Description of a Hokkaido.

The Hokkaido is thought to have its roots in the Matagi-ken, a breed brought by the Ainu people from the Tohoku region in the Jômon period. The later Yayoi people brought a different breed to the Tohoku, but the isolation of Hokkaido led to its line of Jômon dog having the least influence from the Yayoi.

In 1869, the English zoologist Thomas W. Blankiston gave the breed the name Hokkaido.

The breed was useful in the search for survivors of an Army expedition that was caught in heavy snow crossing the Hakkoda Mountains of Aomori Prefecture in 1902.

In 1937, the Ministry of Education designated the breed a natural monument, and officially named it Hokkaidô-inu.