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 def ...

in Okhotsk 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. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri. Kitami is physically in the middle of Okhotsk Subprefecture. The

Kitami Mountains is a mountain range of Hokkaidō, Japan. Unlike much of the rest of Japan, the Kitami Mountains are not very seismically active. The Kitami Mountains are north of the Ishikari Mountains and east of the Teshio Mountains. A depression separates ...

are nearby and are the main reason behind the city's name. The city is the result of the merger of Kitami, Tanno, Tokoro and Rubeshibe towns in 2006 administrative reform. Kitami developed mainly in commerce and industry/service industries, Tanno in agriculture, Tokoro in fishery and agriculture, and Rubeshibe in forestry and tourism on hot springs. Due to the characteristics of the region, Kitami has the highest onion and white flower bean production in Japan. Scallop fishing also flourishes, which makes it the "birthplace of scallop farming" in the country. In addition, the region is home to historical and tourist places like the

Pearson Museum Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC * Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based in ...

, Wakka Wild Flower Garden, and

Tokoro Ruins is a small town, once was an independent administrative division located in Tokoro District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now Okhotsk Subprefecture), Hokkaido, Japan. On March 5, 2006, the division, along with the towns of Rubeshibe and Tanno (all f ...

, which are listed as " Hokkaido Heritage" sites. As of November, 2021, the city has a population of 115,351, citizens in 61,793 households. The population density is around . The total area is .

Etymology

The name came as a suggestion of the Japanese explorer and cartographer

Matsuura Takeshirō was a Japanese explorer, cartographer, writer, painter, priest, and antiquarian. During the late Edo period and Bakumatsu he journeyed six times to Ezo, including to Sakhalin and the Kuriles. In the early Meiji period he was an official in the ...

during the

Meiji Era 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 b ...

, when imperial bureaucrats were registering the place for initiating the region's development through the

Hokkaidō Development Commission The , sometimes referred to as Hokkaidō Colonization Office or simply Kaitakushi, was a government agency in early Meiji Japan. Tasked with the administration, economic development, and securing of the northern frontier in what, at the time of e ...

. Before the imperial intervention, there was no

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 ...

name for the region. The meaning of the name consists of the kanji's combinations of characters 北 (North) 見 (See) and 市 (City), which means "''City of the North View''". The reason behind this meaning is due to the region's mountains, which allow the view of the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

and the russian island of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. Originally, the name refers to a vast area between the

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

and 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 ...

. Since the merger of Kitami City with the surrounding Tokoro, Rubeshibe and Tanno towns in 2006, it is often referred to as the area around the Kitami Basin, the so-called Kitami Inland Area, excluding the former Tokoro Town area in the coastal area.

Chronology

The Edo period

The

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

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 ...

, when Japan was under the rule of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

and the country's 300 regional ''

daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally ...

''. During this period, there is no registration of continuous human settlement in this place. The nearest populations were composed of

Tribes. Nowadays, one of their old settlements has become the

. The history began to appear in the final years of the Edo period, as a result of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

and the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

. * 1856: Japanese explorer

passed over the region for the first time on the Tokoro River.

Meiji Era

The

Meiji era 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 b ...

is an

era An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. In this period, the

was over and the short-lived

Ezo Republic The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

was conquered by the Japanese Imperial Army. Due to the risk of having new revolts in the border of the empire and the constant expansion of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

at the north, the imperial bureau started the mass colonisation of the region and the "Japanization" of the natives through forced assimilation and segregation. * 1869 (Meiji 2): The Meiji government renames Ezo as "Hokkaido" and creates the

. * 1872 (Meiji 5): The village of is founded, starting the process of settle in the region. * 1882 (Meiji 15):

is abolished, and the first three prefectures are established in Hokkaido. This area belonged to Nemuro prefecture, one of those firstly created. * 1897 (Meiji 30): 112 immigrants arrives and settle, which led to the substantial growth of the region. * 1899 (Meiji 32): Is produced the first mint in the region. * 1904 (Meiji 37): Rice cultivation begins. * 1910 (Meiji 43): Train service arrives (then called the Ikeda Railway Line), connecting the village 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 city ...

