Kitami, Hokkaidō

Kitami
北見
—  City  —

Flag
Location of Kitami in Hokkaido (Okhotsk Subprefecture)
Kitami
 
Coordinates:
Country Japan
Region Hokkaido
Prefecture Hokkaido (Okhotsk Subprefecture)
Government
 • Mayor Hideo Shirai
Area
 • Total 1,427.56 km2 (551.2 sq mi)
Population (March 2008)
 • Total 126,075
 • Density 88.3/km2 (228.7/sq mi)
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
- Tree Japanese Yew
- Flower Chrysanthemum
Phone number 0157-23-7111
Address 1, Higashi Ni-chōme, Kita Go-jō, Kitami-shi, Hokkaidō
090-8501
Website www.city.kitami.lg.jp

Kitami (北見市 Kitami-shi?) is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefectural capital is Abashiri.

Kitami is in central Okhotsk Subprefecture. The Kitami Mountains are nearby.

As of December 31, 2009, the city has a population of 126,075 and a population density of 88.3 persons per km². The total area is 1,427.56 square kilometers (551.18 sq mi).

Kitami at one time exported mint (known as hakka locally) to 70% of the world's mint consumption.[1][2]

Contents

History

Education

Kitami is home to the Kitami Institute of Technology, an engineering university that originally opened in 1960,[4] and the Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing, established in 1999 by the Japanese Red Cross through consolidation of several other institutions.[5]

Festivals

Climate

Kitami has a humid continental climate with cold winters and relatively warm summers. The coldest month is January, with an average high of −2.9 °C (26.8 °F), and the warmest month is August, with an average high of 25 °C (77 °F) and a record high of 37 °C (99 °F). Kitami's inland location creates a larger temperature range than some coastal cities. Due to the mountains nearby, the Foehn wind effect occurs in summer when prevailing winds are from the southeast, so that Kitami often has the hottest temperatures in Hokkaidō during this season and averages about 5°C (9°F) hotter than Kushiro. Traces of snow fall every day during the winter and cover is heavy, usually peaking at 0.82 metres (32.28 in), though Kitami still receives less overall precipitation than any other town in Japan as it is shielded from the heaviest moisture from both the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean.

Climate data for Kitami, Japan (1981～2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 8.0
(46.4)		 7.9
(46.2)		 15.1
(59.2)		 32.2
(90.0)		 33.9
(93.0)		 34.2
(93.6)		 35.9
(96.6)		 37.0
(98.6)		 32.1
(89.8)		 27.7
(81.9)		 22.0
(71.6)		 14.5
(58.1)		 37.0
(98.6)
Average high °C (°F) −2.9
(26.8)		 −1.9
(28.6)		 2.9
(37.2)		 11.3
(52.3)		 17.6
(63.7)		 21.2
(70.2)		 24.3
(75.7)		 25.7
(78.3)		 21.3
(70.3)		 15.4
(59.7)		 7.5
(45.5)		 0.1
(32.2)		 11.9
(53.4)
Average low °C (°F) −14.7
(5.5)		 −14.1
(6.6)		 −8.1
(17.4)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 4.7
(40.5)		 9.7
(49.5)		 14.1
(57.4)		 15.8
(60.4)		 10.6
(51.1)		 3.4
(38.1)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 −10.6
(12.9)		 0.6
(33.1)
Record low °C (°F) −30.1
(−22.2)		 −30.9
(−23.6)		 −24.3
(−11.7)		 −14
(7)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 −0.9
(30.4)		 3.4
(38.1)		 6.3
(43.3)		 0.3
(32.5)		 −4.6
(23.7)		 −16.3
(2.7)		 −24.6
(−12.3)		 −30.9
(−23.6)
Precipitation mm (inches) 47.5
(1.87)		 32.4
(1.276)		 42.5
(1.673)		 47.6
(1.874)		 56.7
(2.232)		 57.3
(2.256)		 94.0
(3.701)		 113.2
(4.457)		 106.3
(4.185)		 69.0
(2.717)		 43.9
(1.728)		 49.4
(1.945)		 759.8
(29.913)
Snowfall cm (inches) 119
(46.9)		 97
(38.2)		 101
(39.8)		 29
(11.4)		 3
(1.2)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 17
(6.7)		 87
(34.3)		 453
(178.3)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 11.4 9.6 11.2 10.1 9.9 9.0 10.6 10.2 10.6 9.1 9.4 10.8 121.9
Avg. snowy days (≥ 5 cm) 30.9 28.2 29.4 6.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 20.1 116.6
Sunshine hours 114.7 128.6 166.4 164.9 179.6 167.7 154.7 155.3 145.3 155.0 129.7 115.6 1,777.5
Source no. 1: Japan Meteorological Agency[9]
Source no. 2: Japan Meteorological Agency[10]

Transportation

National Route 39 passes through Kitami. The Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company[11] has a number of inter-city as well as out-of-city routes. The Hokkaido Railway Company Sekihoku Main Line that passes through Kitami reached the city on October 19, 1910 when the town was still called Notsukeushi. The largest station is Kitami Station, with Nishi-Kitami Station, Hakuyo Station and Itoshino Station in Kitami.

The city is served by Memanbetsu Airport in neighboring Ōzora Town.

Sister cities

Notes

  1. ^ "Kitami Mint Commemoration Hall Mint Distillation Hall". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. http://www.kitamikanko.jp/english/21_hakka.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  2. ^ "Peppermint Era Inns". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. http://www.city.kitami.lg.jp/docs/3296/index.html.r. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  3. ^ "The Inconvenient Journey between Sapporo and Nokkeushi–the Opening of the Ikeda Railway Line". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. http://www.city.kitami.lg.jp/docs/3297/index.html.r. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  4. ^ "Facts about the Kitami Institute of Technology". kitami-it.ac.jp. National University Corporation. http://www.kitami-it.ac.jp/old/eng/04/index1.html. Retrieved 29 May 2011. 
  5. ^ "History". rchokkaido-cn.ac.jp. Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing. http://www.rchokkaido-cn.ac.jp/information/gaiyou.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  6. ^ "Kitami Winter Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. http://www.kitamikanko.jp/english/35_02_fuyu.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  7. ^ "Kitami Bonchi Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. http://www.kitamikanko.jp/english/40_07_k_bonchi.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  8. ^ "Kitami Chrysanthemum Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. http://www.kitamikanko.jp/english/48_10_k_kiku.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  9. ^ "平年値（年・月ごとの値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_amd_ym.php?prec_no=17&prec_ch=%96%D4%91%96%8Ex%92%A1&block_no=0074&block_ch=%96k%8C%A9&year=&month=&day=&elm=normal&view=. Retrieved 2010-03-17. 
  10. ^ "観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/rank_a.php?prec_no=17&prec_ch=%96%D4%91%96%8Ex%92%A1&block_no=0074&block_ch=%96k%8C%A9&year=&month=&day=&elm=rank&view=. Retrieved 2010-03-17. 
  11. ^ "Hokkaido Kitami Bu8s Company Inc.". h-kitamibus.co.jp. Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company Inc.. http://www.h-kitamibus.co.jp/. Retrieved 2011-05-27. 
  12. ^ "Sister Cities and States". sapporo.usconsulate.gov. U.S. Department of State. http://sapporo.usconsulate.gov/wwwhsistercity.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kitami,_Hokkaido Kitami, Hokkaido] at Wikimedia Commons
Subprefectures
Cities