On December 9th, Google LLC announced the "2021 Google Search Ranking by Prefecture." What are the top 5 trending words searched together with "Hokkaido"? The results were a bit surprising, so we'd like to share them with you!

5th place “Bear”

A keyword that seems to be typical of Hokkaido suddenly appears. "Bear" is ranked 5th. Brown bears have long lived in the forests of various regions of Hokkaido, but recently they have been spotted more frequently in urban areas. In June 2021, a brown bear was spotted in Higashi Ward, Sapporo. A resident was attacked and slightly injured, and the bear's appearance in a residential area was reported on television news, becoming a major topic of conversation.

4th place: "Accident"

"Accidents," which was not included in any other prefectures, came in fourth. Hokkaido has many wide roads with good visibility, but driving too fast or not following proper traffic etiquette can easily lead to a serious accident. With winter approaching, the roads will become slippery. Please be careful when driving in Hokkaido.

3rd place: Kou Shibasaki

Some of you may be surprised to know that "Shibasaki Kou" is ranked third. Actress Kou Shibasaki has been sharing her life in Hokkaido on her YouTube channel "Retroi Grace ch." since 2021. Shibasaki, whose parents are originally from Hokkaido, currently lives in both Hokkaido and Tokyo. She also made headlines when she showed her Hokkaido home on a TV program.

2nd place: Hokkaido Bank Curling

Hokkaido Bank Curling ranked second. The match to decide the Japanese women's curling team for the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held in September 2021. The battle between Loco Solare, the bronze medalist at the Pyeongchang Olympics that sparked the "So that's right" craze, and Hokkaido Bank Fortius (at the time), which had skip Sayaka Yoshimura, was a see-saw game that was closely fought until the final game of the seven games, with the outcome uncertain until the last throw, and became a hot topic.

1st place: "A new style of travel"

The number one answer was "A new style of travel"! This discount on travel products within Hokkaido was resumed in October 2021 and is now called "Douminwari." At the same time, it also educated businesses and users on the importance of taking sufficient infection prevention measures. What do you think? It's an interesting attempt to look back on the year in this way. I hope that next year will be a better year for everyone! Google search rankings 2021