Hokkaido remained Japan’s most attractive prefecture for an 18th straight year, according to recent survey results. The annual survey, conducted online from June 23 to July 17 by the Brand Research Institute — a Japanese consulting and research firm based in Tokyo that specializes in regional and corporate branding — collected 31,666 valid responses from people in their 20s through 70s and assessed all 47 prefectures, encompassing 1,047 areas across 1,000 municipalities, on 91 criteria, including regional attractiveness, recognition and a person’s willingness to visit or live in that region. Hokkaido scored 68.0 points, comfortably ahead of Kyoto’s 53.5 and Okinawa’s 49.1.
The top three have remained unchanged for seven consecutive years. Three cities in Hokkaido — Sapporo, Hakodate and Otaru — were ranked the top three most attractive municipalities, and the city of Furano, also in Hokkaido, ranked seventh, backing the prefecture’s continued popularity. Tokyo rose one spot to fourth, overtaking Kanagawa, which slipped to fifth.
Osaka climbed two places to sixth after its attractiveness score jumped 5.3 points to 40.9, the largest increase among the 47 prefectures. The firm attributed Osaka’s gain partly to the legacy of the Osaka Expo, which drew about 29 million visitors in 2025, as well as new commercial developments around Osaka Station in Umeda, a major commercial district. Nagasaki also entered the top 10, rising three places to eighth with a record score of 36.4.
Large events including the Nagasaki Peace Culture Festival held last autumn helped raise awareness of the prefecture and gave people more reasons to visit. Tourism was also a common factor among several of the year’s biggest climbers. Niigata, Miyazaki and Kochi each rose six places in the attractiveness rankings.
Niigata moved to 22nd as interest in the Sado Island Gold Mines, added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2024, continued to draw visitors. Kochi climbed to 28th after drawing in fans of the NHK morning drama “Anpan” depicting Takashi Yanase, the author of the popular anime series “Anpanman,” who grew up in the prefecture. Miyagi rose four places to 11th, while Shimane, which also rose four places to 38th, benefited after the city of Matsue became the setting for another NHK morning drama, “The Ghost Writer’s Wife,” increasing interest in sites connected to writer Lafcadio Hearn, who lived there in the 1890s.
A total of 28 prefectures recorded higher attractiveness scores than a year earlier, pushing the national average to a record high of 28.5 points. At the bottom of the rankings, Saga placed 47th with 15.1 points. Ibaraki ranked 46th, Gunma 45th and Saitama 44th.
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