Thursday, April 2, 2026
- 1 A question I've been asking myself for 16 years: Is this site fulfilling its true purpose?
- 2 The data reveals the honest truth.
- 3 Co-creation with AI Ryu-chan: 14 days with the "ultimate god partner"
- 4 April 2nd – A new portal completed on his 70th birthday.
- 5 The Future of Hokuryu Town Portal – A Gateway to 140 Countries Worldwide
- 6 A vow I make on my 70th birthday for the next 16 years
- 7 Related articles
A question I've been asking myself for 16 years: Is this site fulfilling its true purpose?
On Thursday, March 19, 2026, a new moon, Noboru and Ikuko Terauchi, who run the Hokuryu Town Portal, posed a question to themselves.
"Is this website able to convey the spirit of Hokuryu Town to the world?"
Sixteen years had passed since its launch in July 2011. The site had accumulated over 12,000 articles and more than 2 million visitors. However, the question arose: were these large numbers truly connected to the site's original mission—to convey to the world the "spirit of harmony" and "spirit of compassion" that the people of Hokuryu Town unconsciously cultivate? The time had come to seriously confront that question.
The data reveals the honest truth.
The tool used for analysis was Google Analytics 4 (GA4). We carefully analyzed the data for the entire year of 2025.
The reality of a portal visited by 273,000 people annually
Looking at the numbers alone, the Hokuryu Town Portal was certainly growing. 273,000 users and 769,000 page views per year. A staggering 176 times the population of Hokuryu Town (approximately 1,550 people) visits this site from all over the world.
Particularly noteworthy is the length of stay of visitors from Indonesia. The average of 7 minutes and 19 seconds indicates that readers outside the Japanese-speaking world are seriously reading articles about Hokuryu Town. Our efforts to communicate in 10 languages were indeed reaching a global audience.
However, the data also revealed three challenges.
- Problem ①: Dependence on sunflowers
—Of the top-ranking articles, 44.61 TP3T were related to sunflowers. This reveals a pattern where visitor numbers plummet once the summer season ends. - Issue ②: The limited impact of social media traffic.
—Traffic from Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) accounted for only 0.691 TP3T. The presence of social media that we had diligently cultivated for 16 years was not serving as a bridge to our site. - Issue ③: The gateway to feature articles is not visible.
—The 156 feature articles I poured my heart and soul into writing received 97,638 views annually, representing 15% of all views. Until now, these articles, imbued with the spirit of Hokuryu Town, have remained dormant in the depths of the site. They deserve to be read by many more people.
Numbers don't lie. And because they're honest, they illuminate the path to the next stage.
Co-creation with AI Ryu-chan: 14 days with the "ultimate god partner"
Based on the analysis results, Sho and Ikuko deepened their dialogue with the AI (Claude Sonnet 4.6, nicknamed "Ryu-chan"). This was not simply about using a tool.
Questions that arose from the dialogue
In my conversation with Ryu-chan, the first thing he asked me about wasn't design, but "philosophy."
What does this website want to convey? Is it a site that showcases the beauty of sunflowers, or is it a site that conveys the hearts of the people of Hokuryu Town to the world?
The answer was clear.
The sunflowers are the entrance. But what we really want to convey is the "spirit of harmony" and "spirit of compassion" of the people who live in this town.
That one comment determined the direction of the renovation.
From data analysis to design—a collaboratively conceived user flow.
While analyzing the GA4 figures together, Ryu-chan organized the issues and proposed solutions. He aimed to leverage the powerful sunflowers as a gateway, while simultaneously creating a door to the story of Hokuryu Town beyond. The design aimed to create a pathway that would naturally draw visitors into the town's soul.
The data showing that visitors from Indonesia stayed for 7 minutes and 19 seconds solidified our conviction that "the world is seeking the story of Hokuryu Town."
Design System Development
We focused on traditional Japanese colors, imbuing each color with meaning.
- Young leaf color (#4a7a40)—The farmland of Hokuryu Town, the breath of life
- Blue mauve (#8898c8)—The skies and lakes of Hokkaido, and a pure spirit
- Dark blue bellflower (#2d3a6b)—The deep blue before dawn, sincerity and depth
- Sunflower Gold (#EF9F27)—Light and vitality that symbolize Hokuryu Town
The design, woven from these four colors, reflects the four seasons of Hokuryu Town and the hearts of its people.
