"Hokkaido Heritage" refers to the tangible and intangible treasures of Hokkaido that we wish to pass on to the next generation. The winning entries for the "Hokkaido Heritage Photo & Tanka Challenge 2025-2026," which invited submissions of photos and tanka (short poems) on the theme of the 74 designated Hokkaido Heritages, have been announced. These masterpieces provide an opportunity to rediscover the allure of Hokkaido. Please enjoy the charm of Hokkaido Heritage as expressed through photography and tanka.

Grand Prix

Ryo Shinkawa / Nostalgia

■Subject / Location & Date
Hokkaido's horse culture (Ban'ei horses, Hidaka thoroughbreds, Hokkaido Washu horses, etc.) / Ayamegahara Primeval Flower Garden, September 2023

■Artist's Comment
A beautiful horse's back, in a break in the fog.

■Judge's Comment
I found this to be a very beautiful photo that tells a story. The misty cape scenery, the late summer atmosphere, and the dignified back of the horse are wonderful. It sparks the imagination, making one wonder what this horse was thinking and what expression it had as it looked upon this scene.

Runner-up

・Ryoichi Kurata / Captivated by the Rays of Light

■Subject / Location & Date
Notsuke Peninsula and Utasebune Boats / Notsuke Peninsula, February 2025

■Artist's Comment
I visited the Notsuke Peninsula in winter. As the sun began to set, I was captivated by the rays of light shining through a gap in the clouds, and there was a male Ezo deer, also seemingly captivated by the same light.

■Judge's Comment
I was drawn into this very dramatic and beautiful image, like a scene from a movie. While the overall tone is subdued and almost monochrome, the warm and soft gradation of the light makes it a piece that seems to foreshadow something. The Ezo deer is also a great touch.

・Tadahiro Okutani / Protecting the Port for a Century

■Subject / Location & Date
Otaru Port and its Breakwater / Otaru Port, November 2025

■Artist's Comment
On a day when waves crashed violently, the port, protected by the breakwater, quietly reflected the madder red sky.

■Judge's Comment
The painting-like, mysterious, and dreamlike atmosphere is very impressive, and I felt the skillful composition was used to its full potential. It's also interesting how the impression changes when you realize that the dividing part, which at first glance looks like a floating ship, is the breakwater, and the sea's appearance is different on the other side.

Grand Prix

Utsugido

■Subject
Noboribetsu Onsen Jigokudani (Hell Valley)

■Artist's Comment
I was inspired by the motifs of demons and iron clubs that were abundant in Hell Valley.

■Judge's Comment
It's true that the demons of Noboribetsu Onsen are red and hold their iron clubs as if dragging them. The leap from that shared understanding to the final seven syllables, "I want to see you," was unexpected and amazing. I'd love to ask the author why they wrote "I want to see you" in hiragana.

Runner-up

・Ito

■Subject
Kiritappu Wetland

■Artist's Comment
It was the coldest place I visited on my trip to Hokkaido.

■Judge's Comment
I thought this was a beautiful poem, like a photograph, with a very nice rhythm. The cold of Kiritappu seems to seep out from the poem. The fact that it doesn't express emotion directly allows the reader to imagine, which I also thought was good.

・Akemi Nakagawa

■Subject
Drift Ice and the Garinko-go Icebreaker

■Artist's Comment
I rode the Garinko-go with my family a long time ago. I remembered the feeling of a new, unknown world opening up as the ship broke through the pure white drift ice, and that's what inspired this poem.

■Judge's Comment
I found it interesting that the line is "I wonder where on the globe we are?" and not "I wonder where on Earth we are?". The choice of the onomatopoeia "garigori" (crunching and grinding) instead of just "garigari" or "gorigori" is also very good.

・Masaaki Hokari / Ski Trace

■Subject / Location & Date
Skiing and the Niseko Mountain Range / Near Goshiki Onsen, Niseko Town, January 2021

■Artist's Comment
The ski touring tracks on Mt. Niseko Moiwa were beautiful.

・Motohiro Shinmura / Traversing the Geometric City

■Subject / Location
Streetcar / Sapporo, December 2025

■Artist's Comment
The geometric lines of the crosswalk and the beautiful curves of the streetcar moving along them were stunning, so I captured the moment it crossed the intersection.

