Kushiro, Hokkaido

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
(Redirected from Kushiro, Hokkaidō)
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Kushiro
釧路市
City
Top:Kushiro Wetland Park, 2nd left:Lake Akan, 2nd right Port of Kushiro, 3rd: Mount Akan-Fuji, Bottom left:Kushiro Ramen, Bottom right:Kushiro Fisherman's Wharf Woo
Top:Kushiro Wetland Park, 2nd left:Lake Akan, 2nd right Port of Kushiro, 3rd: Mount Akan-Fuji, Bottom left:Kushiro Ramen, Bottom right:Kushiro Fisherman's Wharf Woo
Flag of Kushiro
Flag
Location of Kushiro in Hokkaido (Kushiro Subprefecture)
Location of Kushiro in Hokkaido (Kushiro Subprefecture)
Kushiro is located in Japan
Kushiro
Kushiro
Location in Japan
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Japan
Region Hokkaido
Prefecture Hokkaido (Kushiro Subprefecture)
Government
 • Mayor Ebina Hiroya
Area
 • Total 1,362.75 km2 (526.16 sq mi)
Population (August 31, 2011)
 • Total 183,757
 • Density 140/km2 (400/sq mi)
Symbols
 • Tree Syringa reticulata
 • Flower Nasturtium
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City Hall Address 7-5 Kuroganechō, Kushiro-shi, Hokkaido
085-8505
Website www.city.kushiro.lg.jp

Kushiro (釧路市 Kushiro-shi?) is a Japanese city in Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Kushiro Subprefecture, as well as the most populous city in eastern Hokkaido.

History

An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Kushiro as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.[1]

Kushiro has been an important port because it is more reliably ice-free during winter than alternative Russian Far East warm-water ports such as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or other ports in Hokkaido such as Hakodate, which occasionally do freeze for short periods due to the lower salinity of the Sea of Japan. For this reason, Kushiro was considered a valuable target for the Tsars during the Russo-Japanese Wars, but it only became a really important port during the 1920s with the growth of commercial fishing, for which its reliable freedom from ice reduced costs.[2]

On October 11, 2005 the town of Akan, from Akan District, and the town of Onbetsu, from Shiranuka District, was merged into Kushiro.

In 2008 the city had an estimated population of 189,539 and a total area of 1,362.75 km2 (526.16 sq mi), giving a population density of 140 persons per km² (363 persons per sq. mi.).

In addition to its port, Kushiro is serviced by Kushiro Airport with flights from Honshu and by the Super Ōzora limited express train service, which runs seven times per day to the main population centres in the west of Hokkaido.

Kushiro was accorded city status on 1 August 1922. It is the sister city of Burnaby, British Columbia; Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia; and Kholmsk, Russia.[3]

  • 1869 Kusuri becomes Kushiro.
  • 1900 Kushiro becomes a First Class Municipality as Kushiro Town
  • 1920 Kushiro Town becomes Kushiro-ku. Kushiro Village (now Town) splits off
  • 1922 Kushiro-ku becomes Kushiro City
  • 2005 Kushiro City, Akan Town, and Onbetsu Town merged to form the new city named Kushiro City

Geography

<templatestyles src="Stack/styles.css"/>

City central

Mountains

Rivers

Lakes

National Parks

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.

Climate data for Kushiro, Hokkaido (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 7.6
(45.7)
7.9
(46.2)
15.1
(59.2)
23.5
(74.3)
28.0
(82.4)
32.4
(90.3)
29.7
(85.5)
31.1
(88)
29.0
(84.2)
22.9
(73.2)
18.7
(65.7)
12.4
(54.3)
32.4
(90.3)
Average high °C (°F) −0.6
(30.9)
−0.4
(31.3)
2.7
(36.9)
7.7
(45.9)
12.0
(53.6)
15.2
(59.4)
18.6
(65.5)
21.2
(70.2)
19.7
(67.5)
14.8
(58.6)
8.7
(47.7)
2.5
(36.5)
10.2
(50.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −5.4
(22.3)
−4.7
(23.5)
−0.9
(30.4)
3.7
(38.7)
8.1
(46.6)
11.7
(53.1)
15.3
(59.5)
18.0
(64.4)
16.0
(60.8)
10.6
(51.1)
4.3
(39.7)
−1.9
(28.6)
6.2
(43.2)
Average low °C (°F) −10.4
(13.3)
−9.9
(14.2)
−4.9
(23.2)
0.3
(32.5)
5.0
(41)
9.0
(48.2)
12.8
(55)
15.5
(59.9)
12.3
(54.1)
5.5
(41.9)
−0.8
(30.6)
−7.1
(19.2)
2.3
(36.1)
Record low °C (°F) −28.3
(−18.9)
−27
(−17)
−24.8
(−12.6)
−14.1
(6.6)
−4.6
(23.7)
−0.4
(31.3)
3.3
(37.9)
5.4
(41.7)
−2.2
(28)
−6.9
(19.6)
−15.2
(4.6)
−25.7
(−14.3)
−28.3
(−18.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 44.3
(1.744)
29.4
(1.157)
58.4
(2.299)
78.8
(3.102)
113.0
(4.449)
106.5
(4.193)
115.4
(4.543)
123.3
(4.854)
153.1
(6.028)
106.5
(4.193)
71.3
(2.807)
45.2
(1.78)
1,045.2
(41.15)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 54
(21.3)
39
(15.4)
48
(18.9)
12
(4.7)
1
(0.4)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
6
(2.4)
27
(10.6)
187
(73.6)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.5 mm) 6.4 5.4 8.3 8.8 10.7 9.7 11.8 11.3 11.4 7.9 7.9 7.9 107.5
Average snowy days 15.8 15.7 15.6 7.2 0.7 0 0 0 0 0.2 3.8 10.9 69.9
Average relative humidity (%) 69 67 68 77 79 87 88 88 82 75 69 67 76.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 182.0 181.9 200.6 181.9 188.3 129.3 107.4 127.1 149.7 180.9 166.6 173.6 1,969.3
Source #1: Japan Meteorological Agency[4]
Source #2: Japan Meteorological Agency (records)[5]

Education

Universities

National

Public

Colleges

National

  • Kushiro National College of Technology

Private

  • Kushiro junior College

High schools

Public

  • Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High School
  • Hokkaido Kushiro Konan High School
  • Hokkaido Kushiro Meiki High School
  • Hokkaido Kushiro Commercial High School
  • Hokkaido Kushiro Technical High School
  • Hokkaido Akan High School
  • Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo High School

Private

  • Bushukan High School
  • Ikegami Gakuen High School, Kushiro Campus

Transportation

Sports

Ice hockey is one of the most popular winter sports in Kushiro. In addition to several leagues devoted top 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.[6]

Notable people

Sister cities

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

References

External links

  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata. (Japanese)
  • JNTO Website (English)
  • kushiro.com (English)