Hokkaido Entrance Social Studies case studies
Hokkaido Entrance Social Studies · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Hokkaido University general admission examination in Social Studies (地理歴史・公民) is the written subject component that applicants to Hokkaido University's faculties sit alongside their other second-stage papers. Candidates choose from Geography, Japanese History, and World History on the history-geography side, and from Contemporary Society, Ethics, and Politics-Economy on the civics side, depending on what their target faculty requires; the faculty-specific combination and the current year's rules are set out in the official 募集要項, which applicants should read directly. The papers are constructed-response: you write short factual answers, interpret maps, statistics, and source extracts, and produce longer explanations of causes, comparisons, and consequences. Because answers must be written rather than selected, preparation centres on building accurate chronological and spatial frameworks, then practising concise expression - stating a term, dating or locating it, and linking it to a cause or effect within a set line length. The Hokkaido Entrance Social Studies case studies are 5 cases and about 3,295 words.
1Accessibility and Fiscal Stress in a Shrinking Hokkaido Town
Town A in eastern Hokkaido has 6,800 residents, down 27% since 2000, and 38% are aged 65 or older. Dairy farming and coastal fishing dominate the local economy.
671 words, about 3 min2Silk Reeling, Railway, and Rural Households in Meiji Nagano
A town in Nagano Prefecture, 1880s. In 1885, 62% of farming households raised silkworms; by 1890 raw silk accounted for 41% of prefectural export value.
634 words, about 3 min3Tin, Rubber, and Labor in a Colonial Port City
Between 1890 and 1910, a port city in British Malaya was transformed. Tin output rose from 10,000 to 50,000 tons a year, and rubber planted area grew from almost nothing to 200,000 acres.
650 words, about 3 min4Predictive Welfare Scoring: Need, Privacy, and Fairness
City B has 420,000 residents, 31% aged 65 or older. The welfare department uses a predictive model to score 12,000 residents aged 75+ for risk of isolation.
660 words, about 3 min5Stadium Bonds and Fiscal Sustainability in a Shrinking City
City C has 280,000 residents and a shrinking population. Annual tax revenue is ¥92 billion; the debt-service ratio is 17.8%, above the national early-warning threshold.
680 words, about 3 min