・Shinobu Maekawa / Freezing and Passing

■Subject / Location & Date
Ishikari River / Tobetsu Town, Ishikari City, January 2025

■Artist's Comment
On the half-frozen river surface, the hesitation of the season is etched. The railway tracks cutting across it quietly showed that only time moves forward.

・Shunto / The Sun Has Witnessed the Moments of the Ishikari River

■Subject / Location & Date
Ishikari River / Hamanasunooka Park, October 2025

■Artist's Comment
The evening view of the Ishikari River basin from Hamanasunooka Park.
In this place, the sun has watched over the long history, from the primeval landscape before development to the activities of people, and up to the present day. I believe the Ishikari River, as a major artery of Hokkaido's development, has supported the lives of many and nurtured culture.
At this Hokkaido Heritage site, I captured the history of Ishikari, etched alongside the sun, as a fleeting moment of light.
This sun is a "witness of time" that knows the Ishikari River.

・Kohei Kawasumi / Quietly

■Subject / Location & Date
Hokkaido's Shujikan (Prisons: Kabato, Sorachi, Kushiro, Abashiri, Tokachi) / Obihiro City, February 2025

■Artist's Comment
The Tokachi Prison Oil Storage, which still remains in Midorigaoka Park, quietly blends into the park's surroundings.

・Yoshiko Yamauchi / The Green Season

■Subject / Location & Date
Sapporo Soft Stone / Ishiyama Ryokuchi Park, May 2024

■Artist's Comment
The Negative Mound at Ishiyama Ryokuchi Park at the moment it seemed the rain would stop. Sunny days are nice, but viewing the Sapporo soft stone in this kind of weather also has its charm. I took the photo incorporating the season into the puddle.

・Ryoichi Kurata / Winter Narawara

■Subject / Location & Date
Notsuke Peninsula and Utasebune Boats / Notsuke Peninsula, February 2025

■Artist's Comment
My first visit to the Notsuke Peninsula. The Narawara (withered oak forest) in winter was a strange and wonderful sight.

・Noriyuki Hatahata / Galaxy Pouring onto the Lake Surface

■Subject / Location & Date
Lake Mashu / Lake Mashu, June 2025

■Artist's Comment
The galaxy illuminated Lake Mashu in the middle of the night, as if putting on a show for the Milky Way.

・Shugo Suzuki / The Pine that Leads to the Literature Museum

■Subject / Location & Date
Miura Ayako Literature Museum and the Foreign Trees Sample Forest / Asahikawa City, January 2026

■Artist's Comment
It's a space away from the hustle and bustle, where quiet time flows through the seasons.

・Ikutaro Sasaki / Misty Hills

■Subject / Location & Date
Periglacial Landforms of the Soya Hills / Soya Hills Wind Farm, Wakkanai City, August 2025

■Artist's Comment
This is a scene of the setting moon at dawn and the wind turbines of the wind farm on the Soya Hills. Morning mist had formed in the hollows of the hills, creating a fantastical atmosphere.

・Reiki Hirono / Returning

■Subject / Location & Date
Former JNR Shihoro Line Concrete Arch Bridges / Lake Nukabira, February 2026

■Artist's Comment
I photographed the Taushubetsu River Bridge, which has completed its service, as it returns to the earth under the force of majestic nature.

・Ren Tsukahara / To the Place of Return

■Subject / Location & Date
Salmon Culture / Sakura Falls, Kiyosato Town, July 2025

■Artist's Comment
A single salmon swimming up a raging stream. I captured its strength to connect life to the future even in the harshness of nature, along with the spray of water.

・Mizue Tsuyama / Path of the Gods

■Subject / Location & Date
Notsuke Peninsula and Utasebune Boats / Chashikotsu, Shibetsu Town, January 2026

■Artist's Comment
Notsuke Bay is famous for its sailing boats (utasebune) used for shrimp fishing in spring and autumn, but in winter it freezes over. As I looked at the frozen lake surface, I saw a path of overlapping ice that continued like a mountain range into the distance. Could it be an omiwatari (a crack in the ice, said to be a path for the gods)? The path of the gods seen in the harsh cold was very mystical.

・adnao708 / Quiet Cherry Blossoms

■Subject / Location & Date
Fukuyama (Matsumae) Castle and its Temple Town / Matsumae Castle, April 2024

■Artist's Comment
The cherry blossoms blooming quietly around the samurai residences were very beautiful and lovely.