, capital of Hokkaido.

Taishō Era

Taishō is a period dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Emperor Taishō. During this Era, the emperor wasn't capable of using his power due to

cerebral meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

contracted in his childhood. Because of his personal limitations, the imperial government was led informally by an

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

of notables called Genrō (元老). Thanks to this power vacuum, Japan developed a political system that allowed a liberal government, with the creation of political parties and a major role of the

National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...

. * 1914 (Taisho 3):

is opened in the old house of the Pearson, an American couple of missionaries. * 1915 (Taisho 4): Tokoro Village is created. * 1921 (Taisho 10): Rubeshibe Town is created.

Showa Era

This chapter of

ese history corresponds to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. This time represents the most intense changes in Kitami, Hokkaido, and Japan. In the beginning, the city started to specialise in the production of Mint, meanwhile, the Empire of Japan was under a militaristic

rule Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule perta ...

with expansionist actions that led to the participation of the country in the Second World War. After the end of the conflict, Japan started to concentrate its economic efforts on mass industrialisation, which, in consequence, led Japan to the second most important economy in the world. Kitami had an industrial development during this progress and the city reached its highest population in the middle of the 80s. * 1928 (Showa 3): Mr. and Mrs. Pearson leave Kitami and come back to the United States. * 1934 (Showa 9): The Japanese Red Cross hospital is completed. * 1934 (Showa 9): Kitami's Mint Memorial Hall is opened. * 1939 (Showa 14): Kitami's mint production gets 70% of the world market and reaches its peak. * 1942 (Showa 17): Kitami becomes a city. * 1947 (Showa 22): 50th anniversary of the creation of Kitami City. Enactment of the Kitami City coat of arms. * 1954 (Showa 29): "Kitami Commerce and Industry Festival" is held for the first time * 1960 (Showa 35): Establishment of the Kitami College of Technology. * 1971 (Showa 46): "Kitami Winter Festival" held for the first time. * 1979 (Showa 54): The population of Kitami City exceeds 100,000. * 1983 (Showa 58): The 100th anniversary of the creation of Tokoro. * 1984 (Showa 59): Kitami Cultural Center in the Kitami area opens. * 1988 (Showa 63): Tokorocho Curling Hall (currently Tokorocho Curling Hall, Kitami City ) was completed.

Heisei Era

Is the period corresponding to the reign of Emperor

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bo ...

from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. Heisei's era was marked by turbulent politics and a prolonged economic slowdown. Since the economic downturn, Kitami never recovered its economic dimensions since the burst of the Japanese financial crisis and its population started to slowly decrease until nowadays. In this era, the actual city administrative divisions were created. * 1991 (Heisei 3): "Solar Challenge in Hokkaido" (solar car race) held for the first time (ended in 2003). * 1996 (Heisei 8): Marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of Kitami. * 1997 (Heisei 9): The "Kaoryanse Festival" is held for the first time. * 1999 (Heisei 11): Hokkaido's

Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing is a private university in Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan with an auxiliary suburban campus in Musashino, Tokyo. History Nursing education was started at the Japanese Red Cross Hospital in 1890. And The Japanese Red Cross Junior College for Women ...

is opened in the city. * 2000 (Heisei 12): "Kitami Severe Cold Yakiniku Festival" was held for the first time. * 2001 (Heisei 13): The

and Wakka Wild Flower Garden are selected as "Hokkaido Heritage". * 2004 (Heisei 16): A record blizzard hits (snow cover , Ancient archaeological sites along the Okhotsk coast including the Tokoro archaeological site have been selected as " Hokkaido heritage ". * 2006 (Heisei 18): Kitami, Tokoro, Rubeshibe and Tanno surges as City of Kitami. * 2008 (Heisei 20): The first community broadcast "FM Okhotsk" opens. * 2009 (Heisei 21): "Kitami Half Marathon" held for the first time. * 2014 (Heisei 26): Kitami's daily maximum temperature recorded the highest value (37.2 degrees).

Reiwa Era

Reiwa is the current era of Japan's official calendar. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor

's elder son, Naruhito, ascended the throne as the 126th

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

. * 2019 (first year of Reiwa): On May 26, the highest temperature in the history of observation was observed in Kitami City at 38.1 C.

