The Local Brand Survey 2018, which was reported by Brand Research Institute, finds that the most attractive city in Japan is Hakodate in Hokkaido, overtaking Kyoto that was the top last year. The 3rd city is Sapporo in Hokkaido.
Hakodate is ranked 1st for tourism motivation and 2nd for local product purchase motivation. The highest growth rate in comparison with the last year’s survey is found in Ise in Mie with 7.7 points up (ranked 14th), followed by Nagoya with 7.4 points up (ranked 12th) and Ishigaki in Okinawa with 7.3 points up (ranked 13th).
By prefecture, the top is Hokkaido for ten years in a row, followed by Kyoto and Tokyo. Hokkaido is top in terms of local attractiveness, tourism motivation and nature for ten years in a row. In comparison of local attractiveness between 2009 and 2018, the scores are up in 38 prefectures, while down in nine prefectures. In the last decade, the highest growth is found in Ishikawa, followed by Hiroshima and Aichi.
Top 10 cities in terms of local attractiveness (the last year results in parentheses)
1 (2) Hakodate 50.0 (47.7)
2 (1) Kyoto 48.1 (48.1)
3 (3) Sapporo 46.8 (47.0)
4 (4) Otaru 45.5 (41.3)
5 (7) Kobe 41.5 (38.1)
6 (6) Yokohama 40.7 (39.7)
7 (9) Furano 39.9 (36.5)
8 (5) Kamakura 39.7 (40.5)
9 (8) Kanazawa 39.3 (37.3)
10 (11) Sendai 35.5 (33.2)
Top 10 prefectures in terms of local attractiveness (the last year results in parentheses)
1 (1) Hokkaido 59.7
2 (2) Kyoto 52.2
3 (3) Tokyo 41.9
4 (4) Okinawa 41.2
5 (5) Kanagawa 36.7
6 (6) Nara 32.6
7 (7) Osaka 31.8
8 (8) Fukuoka 28.1
9 (9) Nagano 26.4
10 (11) Nagasaki 26.3
