Government Office Building, which is lovingly known as the Red Brick Office, was completed in December 1888. Its design is neo-Baroque in the American style, using around 2.5 million bricks and many of the materials used to build it was from Hokkaido. An octagonal dome stands on the rooftop, and the building was one of the few large buildings in the country when it was built, with frontage spanning 61 meters, depth at 36 meters and its height to the top of the tower at 33 meters. The Red Brick Office, which was designated as a nationally important cultural property in 1969, has as a symbolic presence in Hokkaido, and its verdant garden is well liked by the residents as an oasis in a neighborhood of office buildings.

温泉天国・北海道の中でも屈指の温泉地である登別温泉。何といっても湯量と泉質の豊富さが一番の魅力だ。湯量は一日1万トンを超え、北海道一とされる泉質の種類は全部で9種類とも11種類ともいわれており、このような温泉地は世界的にも珍しいことから「温泉のデパート」と呼ばれている。開湯は1858（安政5）年といわれ、登別の語源はアイヌ語で『白く濁った川・色の濃い川』を意味する言葉に由来するとされ、古くから川の色が変わるほど豊富に温泉が湧き出していた様子がうかがえる。

Noboribetsu Onsen is among the leading hot springs in Hokkaido, which is a hot springs paradise. The most attractive features are the ample supply and the rich quality of the hot springs. The supply of hot springs exceeds over 10,000 tons a day, and the quality of the hot springs, which is known to be the best in Hokkaido, is said to total 9 or even 11 types. Given that this type of hot springs area is rare, it is known as an onsen department store. The hot springs is said to have opened in 1858, with the etymology of the word Noboribetsu hailing from the Ainu language meaning white, clouded river or a river with strong colors, which reveals the gushing of hot springs that was abundant enough to change the color of the rivers, way back from the olden days.

極寒の冬の北海道名物といえば、オホーツク海の流氷。流氷観光砕氷船「おーろら」は世界で初めて遊覧を目的とした砕氷船で、360度を流氷に囲まれた幻想的な風景を楽しむことができる。また、夏は知床観光船として活躍している。
砕氷船とは、氷海にて航路を切り開き、旅客や物資等を運搬するのが本来の目的。「おーろら」は南極観測船「しらせ」の技術を用い、氷塊を船の重さで砕氷して進んでいく。衝撃的な流氷の眩しさ、夕陽に赤く映える流氷、流氷の上で佇む野生動物の姿など、「おーろら」の船上でしか見ることのできない風景を体験してみてはいかが？

White ice floes, which are a major symbol of Hokkaido in the deep cold of winter, appear in the waters near the Sea of Okhotsk around late January. The Aurora is a special sightseeing icebreaker for navigating the ice floes, allowing the people on board to enjoy a fantastic landscape of ice floes surrounding them on all sides. The ship is also used in the summer as a sightseeing vessel for touring Shiretoko. The original purpose of ice-breaking ships is to open up routes through ice-covered sea and transport people as well as objects. The Aurora utilizes the technology of the Shirase, an research and observation ship for the South Pole, advances by breaking blocks of ice with the weight of the boat. How about experiencing a scene that can only be seen aboard the Aurora, such as the blinding light created by dramatic floating ice floes, floating ice that glows red at sunset or wild animals standing still on ice floes?

「木彫りの熊」といえば、北海道を代表するモチーフとして有名。北海道で熊といえば「ヒグマ」を指す。ヒグマは、日本で最大の陸上動物で、北海道のみに生息し、中でも知床半島は有数のヒグマの生息地。ヒグマは雑食性で、草の葉や根っこ、木の実など植物を食べることが多いが、秋になり鮭の遡上の季節になると、川や河口近くの海辺に現れ、遡上してきたマスや鮭を捕らえて食べる姿を目にすることができる。北海道の生態系の頂点に立つヒグマと、生態系を支える鮭、どちらも北海道の自然には欠かせない存在だ。

The wooden statue of a bear is famous as the representative motif of Hokkaido. The bear in Hokkaido is the brown bear. It is Japan’s largest terrestrial animal, and lives only in Hokkaido. The Shiretoko Peninsula is one of the brown bear’s main habitats. The brown bear is omnivorous animal that eat plants such as the roots and leaves of grass and nuts, in autumn when salmon swim upstream, these bears can be seen standing on the shore alongside the river or near the river’s mouth, trying to catch and eat the trout and salmon traveling upstream. Not only the brown bear as a top-level predator, but the salmon as a prey, both are indispensable for the ecosystem in Hokkaido.

