Kushiro-shi is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. Located along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, it serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. , the city had an estimated population of 151,833 in 90771 households, and a population density of 111 people per km2.
Geography
Kushiro is located in southeastern Hokkaido. The
Kushiro River and
Akan River flow through the city, as well as
Lake Akan is within the city borders. Following a merger in 2005, the former town of Onbetsu is an enclave to the west of the main city. The northeastern portion of Kushiro borders Kushiro-shitsugen National Park.
Mountains
Rivers
Lakes
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Lake Akan
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Lake Harutori
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Lake Panketō
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Lake Penketō
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Lake Shunkushitakara
Neighboring municipalities
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Shiranuka
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Kushiro Town
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Shibecha
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Teshikaga
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Ashoro
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Urahoro
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Tsubetsu
Climate
Kushiro has a humid continental climate (
Dfb) but its winter temperatures are less severe than those of inland East Asia at the same latitude. Its port is the most reliably ice-free throughout winter in all of Hokkaido, due to the lack of indentation in the coastline and absence of large inflows of cold
fresh water nearby. It is also markedly sunnier than the extremely gloomy
Kuril Islands to its north, being sheltered by Hokkaido's mountains from the heavy snowfalls produced on the Sea of Japan side by the
Aleutian Low. It receives only a third as much snowfall as
Sapporo and almost twice as much sunshine as the Kuril Islands are estimated to. Its daytime summer temperatures are noticeably cooler than in the interior, sheltered coastal areas and the south coast of Hokkaido.
Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. See or edit raw graph data.
History
The origins of Kushiro Port are said to date back to the mid-17th century, when
Matsumae Domain sent trading ships to trade with the
Ainu people who lived near the mouth of the Kushiro River. During the
Edo period, Kushiro Port was called Kusuri-tomari. Around 1799 Itsukushima Jinja was founded by the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1869 the name of the settlement was changed from "Kusuri" to "Kushiro." In 1897 Yasuda Coal Mine opened. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Kushiro as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.
[US Department of State. (1906). A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759.] On 10 July 1900, with the implementation of the Hokkaido First- and Second-Class Municipalities System, Kushiro Town, Kushiro District, was established.
Kushiro was an important port because it is more reliably ice-free during winter than alternative Russian Far East such as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or other ports in Hokkaido such as Hakodate, which occasionally freeze for short periods due to the lower salinity of the Sea of Japan. For this reason, Kushiro was considered a valuable target during the Russo-Japanese Wars. Its importance grew during the 1920s with the growth of commercial fishing, for which its reliable freedom from ice reduced costs.
On 14-15 July 1945 the city of Kushiro was bombed by American naval aircraft; resulting in 192 mostly civilian deaths, 1,618 houses burned or destroyed, 6,211 people affected, and 273 people injured. The city center was reduced to a burnt wasteland..[Holloway, David, ‘Jockeying for Position in the Postwar World: Soviet Entry into the War with Japan in August 1945’, in The End of the Pacific War: Reappraisals, ed. by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007), pp. 145-188 (pp. 178-179).]
In October 1949, the neighboring town of Tottori was incorporated into Kushiro City. on 4 March 1952, The Tokachi-oki earthquake occurred, resulting in 15 deaths. A gas explosion at the Kushiro Mine of the Pacific Coal Mine occurred on 31 August 1954, killing 39 workers.
On October 11, 2005, the town of Akan, from Akan District, and the town of Onbetsu, from Shiranuka District, was merged into Kushiro. The town of Shiranuka now lies between the two sections of Kushiro.
Government
Kushiro has a
mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a
unicameral city council of 28 members. Kushiro contributes four members to the Hokkaidō Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Hokkaidō 7th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
Economy
Kushiro is a regional commercial center. In terms of industry, paper and pulp, agriculture, commercial fishing and food processing and the chemicals industry are major contributors.
Education
Kushiro has 24 public elementary schools, 13 public middle schools, one public combined elementary/middle school and two public high schools operated by the city. The city has six public high schools operated by the Hokkaido Board of Education and one private high school. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.