A shift in philosophy reflected in the site title.
One of the most symbolic changes was the alteration of the site's subtitle.
From "Happy Town, Hokuryu" to "A Story of People and Land Woven with the Spirit of Japan."
It was the moment when the philosophy I had nurtured in my heart for 16 years finally manifested itself as the "face" of the website.
April 2nd – A new portal completed on his 70th birthday.
The work, which began on March 19th and involved an average of 6 hours of work per day for 14 days, was completed on April 2nd, Noboru's 70th birthday.
The complete picture of the reborn website
Please see the main elements that have been completed with the renewal.
- New logo
—A new face that symbolizes the soul of Hokuryu Town - Light green header and navigation + sunflower gold top border
—A unified design in the colors of Hokuryu Town - Philosophical text below the main visual
—With white text and a light blue background, the words "A story of people and land woven with the spirit of Japan" speak quietly, yet powerfully. - "The Soul of Hokuryu Town: A Collection of Stories" Zone
—Five stories carefully selected from 16 years of experience (Sunflower Festival, Sunflower Rice, Kurosenkoku Soybeans, Sunflower Watermelon, Sunflower Melon) are prominently displayed right above the new articles. - Renewal Navi 2026
— Five navigation guides that lead you to the essence of the town, including "The Activities of Hokuryu Town" and "The Story of Hokuryu Town" - 5-column footer
— A well-organized entry point to 16 years' worth of content - Sidebar redesigned and moved to the right side.
—Local information such as weather information for Hokuryu Town (weatherwidget.io, coordinates 43.73/141.88), snow depth (Windy), etc.
The numbers show the current strength of the site
PageSpeed Insights scores are 100 for desktop and 94 for mobile. While the redesign refreshed the website, we maintained our strong foundation of world-class display speed. [Environment: XSERVER Standard, WordPress, THE THOR theme]
PageSpeed InsightsWhat is(Gemini3 explanation)
This tool measures website loading speed and usability. The average score for local governments is around 50 points, while a score of 70 or higher is considered world-class. The Hokuryu Town Portal scores 100 points for the PC version and 94 points for the mobile version, making it among the world's best. The higher the score, the more instantly and stress-free readers can access information, dramatically improving convenience and reliability during disasters or in low-speed environments.
The Future of Hokuryu Town Portal – A Gateway to 140 Countries Worldwide
Expected effects
This renewal has provided concrete solutions to three challenges.
① Breaking free from sunflower dependence
—By establishing the Story Collection Zone, a gateway to the diverse attractions of Hokuryu Town has been created, regardless of the sunflower season. A pathway has been established that will draw visitors to the portal throughout the year.
② Strengthening the integration between social media and the website
—With communication formats now available in 10 languages, a system has been put in place to ensure that Facebook and X posts lead to more reliable traffic to the site. English, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Spanish, Portuguese—the doors are now open for readers in each language region to visit the portal in their native language.
③ Clear link to feature articles
—By creating a navigation system and a collection of stories zone for "Stories of Hokuryu Town," a structure was created that ensures featured articles reach readers without getting lost in the crowd.
The collaboration with Ryu-chan continues.
Our collaboration with AI doesn't end with the website redesign. With the automation of article posting using the WordPress REST API, and ongoing coverage including Mizuho Corporation's dense seedling cultivation series, the Hokuryu Town Portal's journey is moving to a new stage.
A vow I make on my 70th birthday for the next 16 years
April 2nd was Noboru's 70th birthday.
The moment we completed 14 days of work, averaging 6 hours a day, with this day as our goal, what came to our minds was not a sense of accomplishment, but a quiet determination.
The people of Hokuryu Town have been practicing "harmony" and "compassion" as a matter of course, without even realizing it. This may be the philosophy the world needs most right now. Our goal is to continue delivering this philosophy to 140 countries around the world, using the power of data, co-creation with AI, and 16 years of research and love.
The Hokuryu Town Portal's voyage continues today.
Related articles
Photography, editing, and website management: Noboru Terauchi◇
![Let's clean up our town together—a day for litter cleanup and fun! [Minna no Hiroba Onigiri]](https://portal.hokuryu.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-02-14.05.59-375x264.jpg)