・Masaaki Hokari / Sunset at the River Mouth

■Subject / Location & Date
Ishikari River / Near Ishikari Lighthouse, April 2021

■Artist's Comment
On a spring evening, the sunset's reflection was beautiful.

・Lucano

■Subject
Otaru's Railway Heritage

■Artist's Comment
A poetic expression that overlaps Hokkaido's nature with an "inner journey."

・DAZZA

■Subject
Streetscape of Hakodate's Western District

■Artist's Comment
I remembered the beauty of the red brick warehouses on the opposite shore as seen from Nanaehama.

・Bukuma Tajima

■Subject
Ishikari River

■Artist's Comment
As a child, I vaguely sang "Ishikari River" as part of my school song. As an adult, I've come to strongly feel its presence and appreciate it as part of the landscape.

・Ko Inokuchi

■Subject
Wakkanai Port North Breakwater Dome

■Artist's Comment
Looking at the shadows, I thought it would be fun to hop through them like hopscotch, though you'd need long legs and great jumping ability to do it.

・Saki Oda

■Subject
Ainu Language Place Names

■Artist's Comment
When friends from Honshu visit, they're so impressed that I can read Hokkaido's place names, so I can't help but read them proudly. I'm proud that these place names, written in phonetic characters, are derived from the Ainu language, and I want to preserve them for the future.

・Ayaka Honda

■Subject
Goryokaku and the Remains of the Battle of Hakodate

■Artist's Comment
Coming from Hino and having a familiarity with the Shinsengumi, I viewed Goryokaku not in terms of victory or defeat, but as a "trace left by ambition." Through the scene of spring cherry blossoms embracing the unfulfilled ideals without judgment, I expressed a quiet way of facing history.

・Yayoi Mita

■Subject
Streetcar

■Artist's Comment
I feel nostalgic for the streetcars in Hakodate.

・Takayuki Yamaki

■Subject
Streetcar

■Artist's Comment
I expressed how the streetcar connects the everyday scenery with the pulse of the city.

・Hideo Watanabe

■Subject
Hokkaido's horse culture (Ban'ei horses, Hidaka thoroughbreds, Hokkaido Washu horses, etc.)

■Artist's Comment
I wrote about the heart of the ranch, wishing for the happiness of the horses that are born, raised, and return there.

・Mayu Takeda

■Subject
Sorachi's Coal Mine-Related Facilities and Lifestyle Culture

■Artist's Comment
I wrote this remembering a time in elementary school when I went to the Coal History Village on a field trip and took an elevator down into the mine shafts.

・Rikiya Oizumi

■Subject
Nikka Whisky Hokkaido Yoichi Distillery

■Artist's Comment
I expressed that Nikka Whisky has a unique atmosphere and flavor that can't be found anywhere else.

・A Souvenir Filled with Kindness

■Subject
Moor Onsen

■Artist's Comment
My grandmother, who runs a soba shop, often has rough hands. My senpai (senior colleague/friend) was concerned for her and brought her some hand cream from the Moor Onsen. I submitted this hoping to express the kindness of a regular customer through the warmth of this natural lotion.

・Ya-kun

■Subject
Chishima-zakura (Kurile cherry)

■Artist's Comment
The Chishima-zakura blossoms are as beautiful today as they were in the past.

・Yusuke Kida

■Subject
Hokkaido Ramen

■Artist's Comment
It reminded me of when I was in a long-distance relationship.

・Minato Sakimoto

■Subject
Streetcar

■Artist's Comment
I expressed the sadness of parting with my mother. When you can still see them, you just want to keep waving.

Erika Kusumi (Photographer, Artist)

General Comments for the Photo Division

There were many photos with meticulously crafted compositions, making them very rewarding to view. This time, I selected works that went a step beyond the beauty of the Hokkaido Heritage itself, focusing on those that evoked a sense of story. However, there were many other heart-moving photos among those not selected.

For photos taken at the same location, similar compositions were sometimes seen. By changing the season, time of day, or perspective, and by exploring uncharted territories, I am certain you will achieve even more unique expressions. Let's continue to photograph this beautiful Hokkaido together!

Yuya Okamoto (Skinhead Camera: Comedian, Tanka Poet)

General Comments for the Tanka Division

Thank you for the unexpectedly large number of over 600 tanka submissions. I enjoyed reading them all. I prioritized selecting those who were able to create their own unique poems, but I believe the results would be different if another person were to judge. I hope this serves as an opportunity for you to continue your interest in both tanka and Hokkaido Heritage.