is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Kamikawa Subprefecture,

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 4,609 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 6.9 persons per km². The total area is .

Geography

Bifuka is located in a valley in the north central region of the island of Hokkaido. The town is surrounded by mountains. The

Teshio River The is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan. At , it is the second-longest river on the island (after the Ishikari) and the fourth-longest in the country (after the Shinano, Tone, and Ishikari). A Class A river, the Teshio is the northernmost major ri ...

flows roughly northwest through Bifuka.

Neighboring municipalities

Bifuka borders six other municipalities, which span Kamikawa, Okhotsk, and Sōya subprefectures: *Kamikawa Subprefecture **

Nayoro is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 28,373 and a population density of 53 persons per km2 (140 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is . On March 27, 2006, the town of Fūren was mer ...

** Otoineppu ** Nakagawa ** Horokanai *Okhotsk Subprefecture ** Ōmu *Sōya Subprefecture ** Esashi

Climate

Education

Hokkaido Bifuka High School is located in the town.

Museum

Bifuka is home to the Bifuka Sturgeon Museum, a small facility which maintains eight species of

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

. Sturgeon were found in the Teshio River as far as Bifuka until the

Meiji Period The is 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 ...

Transportation

is served by the JR Hokkaido Sōya Main Line, which runs from to . The town is linked with Route 40 linking Wakkanai and southern Hokkaido. Another route the Route 275 is also connected.

Culture

Mascots

Bifuka's mascot are and . They are pumpkins who are best friends. Both wear hats made of birch trees. However, Bifuka-kun is a green pumpkin who wears a tie that resembled a sturgeon while Mimi-chan is an orange pumpkin who carries a bag that resembled a sturgeon.

References

External links

*
Official Website
Towns in Hokkaido {{Hokkaido-geo-stub