is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

located in Ishikari Subprefecture,

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island 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 from Honshu; th ...

, Japan, and home to the

New Chitose Airport is an international airport located south-southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By both traffic and land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō. It is adjacent to Chitose Air Ba ...

, the biggest international airport in Hokkaido and closest airport to

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous ci ...

, as well as the neighboring Chitose Air Base. As of May 1, 2017, the city has 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 ...

of 96,580, with 48,485

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

of 155 persons per km². The total area is 594.95 km². The city was founded on July 1, 1958. The city is notable for having a Peace Pagoda, built by the Japanese Buddhist order Nipponzan Myohoji in 1978.

History

* 1880: The village of Chitose (consisting of a merger of the localities of Chitose, Osatsu, Usakumai, Rankoshi, Izari, Shimamatsu) is established. * 1897: The village of Eniwa (consisting of the localities of Izari and Shimamatsu) (now a city) splits off. * 1915: Chitose (consisting of the localities of Chitose, Osatsu, Usakumai, Rankoshi) becomes a Second Class Municipality. * 1939: Chitose becomes a First Class Municipality. * 1942: Chitose promoted to town status. * Post WWII - Chitose hosts a

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

base. * July 1, 1958: Chitose promotes to city status.

Geography

Chitose is one of the gateways to the Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Lake Shikotsu and Mount Tarumae. The city is bounded by Eniwa in the north and by

Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households ...

in the south.

Origin of the name

In 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 isolate ...

, Chitose was originally called ''shikot'', meaning big depression or hollow, like Lake Shikotsu which is a

caldera lake A volcanic crater lake is a lake in a crater that was formed by explosive activity or a collapse during a volcanic eruption. Formation Lakes in calderas fill large craters formed by the collapse of a volcano during an eruption. Lakes in maars ...

. In Japanese, this sounded too much like , so it was changed to ''Chitose''.

Climate

Chitose experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

with cold winters and warm summers. The hottest and coldest temperatures, respectively, ever recorded are and .

Economy

China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly ( ...

operates its Sapporo office on the third floor of the airport building. The airline Hokkaido Air System was at one time headquartered at the

in Chitose.会社概要
" ''Hokkaido Air System''. Retrieved on May 19, 2009. "本社事務所：千歳市美々新千歳空港ターミナルビル内" Now its head office is on the property of Okadama Airport in Higashi-ku,

.会社概要
" '' Hokkaido Air System''. Retrieved on August 30, 2011. "〒007-0880　札幌市東区丘珠町丘珠空港内"

Transport

Air

Rail

Muroran Main Line runs through the east of the city but there is no station. * Chitose Line :

Bibi Bibi is a given name, nickname and surname. Notable people with this name As a nickname or stage name * Bibi Andersson (1935-2019), Swedish actress * Bibi (artist) (born 1964), French visual artist Fabrice Cahoreau * Bibi Baskin (born 195 ...

- Minami-Chitose - Chitose - Osatsu *Chitose Line (branch line) : Minami-Chitose -

* Sekishō Line : Minami-Chitose

Road

Chitose is accessed by two expressways with an interchange in the west and another in the north on a separate expressway and the Chitose-Eniwa Junction connecting with the Eastern Hokkaido Expressway in the northwest. Chitose is also linked by National Route 36, National Route 274, National Route 276, National Route 337, and National Route 453.

Education

Chitose has a university, two high schools, 18 junior high schools, and 10 elementary schools.

Universities

* Chitose Institute of Science and Technology * Hokkaido Chitose College of Rehabilitation

High schools

* Hokkaido Chitose High School * Hokkaido Chitose Hokuyou High School

Mascots

Chitose's mascots are and . They are a fusion of eggs and airplanes to represent the city's dependence on eggs.

Twinnings

Chitose has

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

relationships with: *

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

, United States (since 1968) * Ibusuki, Kagoshima, Japan (since 1994) *

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud, Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. K ...

, Norway (since 1988) *

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a ...

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (P ...

, China (since 2004)

Notable people

* Chiyotaikai Ryūji, sumo wrestler *

Aina Suzuki is a Japanese voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-o ...

, voice actress

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitose, Hokkaido Cities in Hokkaido