In terms of higher education, the Kushiro Junior College, National Institute of Technology, Kushiro College and the Kushiro Public University of Economics are located in the city.
Public high schools
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Hokkaido Akan High School (Municipal)
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Hokkaido Kushiro Commercial High School
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Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo High School
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Hokkaido Kushiro Konan High School
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Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High School
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Hokkaido Kushiro Meiki High School
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Hokkaido Kushiro Technical High School
Private high schools
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Bushukan High School
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Ikegami Gakuen High School, Kushiro Campus
Transportation
File:Kushiro airport01.JPG|Kushiro Airport
File:Kushiro Station 20140808.jpg|Kushiro Station
File:Kushiro-nishi Interchange.jpg|Kushiro-nishi IC
File:Kushiro Fisherman's Wharf EGG and MOO01n.jpg|Port of Kushiro
Airport
Railways
JR Hokkaido - Nemuro Main Line
- - < > - - - - - -
JR Hokkaido - Senmō Main Line
- Higashi-Kushiro
JR Freight
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Nemuro Main Line: Kushiro Freight Terminal
- Taiheiyō Coal Services
Highways
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Dōtō Expressway
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Kushiro Sotokan Road
Ports
Sister cities
International
- Sister cities
- Partner cities
Domestic
- Sister cities
|
| Yuzawa | Akita Prefecture | Tōhoku region | October 4, 1963 |
| Tottori | Tottori | Chūgoku region | October 4, 1963 |
| Okayama | Okayama | Chūgoku region | October 9, 1980 |
- Partner cities
Sister ports
Port of Kushiro's sister ports are:
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Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (since 1984)
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Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia (since 1994)
Local attractions
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Itsukushima Jinja
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Kushiro Wetland Park
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Kushiro City Museum
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Lake Akan
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Manabot Nusamai
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Kushiro City Museum of Art
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Moshiriya Chashi (Castle)
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Tottori Jinja
National parks
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Akan National Park
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Kushiro-shitsugen National Park
Culture
Sports
- Ice hockey
Ice hockey is one of the most popular winter sports in Kushiro. In addition to several leagues devoted to amateur play of all ages, Kushiro is home to the Asia League Ice Hockey Nippon Paper Cranes, three time Asia League Champions.
Kushiro and many other cities are interested in hosting
bandy teams.
On January 8, 2017, the township of Akan hosted the first national championship,
although the size of the field was a smaller version than the official rules for a
bandy field. In January 2018, the first championship on a full-sized field took place in Shintoku, with participation from three teams, including FACEOFF Kushiro.
The national team for women is based in Kushiro and made its World Championship debut in 2020.
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East Hokkaido Cranes (Asia League Ice Hockey)
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Kushiro Bears (Women's Japan Ice Hockey League)
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Daishin (Women's Japan Ice Hockey League)
The Kushiro Ice Arena is the city's biggest stadion for ice hockey, figure skating and shorttrack.
- Speed skating
The Yanagimachi Speed Skating Rink hosted the 2003 World Junior Speed Skating Championships and several Japanese Championships. It has an asphalt inline speed skating track on the middle field.
Mascot
Kushiro's mascot is りんちゃん. She is a gentiana triflora flower (though she represents all flowers) from Onbetsu. Her favourite drink is milk.
Notable people from Kushiro
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Kazuhiko Chiba, footballer
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Yutaka Fukufuji, ice hockey goaltender
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Yukinobu Hoshino, manga artist
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Akira Ifukube, composer
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Keisuke Itagaki, manga artist
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Saori Kitakaze, sprinter
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Satoshi Kon, anime film director
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Luna H. Mitani, visual artist
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Hiromi Nagakura, photographer
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Maki Nomiya, singer (Pizzicato Five)
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Shinji Somai, film director
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Aina Takeuchi, ice hockey defenseman
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Kazuro Watanabe, astronomer
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Kenji Shiya (Actor)
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GUCHY(FM NORTH WAVE DJ)
See also
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Kushiro wetlands megasolar issue
External links
