is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Okhotsk Subprefecture is a Subprefectures of Hokkaido, subprefecture of Hokkaido, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was renamed from the earlier Abashiri Subprefecture on April 1, 2010. Abashiri Subprefecture was established in 1897. Etymology Abashiri Prefecture was n ...

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Abashiri is known as the site of the

Abashiri Prison is a prison in Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture that opened in 1890. The northernmost prison in Japan, it is located near the Abashiri River and east of Mount Tento. It holds inmates with sentences of less than ten years. Older parts of the pris ...

, a

Meiji-era The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

facility used for the incarceration of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the city's new maximum-security prison is still in use. As of 2008, the city has an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 40,333 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 85.6 persons per km² (222 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is .

Etymology

There are various theories about the origin of the name 'Abashiri' and, because of that, the origin is unknown. All of those theories are based on the Kanji interpretation of the

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu (), is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isola ...

. These are the following theories. * ''Apasiri'' (アパシリ) which is translated as "''leaking ground''". The reason behind this is that there was a cave, and water drops were falling inside like raindrops. * ''Cipasiri'' (チパシリ). The name is based on an Ainu legend of a bird. * ''Chipasiri'' (チパシリ). There used to be a white rock in the shape of a person wearing a hat on the south bank of Lake Abashiri, and it is said that the Ainu worshiped it.

History

The origin of the city's name is not known for certain, but it is agreed that it was derived from an Ainu word. A few among several of the candidates include ''apa-siri'' (leakage/ground) and ''ci-pa-sir'' ("the land we discovered"). *March 1872: founded, being given the name of Abashiri District in Kitami Province. *1875: The village name is rewritten in kanji . *1902: Abashiri Village, Kitami Town, Isani Village, and Nikuribake Village, all in Abashiri District, merged to form Abashiri Town. *1915: Notoro Village, Mokoto Village merged. *1921:

Memanbetsu was a List of towns in Japan, town located in Abashiri District, Hokkaido, Abashiri District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now Okhotsk Subprefecture), Hokkaido, Japan. As of 2004, the town had an estimated population of 5,925 and a population density ...

Village (later Memanbetsu Town, merged into Ōzora in 2006) split. *1931: Boundary with Memanbetsu Town modified. *February 11, 1947: Higashimokoto Village (merged into Ōzora in 2006) split. Abashiri Town becomes Abashiri City. All of the territories of Ōzora used to be a part of Abashiri. Following the 1945 Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin, Abashiri saw the resettlement of several

Nivkh Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to: * Nivkh people (''Nivkhs'') or Gilyak people (''Gilyaks'') * Nivkh languages or Gilyak languages * Gilyak class gunboat, ''Gilyak'' class gunboat, such as the Russian gunboat Korietz#Second gunboat, second R ...

and Orok families from

Karafuto , was established by the Empire of Japan in 1907 to govern the southern part of Sakhalin. This territory became part of the Empire of Japan in 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War, when the portion of Sakhalin south of 50°N was ceded by the R ...

; among them was Chiyo Nakamura (1906–1969), a Nivkh shaman from Poronaisk (). By 2004, the Nivkh-Orok community in Abashiri had apparently vanished.

Geography

Abashiri is located in the eastern part of Okhotsk Subprefecture, about 50 kilometers east of

Kitami is a city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri. Kitami is physically in the middle of Okhotsk Subprefecture. Th ...

. There are no tall mountains, but there are many hills. The

Abashiri River is a Class A river in Hokkaido, Japan. Etymology The name Abashiri is theorised to come from the Ainu words ''a-pa-siri'' (lit. "we found land") or ''apa-siri'' ("land of entrance"). History Around 1,000 years ago, the Okhotsk culture settl ...

flows through the city and there are three lakes ( Lake Abashiri, Lake Notoro and Lake Tōfutsu) in the city as well. These lakes and

Mount Tento is a nationally designated Monuments of Japan, Place of Scenic Beauty in Abashiri, Hokkaidō, Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan. Rising to a height of 207 metres, the mountain commands views over the Sea of Okhotsk, Lake Abashiri, Lake Notoro, Lake Tōf ...

belong to Abashiri Quasi-National Park.

