Plausibility check: Hokkaido as a non-Russian European settler colony?

How plausible is a non-Russia European country using the island of Hokkaido as a settler colony, similar to Australia, New Zealand and much of the Americas? Hokkaido was pretty sparsely populated before the Japanese colonisation, Wikipedia says the Ainu population was 80,000 in the 18th century and the Hokkaido Ainu population was 15,000 in 1868.
 
Well, first of all, you need a good economic reason for it.

I mean, you can't simply point to less known part of the globe and try to make it a colony out of it if you're not Leopold II.
 
How plausible is a non-Russia European country using the island of Hokkaido as a settler colony, similar to Australia, New Zealand and much of the Americas? Hokkaido was pretty sparsely populated before the Japanese colonisation, Wikipedia says the Ainu population was 80,000 in the 18th century and the Hokkaido Ainu population was 15,000 in 1868.
The banned @Beer give us a german Hokkaido in one of his TL
 
How plausible is a non-Russia European country using the island of Hokkaido as a settler colony, similar to Australia, New Zealand and much of the Americas? Hokkaido was pretty sparsely populated before the Japanese colonisation, Wikipedia says the Ainu population was 80,000 in the 18th century and the Hokkaido Ainu population was 15,000 in 1868.

There's a reason why it's sparcely populated; it's cold and difficult to reach/out of the way of any major route of commerce or travel. This move is certainly plausable, if done as a prestige project for a country that wants a settler colony for it's own sake, but you're going to have a hard time finding a reason for a country to spend the bodies and treasure nessicery for no discernable gain
 
I read a thread where it becomes American in 1800's. Could also be British if they wanted. All the British had to do was pick and choose where they wanted to colonize in the 1800's. The British goal is to circle Russia.

Perhaps to counter this, the Russians are favorable to have Americans as neighbors.
 
I read a thread where it becomes American in 1800's. Could also be British if they wanted. All the British had to do was pick and choose where they wanted to colonize in the 1800's. The British goal is to circle Russia.

Perhaps to counter this, the Russians are favorable to have Americans as neighbors.

Not very likely. Before the 1860's the Sea of Okhotsk is the only Russian access to the Pacific, thus, quite a big deal for the Tsar. For the rest of the world, it's just an isolated icy island that nominally belongs to Japan.
 
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