Towns and Autonomous Regions

Kitami is the result of the administrative unification of small towns with the main city, which was made in 2006. Thanks to this merging, Kitami is the biggest city in the Okhotsk Subprefecture. These small towns still exist as ''Autonomous Region Districts'' (自治区). There are 4 autonomous regions/towns in total.

City of Kitami

Translated as ''North View'' (北見), it is the main urban area of the region. The city flourished during the prewar era through the production of mint, which at the time accounted for 70% of world production. Nowadays Kitami is the commercial, industrial, and service center of the Okhotsk area. The government makes efforts to develop the city through an industry-academia-government collaboration involving universities and other higher education institutions that are also based in the area

Town of Tanno

Translated as ''Edge Field'' (端野) which is based in the native Ainu name ''nufu-un-keshi'' (''edge of the field''), the district is mainly a farm field with smooth hills and a rural landscape in the Tokoro river basin. The district has an educational zone with elementary and junior high schools, social education facilities, and parks in the main centre of the district. The rural landscape is also shaped by farms with urban convenience. In the last population survey (2005) 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 5,425 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 33 persons per km². The total area was 163.50 km².

Town of Tokoro

Agriculture and fisheries thrive in this district with abundant nature, including Wakka Wild Flower Park, where flowers stand out on the sandbar between the Sea of Okhotsk and Lake Saroma. It has a year-round curling hall, which is one of the largest of its kind in Japan, as well as historical sites such as the Tokoro Site and the birthplace of scallop cultivation

As of 2004, the town had an estimated

of 4,885 and a

of 17.55 persons per km². The total area was 278.29 km².

Town of Rubeshibe

Translated as ''Legacy of the Detained Pistils'' (留辺蘂), the district is surrounded by thick forests at the foot of the

Taisetsu The is a limited express service operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between and in Hokkaido via the Sekihoku Main Line since 4 March 2017. The ''Taisetsu'' train service name was also formerly used for express services operate ...

mountains and along the Muka River. Its key industries are White Flower (shirohana-mame) beans production, for which it boasts the nation's largest yield, and the forest products industry, which uses locally produced wood. As a tourist spot, Yama no Aquarium (Kita no Daichi no Aquarium) in the Onneyu Onsen resort is attracting nationwide attention with its unique display tanks

Before the unification with Kitami, the town had an estimated

of 8,704 and a

of 15.41 persons per km². The total area was 564.69 km². Kitami's city map with the autonomous regions

Economy

History and actual situation

Kitami's first economy was the natural production of ''Mentha'' ( Mentha, Mint). During at one time (pre-war) the region exported

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...

(known as ''hakka'' locally) in a scale that represented the supply of 70% of the world's mint consumption at its peak. Nowadays It is the most important city of the Okhotsk region. Due to its size, Kitami is the main industrial and commercial pole of the region. The number of employees by industry is divided by 7.6% for the primary industry, 18.8% for the secondary industry, and 73.6% for the tertiary industry (2010). These economic proportions are comparable to major cities in Hokkaido but, in terms of primary industry, the percentage is higher when compared with other cities alike.

Agriculture

The extensive farmlands of the city are surrounded by grand nature stretches over 110 km east to west from the foot of the

mountains to the

coast. Abundant sunlight and fertile soil support the production of diverse produce, including rice, wheat/barley, potatoes, beet, beans and other upland crops, onions and other vegetables, as well as dairy products, beef, pork and other livestock products.Efforts are being made to produce diverse farm products by making the most of the climate and characteristics of each district. Clean agriculture harmonious with the natural environment is promoted by minimising the use of chemical fertilisers and synthetic pesticides to deliver safe, reliable and high-quality farm products to consumers. * Onions The total production of onions in FY 2019 was approximately 221,000 tons, accounting for roughly 25% of the total production of Hokkaido as well as being the largest yield in Japan. The total area of onion fields in the city is approximately 3,500 hectares. Farmers are busy transplanting seedlings in spring, and rows of large, plump onions fill vast fields in autumn. * White Pea Beans White Pea Beans are known as the “queen of beans”. These pure white, large-grained beans are used as an ingredient for the white bean paste in high-class Japanese confectionery. Kitami, which has a cool, inland climate, is ideal for cultivating white pea beans and is a major production area in Hokkaido. The large and tasty white pea beans produced in Kitami are distributed as high-grade beans throughout Japan.