「初音ミク」は、声優・藤田 咲さんの声を元に作り上げられた、音符と歌詞を入力すると歌を歌わせることができるWindows用歌声制作ソフトウェア。　その「初音ミク」を開発したクリプトン・フューチャー・メディア株式会社は札幌が拠点であり、毎年『さっぽろ雪まつり』の開催に合わせ、冬の北海道を応援するキャラクターとして、雪をモチーフにした真っ白い「初音ミク」＝「雪ミク」を発表。2013年は、北海道スイーツをイメージした衣装デザイン案を募集し、和服姿の『いちご大福 白無垢ミク』が誕生。

“HATSUNE MIKU” that was created based on the voice of voice actress Saki Fujita is the software to sing a song on the computer by inputting notes and lyrics. Crypton Future Media, INC., the company is based in Sapporo each year unveils “SNOW MIKU”, a snow-white “HATSUNE MIKU” using snow as its theme and a character to enliven the winter season in Hokkkaido to coincide with the Sapporo Snow Festival. The Strawberry White Kimono Miku was created in 2013 from submissions sent into a costume design contest based on the theme of sweets from Hokkaido.

日本で最も有名な駅弁のひとつ。森名物・元祖『いかめし』の誕生は1941（昭和16）年。もともと函館本線・森駅構内で駅弁を販売していた阿部商店が、戦時下だった当時、豊漁なのにも関わらずあまり使われずにいた小ぶりのスルメイカを使い、米を節約しつつも腹持ちがよいメニューとして考案した。生イカの胴に生米を詰めて爪楊枝でとめ、強い火力でボイルしたものを「秘伝のタレ」につけて味付けする。製法やサイズは発売当時からほとんど変わっておらず、出来たてを販売するため、森駅構内および駅前の店舗と、百貨店などの催事でしか買うことができない。それが長年愛され続ける味へのこだわりだ。

It is one of the famous ekiben (lunch boxes sold at station). The original Ikameshi, for which Mori Station is known, was created in 1941. Abe Shoten, which sold ekiben at Mori Station of the Hakodate Main Line, used the smaller Japanese flying squid as it was not used despite the big haul seen during World War II, stuffed it with raw rice, closed it with toothpicks and then flavored it by boiling the squid in its secret sauce. The way it is made as well as its size has virtually remain unchanged since it was created, and it cannot be bought anywhere except for at Mori Station, stores in front of the station and at special events at department stores, in an effort to sell them fresh as soon as they are made. This obsession is behind the reason for its flavors, which have been loved for many years.

北海道と本州をつなぐエアラインとしてお馴染みのAIR DOは、2012年10月28日から新しい機体デザインのボーイング737-700の初号機を帯広−羽田線に導入した。新しい機体デザインは、コーポレートカラーである水色と黄色が基調。AIR DOのマスコットキャラクター『ベア・ドゥ』もデザインに取り入れられており、初号機の翼先端のウイングレット内や、機体前方のドア横にペイントされるなど、親しみやすいデザインになっている。

AIR DO, which is well known as an airline company that connects Hokkaido and Honshu, adopted the Boeing 737-700 with a new airframe design on October 28, 2012, to be the first plane to fly on the Obihiro-Haneda route. The new airframe design is accented by corporate colors, light blue and yellow. Bear Do, AIR DO’s mascot, is also incorporated into the design and is painted on the tip of the winglet of the first plane as well as the side door located toward the front of the plane, making for a friendly design.

北海道の名所、物産、文化… バラエティ豊かな“北海道名物”を手のひらサイズのフィギュアにしました。

“HOKKAIDO FIGURE MIYAGE” is the miniature figures of famous Hokkaido institutions!