Mukawa (むかわ町 Mukawa-chō) is a town located in Yūfutsu District, Iburi, Hokkaidō, Japan.
On March 27, 2006 the towns of Hobetsu and Mukawa (鵡川町), both from Yūfutsu District merged to create new town of Mukawa. The new town was given the same name as the former town of Mukawa, but in hiragana, instead of former kanji name.
As of January 2008, the town (including the Hobetsu area) has an estimated population of 10,207 (5,012 men, 5,195 women) with a total of 4,565 households. The total area is 166.43 km².
Mukawa is situated on the southern coast of Hokkaidō, bordering the Pacific Ocean. It can be accessed via train from Tomakomai. By car, the town is approximately 1/2 hour east of Tomakomai along Route 235.
The town is famed for shishamo, a small fish that is hung on bamboo poles. Shishamo are currently included in the Mukawa town sign. The shishamo are harvested during the Fall season. During this season the town holds a number of shishamo themed events, including a town race in October and Shishamo Matsuri in November.
A large community center in the town features an indoor swimming pool, exercise room, hotel, onsen, cafe, restaurant, and lecture hall. During the late Summer, an O-Bon matsuri is held near the town community center.
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In recent years, Mukawa has faced an overall decline in population. In 1995, there were 7,853 people and 2,786 households. In 2000, the population declined to 7,232 people with 2,744 households, and by 2005 the population had declined to 6,765 people and 2,698 households[1]. These numbers do not include the population of Mukawa's Hobetsu area.
As of the 2006, as total of 3,884 people are employed in Mukawa (excluding the workforce of Hobetsu). The working population is broken into different categories depending on occupational type and the number of workers, as shown below[2].:
Official Business: 161
Service: 880
Real Estate: 10
Circulation of Money & Insurance: 32
Wholesale Trade & Retail: 550
Transportation & Communication: 178
Electricity, Gas, Thermal Supply & Aqueduct: 10
Production: 349
Construction: 602
Mining: 21
Fishing: 70
Forestry: 28
Farmers: 991
Unclassified: 2
The 2006 Handbook does not distinguish between Hobetsu or Mukawa regarding land usage. The areas of Hobetsu (546.48 km²), and Mukawa (166.43 km²) total to 712.91 km². Of this total area, the land usage is divided into the following categories[3]:
Housing Site: 5.39 km²
Wilderness: 9.75 km²
Mixed-breed Area: 9.93 km²
Ranch: 13.64 km²
Fields with Crops: 18.9 km²
Rice Fields: 38.51 km²
Swamp: 0.09 km²
Forest: 517.81 km²
Other: 98.89 km²
As with the proceeding information, the following comes from the Mukawa 2006 Handbook. The following information regarding the 2005, town expenditures does not consider Mukawa and Hobetsu separately. The unit of currency is millions of yen.
| Hygienic | 925.30 | (10.1%) |
| Bond | 1,603.99 | (17.6%) |
| Public Welfare | 1,651.38 | (18.2%) |
| General Affairs | 1,476.07 | (16.2%) |
| Civil Works | 869.44 | (9.5%) |
| Education | 687.74 | (7.6%) |
| Commercial | 278.96 | (3.1%) |
| Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries | 353.02 | (9.4%) |
| Fire Fighting | 582.83 | (6.4%) |
| Town Assembly | 142.10 | (1.6%) |
| Others | 19.88 | (0.3%) |
| Total | 9,088.91 | (100%) |
The following information for the 2005 income is also from the Mukawa 2006 Handbook, and as with the annual expenditure, Mukawa and Hobetsu are considered as a unified area. The unit of currency is millions of yen.
| Town Bond | 1,535.30 | (16.6%) |
| Tax Allocated to Local Governments | 4.340.38 | (46.8%) |
| Town Tax | 882.07 | (9.5%) |
| Prefecture Subsidy | 516.10 | (5.6%) |
| Earnings | 528.44 | (5.7%) |
| National Treasury Disbursement | 361.89 | (3.9%) |
| Rent & Commission | 386.97 | (2.0%) |
| Estate Revenue | 102.87 | (1.1%) |
| Beginning Balance | 200.12 | (2.2%) |
| Transfer of Money | 135.02 | (1.4%) |
| Others | 479.15 | (5.2%) |
| Total | 9,268.94 | (100%) |
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