Fishery

In Kitami, which faces the resource-rich

and Lake Saroma, open-sea scallop and fixed-net salmon/trout fisheries are among the city's key industries. Hairy crabs, sea urchin and flatfish are also caught, and

sustainable fishery A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical discipl ...

is promoted. Scallop and oyster farming and Hokkai shrimp fishing are popular on the lake. The Tokoro Fishing Port is being developed to provide safer and more reliable seafood. With an eye on the conservation of the fishing ground environment, fishing operators are actively engaged in tree planting activities to grow forests. * Scallops The lake Saroma is the birthplace of

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

farming. After many hardships, fishermen established propagation and culture technology to build the foundation of the Tokoro area as one of the world's leading scallop producing areas. The scallops grown in Lake Saroma and the Sea of Okhotsk are plump and sweet, and have an exceptional texture. They are distributed all over the world as a luxury food item. * Oysters and Hokkai shrimp From mid-October to the end of March, oyster fishing is popular on Lake Saroma. The oysters, which are small yet have a rich flavor, are highly valued especially for eating raw. Hokkai shrimp, which is shipped only in July and August, is mainly boiled in salt. With a saltiness that pairs perfectly with sake, moderate elasticity, crispy texture, and sweetness that spreads in the mouth, it is known as a summer specialty of the Okhotsk area.

Industry

Efforts to revitalise the local economy include the "cultivation" of new sales channels and the development of new products with higher added value to overcome the problem of logistics costs. Product development is promoted via inter-industry collaboration and by attracting enterprises to the Kitami Industrial Complex and Kitami HighTech Park, both of which make the most of local resources. Kitami Institute of Technology's Cooperative Research & Community Collaboration Center serves as a contact point for joint research with the private sector. The Okhotsk Collaborative Research Center and the Kitami Office of the Hokkaido Branch of the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation have been established as “one-stop service bases” to support R&D and commercialization in the local community. Measures to promote local industries, such as the enhancement of technological capabilities and the development of new products, are taken while strengthening industry-academia-government collaboration. There is important private enterprises installed in the city like Kyocera Corporation and

Hitachi, Ltd. () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

Commerce

As the central city of the Okhotsk area, Kitami has expanded its retail trading zone in the last years. The commercial district in the downtown area, where retail, service and restaurant establishments are concentrated, has long been a place for interaction among citizens. Various events are held to make the commercial district more attractive. A new shopping zone formed in the suburbs has further livened up the commercial sector of Kitami. Lively and diverse commercial activities are promoted by making the most of local creativity while facilitating the participation of local residents in the development of a community. In financial matters, the annual sales of both wholesale and retail businesses in Kitami City are declining, and the number of business establishments and employees is also declining. This decline occur mainly due the Japanese economic crisis, faster ageing population and urban exodus. In the tourism industry, there are about 1.5 million tourists a year, mainly in Lake Saroma and Onneyu Onsen. However, the total number of overnight guests has been around 450,000 a year, making it a so-called “passing-type” tourist destination. File:Kitami street.jpg, Downtown of the City File:AEON-Kitami1.JPG, An Aeon's retail store in Kitami File:TOBU.EAST-MALL01.JPG, Tobu East Mall, one of the largest in the region.

Education

Kitami is home to the

Kitami Institute of Technology is a national university in Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. Founded as the Kitami Junior College of Technology on 6 January 1960, it was chartered as a university (Kitami Institute of Technology) on 6 January 1966. In 2004, it became part of the Nation ...

, an engineering university that originally opened in 1960, and the

Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing or JRCH is a private university in Kitami, Hokkaidō, Japan, established in 1999. History The forerunners of Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing are the school of Nursing in Asahikawa (founded in 1923), Kitami (1939),and Kushiro (196 ...

