The Hokkaido Railway Company is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group, and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of JR Hokkaido . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart card ticketing system, in autumn 2008.

The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the JR Group or simply JR, is a group of railway companies in Japan that underwent division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. It consists of six passenger railway companies, one freight railway company, and two non-service companies. Most of the liability of the JNR was assumed by the JNR Settlement Corporation.