280px, Kenbuchi Picture-Book Museum is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Kamikawa Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, 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 ...

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 ...

. , the town had 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 2,719 in 1391 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 21 people per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Kenbuchi is located along the Kenbuchi River, a tributary of the

Teshio River The is a river in Hokkaido, 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 rive ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Shibetsu file:Shibetsu city center area Aerial photograph.2011.jpg, 270px, downtown Shibetsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 16,400 in 706 households, and a populat ...

Wassamu file:和寒東山スキー場.JPG, 280px, Wassamu Higashiyama Ski Resort is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 2,804 in 1459 households, and a population den ...

Climate

Kenbuchi 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 cold ...

(Köppen ''Dfb'') characterized by cold summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kenbuchi is 5.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1451 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 19.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around -8.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kenbuchi is as shown below. The town is in a long period of sustained population loss.

History

The area of Kenbuchi was inhabited by

Ainu people The Ainu are an Indigenous peoples, indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Ku ...

and the name comes from the Ainu word "Kene(petsu)puchi", which means "(alder (river) - mouth) "., which refers to the confluence of the present-day Kenbuchi River and Teshio River. The hamlet of Kenbuchi was established in 1897, and on April 1, 1906, with the implementation of the Hokkaido second-class town and village system, became Kenbuchi Village. It was separated from Wassamu Village on April 1, 1915, and another portion was separated to form Onnebetsu Village on October 1, 1927. Kenbuchi was raised to town status on January 1, 1962.

Government

Kenbuchi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of eight members. Kenbuchi, collectively with the other municipalities of Kawakami sub-prefecture, contributes three members to the Hokkaidō Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the

Hokkaidō 6th district is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in the prefecture ''(-dō)'' of Hokkaidō and consists of Hokkaido's Kamikawa Subprefecture. The CDP lost the ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The economy of Kenbuchi is overwhelmingly agricultural, and includes field crops, vegetables,

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

, and livestock farming.

Education

Kenbuchi has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by theb Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railways

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 ...

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 c ...

Highways

Dō-Ō Expressway * *

Culture

Mascot

Kenbuchi's mascot is or her full name, . She is a reticent but friendly and curious llama from Palcamayo,

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

to reside in Viva Alpaca Farm in January 2013 from Kenbuchi's Peruvian community after reading a Christmas card. She became mascot on 17 February 2013. Her hobbies are visiting events and collecting picture books. She is a vegetarian. As a result, she pays homage to the immigrants to Japan. She has a brother named . Her birthday is the same day as the Kenbuchi Shrine Festival (12 July). According to Andean legend, her heart contains a mysterious power that causes happiness.

References

External links

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