, established in 1999 by the Japanese Red Cross through consolidation of several other institutions. The ''Kitami Central Library'' is the main library of the city. In December 2015, the library was relocated to a new building on the south side, making it easily accessible from the downtown area. The library has a collection of approximately 330,000 books and supports the learning of residents with a network of nine facilities in the city, which have 799,000 books in total. It provides an audiovisual area where DVDs and music can be enjoyed and a literature museum area that exhibits valuable materials of the poet

Mokichi Saito Mokichi (written: ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese religious leader *, Japanese poet {{given name Japanese masculine given names Masculine given names ...

. PCs and Wi-Fi can be used freely by residents and non-residents alike. New services such as e-books are also available.

Universities

National

Private

High schools

Public

* Hokkaido Kitami Hokuto High School * Hokkaido Kitami Hakuyou High School * Hokkaido Kitami Ryokuryo High School * Hokkaido Kitami Commercial High School * Hokkaido Kitami Technical High School * Hokkaido Rubeshibe High School * Hokkaido Tokoro High School

Private

* Kitami Fuji Girls' High School

Festivals

*The Kitami Winter Festival, held annually during the 2nd week of February. *The Kitami Bonchi Festival (Summer Festival) in early July. *The Kitami Chrysanthemum festival in mid October−early November.

Mascots

Kitami's mascots are , , , , , and . *Mint-kun and Pepper-chan are married squirrels. They ate so much food that they are rounded. Mint-kun likes to hack things (he once boosted 70% of the world market) while Pepper-chan likes fresh air. They represent technology and cuisine. *Nonta-kun and Nonta-chan are farmers from Tanno. They wear red hat with wheat ears. Their faces looked like onions and their shoes look like rice. They represent agriculture. *Matsubo is a pinecone from Rubeshibe. He loves shopping. His charms points are his scales and his eyes. He represents tourism. *Tokoro-kun is a sporty scallop from Tokoro. He represents sports and fisheries. *Ecolon is a seed (which resembled the recycling symbol) with wings. Her hair (seedling) can spin like

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...

's take-copter. When she flies by, everything turns green. She represents the environment.

Mass Media

Newspapers

* Hokkaido Shimbun - Kitami Branch *

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

- Hokkaido's Kitami Branch * Asahi Shimbun - Hokkaido's Kitami Branch *

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...

Hokkaido's Kitami Communication Department * Hokkaido Construction Newspaper - Kitami Branch

Tabloids

* Densho Hato Kitami Headquarters, Rubeshibe Office * Doshin information magazine "Mint" * Gra Style

Broadcasting stations

TV

* NHK Kitami Broadcasting Station * Hokkaido Broadcasting (HBC) Kitami Broadcasting Station * Sapporo Television Broadcasting (STV) Kitami Broadcasting Station

Radio

* FM Okhotsk

Sports

Curling

The city has strong associations with the sport of

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

, inherited from the former town of Tokoro absorbed into the city in 2006. Interest in the sport grew following a friendship visit in 1980 by a curling team from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

in Canada. An outdoor curling rink was built in Tokoro the following year, and it hosted the 1st NHK Cup Curling Championship. In January 1988, the town built a dedicated 5-lane

hall, the first in Japan. This eventually closed in early 2013, replaced by a new, larger, all-year-round structure. Curling was introduced in schools in Tokoro as part of the

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

curriculum, and the two produced a number of Olympic curlers. Five members of the Japanese curling team at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

in Nagano were from Tokoro, three members of the Japanese curling team at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

in Torino were from Tokoro, and three members of the Japanese curling team at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

in Vancouver were from Tokoro.

Geography

Kitami City is located in a mild valley close to the

. This Mountains, especially the Mount Mikuni, is where the headwaters of the Tokoro River are located. The river belongs to in-Mukagawa basin, which leads to the

. This course has more than 110 km of extension. Tokoro Autonomous Region district has its limits based in the course of the basin. Besides of the Sea of Okhotsk and Lake Saroma, there is the Abashiri Quasi-National Park, where is located the Wakka Natural Flower Garden. The park is listed as a Hokkaido heritage site.

