Hokkaidō Retains Title of Japan’s Most Attractive Prefecture for Sixteenth Straight Year
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Hokkaidō comfortably retained its position as Japan’s most attractive prefecture for the sixteenth year running in the 2024 edition of the Local Brand Survey, conducted by the Brand Research Institute. It has finished top every year since the prefectural version of the survey started in 2009. Japan’s northernmost prefecture also led in categories on tourism and brand recall for regional food products.
Kanagawa climbed two places to fifth in the ranking as destinations like Yokohama, Hakone, Yokosuka, and Chigasaki within the prefecture rose in the list of municipalities. Nagano and Shizuoka broke into the prefecture ranking top 10 at eighth and ninth, respectively.
Lower down the list, the March opening of the Shinkansen route between Kanazawa and Tsuruga gave Fukui Prefecture a tourism boost that lifted it seven places to thirty-first.
Top 10 Most Attractive Prefectures (2024)
| 2024 Rank (2023) | Prefecture | 2024 Score (2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | Hokkaidō | 70.8 (72.4) |
| 2 (2) | Kyoto | 55.6 (56.6) |
| 3 (3) | Okinawa | 49.8 (52.7) |
| 4 (4) | Tokyo | 48.3 (49.0) |
| 5 (7) | Kanagawa | 42.6 (39.4) |
| 6 (6) | Fukuoka | 42.0 (40.4) |
| 7 (5) | Osaka | 38.3 (43.3) |
| 8 (13) | Nagano | 34.9 (31.9) |
| 9 (14) | Shizuoka | 34.6 (30.6) |
| 10 (9) | Ishikawa | 33.9 (33.4) |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the 2024 Local Brand Survey.
Saga dropped to the bottom of the survey in 2024, as Ibaraki climbed two rungs from last in 2023.
Bottom Seven Prefectures (2024)
| 2024 Rank (2023) | Prefecture | 2024 Score (2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 41 (44) | Gunma | 18.6 (16.3) |
| 42 (42) | Tokushima | 18.0 (16.6) |
| 43 (42) | Yamaguchi | 17.3 (16.6) |
| 44 (41) | Tottori | 16.3 (17.3) |
| 45 (47) | Ibaraki | 16.0 (13.7) |
| 46 (45) | Saitama | 15.2 (15.8) |
| 47 (46) | Saga | 14.9 (13.8) |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the 2024 Local Brand Survey.
Hakodate took top spot in the list of most attractive municipalities for the first time in five years, and the seventh time overall. Along with Sapporo in second, Otaru in fifth, and Furano in tenth, there were four Hokkaidō cities in the top 10.
Most Attractive Municipalities (2024)
| 1 (3) | Hakodate * | 58.2 (56.6) |
| 2 (1) | Sapporo * | 57.9 (59.4) |
| 3 (2) | Kyoto | 52.3 (57.8) |
| 4 (7) | Yokohama | 51.8 (50.7) |
| 5 (8) | Otaru * | 50.9 (50.6) |
| 6 (4) | Kanazawa | 48.8 (53.1) |
| 7 (5) | Kamakura | 46.9 (52.0) |
| 8 (14) | Ishigaki | 46.3 (42.8) |
| 9 (6) | Kobe | 45.2 (51.8) |
| 10 (11) | Furano * | 45.0 (45.5) |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the Local Brand Survey 2024. Municipalities in Hokkaidō are marked with an asterisk.
The Brand Research Institute has conducted its Local Brand Survey annually since 2006. It tallies and quantifies the responses of around 35,000 people to questions about 1,000 municipalities and all of Japan’s 47 prefectures, gauging respondents’ awareness of places, along with aspects like their desire to visit or reside there and their evaluation of regional resources.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Two Kashiwa oak trees in winter in Biratori, Hokkaidō. © Pixta.)