Climate

The climate is

humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

with warm summer (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Dfb'') as much of

, similar to the south coast of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. Despite its reputation for extreme cold, Abashiri is not actually the coldest major town in Japan, being less cold in the winter than

Obihiro is a Cities of Japan, city in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Obihiro is the only designated city in the Tokachi Subprefecture, Tokachi area. As of July 31, 2023, the city had an estimated population of 163,084. The next most populou ...

and warmer in summer than Nemuro or

Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. Located along the coast of the North Pacific Ocean, it serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. History An ...

. Abashiri receives less precipitation than any other city in Japan because its location on the

drift ice Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift (navigation), difference between heading and course of a vessel * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** D ...

-affected

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

, which, however, causes Abashiri to receive less sunshine than the northeast coast since winter snowfall is heavier and

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

less confined to the summer months when the

Oyashio Current The , also known as the Okhotsk Current or Kurile Current, is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Oyashio Current originate in the Arctic Ocean ...

is strongest. During the winter, when Lake Abashiri freezes over, fog becomes a common occurrence. Also, the harbor closes when it ices over.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Abashiri has declined in recent decades.

Economy

Because of its short 130-day

growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Whi ...

, the crops in the region, such as oats, potatoes, and beans, are required to be hardy. Hay is also grown for local cows, horses, and sheep. The sea is an important part of the community as well as the economy, as fishing, oysters, and seaweed are important means of livelihood.

Transportation

Air

Memanbetsu Airport is an airport in the Memanbetsu section of Ōzora, Hokkaidō, Ōzora, a town in Hokkaidō, Japan. The airport is close to Shiretoko National Park and consistently has over one million passengers per year. History The current airfield was ope ...

is located in nearby Ōzora.

Rail

Abashiri is an important local port city and railway terminal (

Abashiri Station is a railway station in Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), located. It is the main railway station in the city. Abashiri Station comes first in an alphabetical list of Japanese railway stations ( ...

). *

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to by its official abbreviation: . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart c ...

Sekihoku Main Line is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between in Asahikawa and Abashiri Station in Abashiri. The name comes from the first Kanji characters of and , names of 19th century provinces along t ...

: Yobito - Abashiri *

Senmō Main Line: Abashiri - Katsuradai - Masuura - Mokoto - Kitahama

Education

Universities

Tokyo University of Agriculture The , abbreviated as Nodai (農大, ''nōdai'') or Tokyo nodai (東京農大, ''Tōkyō nōdai''), is a private university of agriculture in Japan. Tokyo University of Agriculture is a Japanese private university headquartered at 1-1-1 Sakurag ...

, Okhotsk campus

High schools

* Hokkaido Abashiri Minamigaoka High School * Hokkaido Abashiri Keiyo High School

Sister cities

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. Port Alberni currently has a total popu ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada - Each year many students participate in

student exchange ''Student Exchange'' is a 1987 American television film, made-for-television comedy film directed by Mollie Miller and produced by Walt Disney Television. It originally aired November 29, 1987 as a presentation of ''Walt Disney anthology telev ...

programs between the two cities.

Sights

Hokkaido has a brewery called Abashiri which sells a range of beers, including ''Bilk'', a blend of beer and milk. Abashiri is also home to a flower garden with a wide range of flowers. In the winter, tourists visit the city to watch the

. File:Abashiri prison.jpg,

File:Ryuhyo abashiri oki.JPG,

Drift ice Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift (navigation), difference between heading and course of a vessel * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** D ...

off Abashiri File:AuroraII01.JPG, Abashiri's sightseeing ship &

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

''Aurora II''

Museums

* Okhost Ryuhyo Museum

Culture

Mascot

Abashiri's mascot is . She is a plankton who has the ability to gain flight with her cape. Her job is to protect everyone from criminal activities (such as terrorism and corruption), outbreak of warfare, natural disasters, health crisis (such as disease outbreaks) or anything that pose a risk to everyone's lives. She usually rests with her "nipopo" (totem pole) helmet and loves ingredients produced from the city. Her birthday is November 22.

References

External links

Official Website

Abashiri Prison Museum Official Website

Abashiri Tourist Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abashiri, Hokkaido Cities in Hokkaido Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan