Yah. The function of the shake is to catch anyone who’s entering the meaning as the reading by accident, for any word. At least, I’m fairly sure it’s any word - having trouble coming up with the search terms to find the thread where they announced it. It just so happens in this instance that the expected answer for the meaning is fairly close to the reading (though “Hokkaidou” is also accepted for the meaning).
I mean, more correctly, WaniKani transliterated the text “hokkaido” into the hiragana ほっかいど already. It’s just now considering the actual text entered rather than what it’s displaying.
Edit: Aaaand after completing that post, my brain coughed up a search suggestion - use the terms I was already using, but confine the results to the Announcements section only. Et voila.