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 ...

located in

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 ...

. There is a JR train station,

Horonobe Station is a railway station in Horonobe, Teshio District, Hokkaidō, Japan. Lines *Hokkaido Railway Company **Sōya Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) in Hokkaido. The line connects ...

which connects Horonobe-town with other cities in

. The word Horonobe originates from Poro-Nup. In

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 ...

, poro means large and nup mean grassland, thus meaning a large uncultivated land. At the end of September 2016, 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 2,415 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 4.2 persons per km². The total area is 574.27 km². The north 45°latitude passes through this town. Horonobe is also known for its

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

population and

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s located on its beaches. In October 2000, with the help of local government and NEDO,NEDO New Energy in Hokkaido, text in Japanese
the Horonobe

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

generation project came into existence. Wind turbines were installed on trial-run basis along the 3.1 km coastline. Since February 2003, there are 28 turbines working in full capacity, with an individual output of 750 kW. In total its estimated that the wind turbines in Horonobe-chō generate 50 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, and this is supplied to Hokkaido Electric Power Company for distribution. This electricity is equivalent to annual electric consumption of about 10,000 Japanese households. Since 1998, the

Japan Atomic Energy Agency The is an Independent Administrative Institution formed on October 1, 2005 by a merger of two previous semi-governmental organizations. While it inherited the activities of both JNC and JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of JAERI, "Genken" ...

started planning an underground research laboratory at Honorobe to be able to conduct tests on the suitability of sedimentary rock for use as a

deep geological repository A deep geological repository is a way of storing hazardous or radioactive waste within a stable geologic environment (typically 200–1000 m deep). It entails a combination of waste form, waste package, engineered seals and geology that is suited ...

for Japan's spent

nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...

(a similar research facility in crystalline rock is also being constructed at Mizunami in Gifu Prefecture). Excavation began in 2003, and is scheduled for completion in 2017.JAEA R&D
/ref> A possibility of making a geological

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

(CCS) site is also under consideration at Honorobe. In 2010, the town of Horonobe was transferred from

Rumoi Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, it had a population of 52,627 and an area of . The population density of the subprefecture, 13 people per km2, is very low compared to the rest of Japan. The population of Rumoi Subpr ...

Horonobe in the media or popular culture

Some speciality microbes have been discovered in the subsurface environment. These are listed below: * ''Methanosarcina horonobensis'' * ''Methanoculleus horonobensis'' * ''Methanoculleus horonobensis'' genome sequences analysis.

Transportation

Horonobe is on the

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

Sōya Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) in Hokkaido. The line connects Asahikawa Station in Asahikawa and Wakkanai Station in Wakkanai, and is the northernmost railway line in Japan. The name comes fr ...

which runs to

Wakkanai ' meaning "cold water river" is a city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. It contains Japan's northernmost point, Cape Sōya, from which the Russian island of Sakhalin can be seen. As of ...

in the north and

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...

in the south. There are daily services to , , and . The nearest airport is

Wakkanai Airport is an airport located east southeast of Wakkanai, Hokkaidō, Japan. Wakkanai is the northernmost airport in Japan that is capable of handling jet aircraft; due to its small size, it is susceptible to closures during the coldest winter months, ...

, about 53 km in the north. The other nearby airports are

Asahikawa Airport , is a single-runway regional airport in Hokkaidō, Japan, straddling the cities of Asahikawa and Higashikagura. History Planning of the airport began in the late 1950s. The site was chosen in November 1960 and received government approval in ...

about 199 km to the south and

Monbetsu Airport or , is a third class airport located southeastAIS Japan
of 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 Base ...

about 360 km to the south.

Mascots

Horonobe's mascots are and . *Horobe is a gentle and kind reindeer. He works at the local reindeer ranch. He is unveiled in 1997. *Blupy is a gentle and fluffy blue poppy that can fly. She is unveiled in 2011.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horonobe, Hokkaido Towns in Hokkaido