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 ...

Sōya Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. Its population is estimated to be 77,500 as of July 31, 2004 and its area is . It is the northernmost subprefecture of Japan. Wakkanai Airport is located in Wakkanai. Rishiri Airport is locate ...

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 ...

. , its estimated population is 18,541 and its area is . The name comes from the

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

word Esaushi, meaning "cape" (in the geographic sense).

Geography

Esashi is located at the southeast tip of Sōya Subprefectures. The town faces the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

to the east, the town of Utanobori to the west, the town of Bifuka to the southwest, Ōmu to the south, and

Hamatonbetsu is a town located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 3,841, an area of ., and a density of 9.6 persons per km². The town is in a long period of sustained population loss. It i ...

to the north. The southern border of the city is marked by the Toinai River, and the north is marked by

Cape Kamui is located on the western part of Shakotan, Hokkaido, Japan. Its lighthouse, the Cape Kamui Lighthouse, overlooks the Sea of Japan. An earthquake off the cape on 2 August 1940 resulted in a tsunami that killed ten people. Gallery File:130823 ...

. The residential districts of Esashi are on a long, narrow strip of the coast ranging from north to south; 67.08% of the town is forested, 14.7% is unused plain land, and only .44% of the town consists of residential land.

Climate

Esashi has 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 freezing ...

(

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

: ''Dfb''). The highest temperature ever recorded in Esashi was on 31 July 2000. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 12 February 1947.

History

Esashi District was established in 1869 in

Kitami Province was a short-lived province located in Hokkaidō. It corresponded to modern-day Sōya Subprefecture and Abashiri Subprefecture minus part of Abashiri District. History After 1869, the northern Japanese island was known as Hokkaido; and regional ...

(1868-1882), a short-lived

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

in the north of

. The district was historically under the control of the

Kaga Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1583 to 1871.

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

; this control ended in 1870. It consisted of four villages: Esashi, Tonbetsu, Utanobori and Rebun Village (礼文村, apparently unrelated to the town of Rebun on

Rebun Island is an island in the Sea of Japan off the northwestern tip of Hokkaidō, Japan. The island sits off the coast of Hokkaidō. Rebun stretches from north to south and from east to west. The island covers approximately . Rebun Island is located ...

) In September, 1891 a town hall for the 3 villages set up. *April, 1909 :Esashi Village becomes a second-class municipality *April, 1916 :Tonbetsu Village (now

Town) split off *April, 1923 :Esashi becomes a first-class municipality *September, 1939: Utanobori Village (now town) split off *October, 1947: Esashi was elevated to town status. *On March 20, 2006, the town of Utanobori was merged into Esashi for the second time.

Mascot

Esashi's mascot is . He is a bright and energetic fairy who loves the forest and the sea and the taste of the horsehair crab. As such, he customized his hat with the things he likes. He is unveiled in 2011. He is created by Ayumi Shozaki of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esashi, Hokkaido (Soya) Towns in Hokkaido