Terrain and Mounts

* Mt. Mukayama (1,759 m) * Mt. Mikuni (1,541 m) * Kitami Fuji (1,291 m) * Nikoroyama (829 m)

Rivers

* Tokoro River * Kunneppu River * Mukagawa * Nikoro River * Komachigawa

Lakes

* Lake Saroma * Lake Tomisato

Vegetation

* Mainly Wakka Primitive Flower

Climate

Kitami 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 ...

with cold winters and relatively warm summers. The coldest month is January, with an average low of , and the warmest month is August, with an average high of . Kitami's inland location creates a larger temperature range than some coastal cities. Due to the mountains nearby, the Foehn wind effect occurs in summer when prevailing winds are from the southeast, so that Kitami often has the hottest temperatures in Hokkaido during this season and averages about 5 °C (9 °F) hotter than Kushiro. Traces of snow fall every day during the winter and cover is heavy, usually peaking at , though Kitami still receives less overall precipitation than any other town in Japan as it is shielded from the heaviest moisture from both the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

and Pacific Ocean. University of Tokyo's snow monitoring system is located in the city, which main coverage consist in the area of eastern Hokkaido.

Transportation

Highway

Tokachi-Okhotsk Expressway The is a two-lane national expressway in Tokachi Subprefecture and Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of December 2018, the expressway is under construction to connect to link to the Kitami Route of the Dōtō Expressway in Ashoro. As o ...

Bus

The Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company has a number of inter-city as well as out-of-city routes.

Rail

The JR Hokkaido

Sekihoku Main Line is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) between in Asahikawa and Abashiri Station in Abashiri. The name comes from the first Kanji characters of and , names of ancient provinces along the lin ...

that passes through Kitami reached the city on October 19, 1910, when the town was still called Notsukeushi. The largest station is Kitami Station, with Nishi-Kitami Station, Hakuyo Station, and Itoshino Station also located in Kitami.

Air

The city is served by

Memanbetsu Airport is an airport in the Memanbetsu section of Ōzora, a town in Hokkaidō, Japan. The airport is close to Shiretoko National Park and consistently has over one million passengers per year. History The current airfield was opened in April 1985 ...

in the neighboring town of Ōzora.

Sister cities

* Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Signed on June 12, 1969. * Poronaysk, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. Signed on August 13, 1972. *

Jinju Jinju () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Command is ...

Gyeongsangnam-do South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

, South Korea *

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

, Alberta, Canada (Barrhead Town had a relationship with the former town of Tokoro. In 2006, Tokoro merged into Kitami city so Kitami takes over the relationship.) * Kōchi, Kōchi, Japan *

Sakawa, Kōchi 270px, Sakawa Town Office 270px, Rice terraces in Sakawa 270px, Seizan Bunko is a town located in Takaoka District, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 12,306 in 6036 households and a population density of 120 p ...

, Japan * Marumori, Miyagi, Japan * Ono, Gifu, Japan

Notable people from Kitami

* Jake Lee,

Zainichi Korean comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

professional wrestler (Real Name: ''Lee Che-Gyong'',

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 이 체경) *

Shinya Abe is a Japanese curler and curling coach from 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 ...

, Japanese curler and curling coach * Miz, Japanese pop/rock singer and actress (Real Name: Mizuki Watanabe, Nihongo: 渡邊瑞枝, ''Watanabe Mizuki'') * Whiteberry, five-piece all-girl pop/rock band *

Kosuke Aita Kosuke Aita (born October 2, 1998 in Kitami, Hokkaido is a city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri. Kitami ...

, Japanese curler *

Takuya Furuya Takuya Furuya (古谷拓哉, born July 14, 1981, in Kitami, Hokkaidō) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He played for the Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in J ...

, Japanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

Chinami Yoshida is a Japanese Curling, curler. She currently plays Third (curling), third for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Ca ...

, Japanese curler and older sister of

Yurika Yoshida is a Japanese curler. She currently plays lead for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Yoshida was a membe ...

, Japanese curler and younger sister of

Akira Takase is a Japanese footballer who plays for ReinMeer Aomori is a Japanese football club based in Aomori, the capital city of Aomori Prefecture. They play in the Japan Football League. Their team colour is blue. History Founded in 1995, ReinM ...

