Hokkaido weather

Hokkaido is the only prefecture in Japan that belongs to the subarctic zone and has a winter climate for about half of the year. (Reference: Weather Characteristics of Hokkaido Region, Sapporo District Meteorological Office, Meteorological Agency【Japanese】 ). The snowy scenery is so beautiful that you can enjoy playing in the snow and winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding.

On the other hand, winters can be long, very cold, and dry, so beware of cold and flu epidemics. Also, the weather, with its short daylight hours and long periods of dim light, can cause people to feel depressed.

In addition, plowed snow can pile up on roads, making visibility difficult, people and cars can slip on icy roads, and water pipes in homes can freeze and burst.

To take care of your health and prevent accidents, spend time taking the following precautions.

Clothing, Shoes, Walking

Sapporo and Hakodate have a lot of snow, and the winter temperatures are low, so the snow does not melt, but rather gets compacted and frozen. Please refer to the following pages for safe daily walking on ice.

Please note that it is very dangerous to ride a bicycle when there is snow or ice, so do not do so. Please use public transportation (subway, bus, etc.).

• Clothing/footwear (shoes)
• How to walk on winter roads (Japanese/English/Simplified Chinese/Traditional Chinese/Korean)

Prevention of water pipes from freezing

In Hokkaido, many accidents occur when water pipes freeze and break during the bitter cold of winter, leaking water to the floor below.

Whenever you leave a room for more than a day or when the temperature falls below -4°C, you should perform a process called "draining" or "water removal.

It is also important not to trip the room breaker or turn off the water heater.

Check with your landlord or management company about how to drain water. In addition to operating levers and switches to turn off the water, it is also necessary to operate water pipes to drain remaining water from multiple water pipes.

If you are away from Japan and cannot drain the water immediately by yourself, the management company may offer a service to do the work for a fee. Please contact the management company or landlord sooner before an accident occurs.

• About frozen water pipes (PDF)
• Information on frozen water pipes (Sapporo City)

For those who are currently living in private apartments, etc.

When an accident occurs and the insurance expires, you will have to pay the full amount of repair costs and reimbursement costs of hundreds of thousands of yen or millions of yen. Have you completed the renewal procedures for the insurance (comprehensive foreign student housing insurance, fire mutual aid, etc.) that you subscribed to when you moved into the apartment? If your subscription period has expired, please renew immediately.

IIf you have any questions, please consult with your seniors at  International Srudent Support Desk.