Kushiro, Hokkaido

This article is about the city. For the town, see Kushiro, Hokkaido (town). For the district, see Kushiro District, Hokkaido.
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

Flag

Location of Kushiro in Hokkaido (Kushiro Subprefecture)
Kushiro

Location in Japan

Coordinates: 42°59′N 144°23′E / 42.983°N 144.383°E / 42.983; 144.383Coordinates: 42°59′N 144°23′E / 42.983°N 144.383°E / 42.983; 144.383
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]

Geography

City central
Kushiro Marsh

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

Private

High schools

Public

Private

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

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Port of Kushiro
  3. ↑ Russian presence in Japan
  4. ↑ "平年値（年・月ごとの値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  5. ↑ "観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  6. ↑ Greetings from Hiromasa Takamura President Japan Bandy Federation

External links

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