, Japanese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

(

ReinMeer Aomori is a Japanese football club based in Aomori, the capital city of Aomori Prefecture. They play in the Japan Football League. Their team colour is blue. History Founded in 1995, ReinMeer Aomori was managed by Aomori City Football Association p ...

) and older brother of

Megumi Takase is a Japanese footballer who plays as a forward for INAC Kobe Leonessa in the WE League and the Japanese national team. Club career Takase was born in Kitami on November 10, 1990. After graduating from high school, she joined INAC Kobe Leonessa ...

, former Japanese football player and younger sister of

Sayaka Yoshimura is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the skip of the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling ...

, Japanese curler * Makoto Tsuruga, Japanese curler *

Osamu Uno thumb is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Rubeshibe, Hokkaido, raised in Tokyo and graduate of Rikkyo University, he was elected to t ...

Japanese politician Politics of Japan are conducted in a framework of a dominant-party bicameral parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which the Emperor is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which d ...

of the Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). * Tsuyoshi Ryutaki, Japanese male curler *

Kiyofumi Ohno is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter from Kitami, Hokkaido is a city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri. K ...

, Japanese pop singer-songwriter * Yasumasa Tanida, Japanese curler *

Yoshiyuki Ohmiya Also known as Yoshiyuki Oomiya. is a Japanese curler and curling coach from Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. He represented Japan at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where the Japanese men's team placed 5th. His daughter is Japanese female curler An ...

, Japanese curler and curling coach * Ayumi Ogasawara, Japanese curler and curling coach * Mari Motohashi, Japanese curler *

Akemi Niwa is a Japanese curler, a three-time (1993, 1997, 1998) and a three-time Japan women's champion (1997, 1998, 1999). She played for Japan at the 1998 Winter Olympics, where the Japanese team finished in fifth place. Teams References Extern ...

, Japanese curler, a three-time (1993, 1997, 1998) and a three-time Japan women's champion (1997, 1998, 1999) *

Ami Kikuchi is a Japanese gravure idol, ''tarento'' and radio personality from LesPros Entertainment. She is from Kitami, Hokkaido, and is a second generation member (number 16) of the idol group Idoling. Her nickname is 'Amimi'. Since her graduation from ' ...

, Japanese gravure idol, ''

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

'', radio personality and

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

idol, former member of

girlgroup Idoling!!! * Chiharu Kitaoka, 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-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

* Yuta Matsumura, Japanese curler * Taro Kondo, Japanese

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

* Tatsuki Nara, Japanese

who plays for

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

club

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

. * Kazuhiko Ikawa, Japanese curler *

Takehiko Itō is a Japanese people, Japanese mangaka, manga artist best known for his work on the manga ''Outlaw Star'' from his affiliated Morning Star Studio. He was also the primary creative mind behind other works of fiction set in the ''Toward Stars'' un ...

, Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

('' NG Knight Ramune & 40'', '' Outlaw Star'', among others) * Mao Ishigaki, Japanese curler *

Yumie Funayama is a Japanese curler, born April 5, 1978, in Tokoro, Hokkaido as . She is currently the coach of Sayaka Yoshimura's team from Sapporo, Hokkaido. Career At age 12, Funayama began curling in her hometown Tokoro, Hokkaido, joining Akiko Katoh's ...

, Japanese curler (Real Name: Yumie Hayashi, Nihongo: 林弓枝, ''Hayashi Yumie'') *

Satsuki Fujisawa is a Japanese curler from Kitami, Hokkaido. As a skip, she has won the Japanese national championship six times. Fujisawa skipped the bronze medal-winning Japanese team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the silver medal-winning team at the ...

, Japanese curler ( Skipper) * Hiroshi Sato, Japanese curler and curling coach *

Yumi Suzuki is a Japanese curler. She currently plays second for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Suzuki was a member o ...

, Japanese curler * Yōsuke Shinoda,

of the Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).

In pop culture

The 2019

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series '' Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!'' is set in Kitami and its author, Kai Ikada, is a native of the city.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitami, Hokkaido Cities in Hokkaido Populated places established in 1872 1872 establishments in Japan