Hokkaido, which was struck by a strong earthquake overnight, is a famed area for agriculture and open spaces that accounts for about 3.5 percent of the nation's economy.
While there are no economic projections on the damage yet, the magnitude 6.7 quake is the latest in a string of natural disasters, from floods to heat waves, that have hit this summer. Some local communities have suffered greatly, particularly from flooding in western Japan, without making a significant dent yet in overall economic outlook.
Hokkaido makes up 22 percent of the country's land mass but only about 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, making it the eighth-largest economy among the country's 47 prefectures.