Post offices are scattered across the vast expanse of Hokkaido. When their locations were plotted on a map, it created a viral topic: "it looks almost exactly like the shape of Hokkaido." What does this incredible map look like? The image displays only the locations of post offices. Nevertheless, the outline of Hokkaido is clearly visible. The post has garnered over 40,000 likes, with users commenting, "Post offices are amazing!" "It's almost the exact shape of Hokkaido," and "Are there surprisingly many along the coast?"

A Map Born from a Geography Lover's Fascination with Hokkaido's Shape

This is a map of Japan drawn using only the search results for 'government office'

The person behind this post is "Chiri B no Tabi," who shares the fun of geography and maps on social media. They say they were originally fascinated by the shape of Hokkaido itself and enjoyed looking at maps. While using the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan's map service to find things that could represent a shape solely through the distribution of search results, they noticed that post office locations beautifully traced the shape of Hokkaido, which led to this post.

Here are some other posts from "Chiri B no Tabi." This one compares the size of Hokkaido.

An aerial view of Nanporo, Hokkaido, for the "Integrated Circuit-like Aerial Photo Championship"

Chiri B no Tabi explained the Hokkaido map drawn with post office locations as follows:

At first glance, it might seem like just an "interesting picture," but behind it, one can discern the lifestyle, regional characteristics, and human activities of Hokkaido. This post was a reminder of the profound depth of geography.

*The image was created by acquiring and partially modifying a map from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.