is one of the 10 wards in

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 ...

Hokkaidō 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 ...

. Minami-ku is directly translated as "south ward". Having the area of 657.48 km² in total, Minami-ku occupies 60 percent of the area of Sapporo.City of Sapporo General Overview
/ref>

Overview

According to the jūminhyō (registry) in 2008, 149,139 people were living in Minami-ku. The total area of the ward is 657.48 km², which is the largest in Sapporo. 17 mountains including Mount Yoichi (1488.1 metres, the highest mountain in Sapporo) are included in the ward, along with part of the

Shikotsu-Tōya National Park is a national park in the western part of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. Named after the volcanic caldera lakes of Lake Shikotsu and Lake Tōya, it has a total area of 993.02 square kilometers. The popular hot spring resort of Noboribetsu is al ...

. Sapporo's five wards: Chūō-ku, Toyohira-ku,

Kiyota-ku is one of the 10 wards in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is translated as "pure" or "clean" for "清", and "(rice) field" for "田". The ward was split from Toyohira-ku on November 4, 1997. Overview According to the jūminhyō (registry of ...

, Nishi-ku, Teine-ku, have boundaries with Minami-ku, and four cities ( Chitose,

Otaru is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tou ...

Date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...

, Eniwa), two towns ( Kimobetsu, Kyōgoku), and a village ( Akaigawa) also have boundaries.

History

Originally, the area where currently Minami-ku is located has been famous for the hot springs in Jōzankei area and mines in Ishiyama area, and many pioneers and their families have settled from the outside of Hokkaidō. In 1918, the Jōzankei Railroad was opened for traffic from Shiroishi area to current Minami-ku area. In 1946, after the end of World War II, American army took over farms in Makomanai area and built a military facility called Camp Crawford.Minami-ku, History 1950 - 1979
/ref> The restoration of the Camp Crawford began in 1955, and camps of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force were started to build. In 1972, Sapporo Winter Olympics was held in Sapporo, and a number of sports competitions were held in Makomanai area, including

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, and the cross-country skiing portion of the

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

events. In the same year, Sapporo was listed as one of the cities designated by government ordinance, and Minami-ku was established. The camp of the Self-Defense Force has been one of the venues of the

Sapporo Snow Festival The is a festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over seven days in February. Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival. In 2007 (57th festival), about two million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds of s ...

, however, it was abolished and moved to the

Sapporo Satoland is an amusement park located in Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Sapporo Satoland, which has an agricultural theme, was opened in 1995. Its official name is . History The Sapporo Satoland was established in 1995. Facilities have been ...

site located in Higashi-ku, in 2005.

Transportation

Sapporo Municipal Subway The is a mostly-underground rubber-tyred rapid transit system in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Operated by the Sapporo City Transportation Bureau, it is the only subway system on the island of Hokkaido. Lines The system consists of three lines: ...

** Namboku Line: Sumikawa - Jieitai-Mae - Makomanai

Education

Universities

Public

Sapporo City University is a public university with campuses in Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Chuo-ku and Minami-ku, Sapporo, Japan. The predecessor of the school was established in 1991, and it was chartered as a university in 2006 when it merged with a nursing school. External ...

Private

Hokkaido Tokai University was a university with two campuses in Hokkaido, Japan: the Sapporo campus in Minami-ku, which housed the School of Engineering and the School of International Cultural Relations; and the Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkai ...

DIRECTIONS TO HOKKAIDO TOKAI UNIVERSITY (HTU)
().

. November 20, 2005. Retrieved on April 10, 2015. "5-1-1-1 Minami-sawa, Minami-ku, Sapporo 005-8601, Japan" and "224 Chuwa, Kamui-Cho, Asahikawa 070-8601, Hokkaido, Japan"

Colleges

* Koen Gakuen Women's Junior College * Hokkaido Bunkyo University Junior College

High schools

Public

* Hokkaido Sapporo Nanryou High School * Hokkaido Sapporo Keihoku Commercial High School * Hokkaido Sapporo Moiwa High School

Private

Hokusei Gakuen Girls' Junior & Senior High School - 北星学園女子中学高等学校
*Sapporo Shinyo High School * Hokkaido Bunkyo University Meisei High School * Tokai University Daiyon High School

Points of interest

* Jozankei hot springs resort - a number of hotels and resorts with hot springs. *

Makomanai Park Makomanai Park (真駒内公園) is a city park in Minami-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. It is home to attractions such as Makomanai Open Stadium, Makomanai Ice Arena and the Sapporo Salmon Museum. It also contains a small gymnasium, restaurant and ...

- a park including the

Makomanai Ice Arena Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena (真駒内セキスイハイムアイスアリーナ) is an indoor ice skating arena in Minami-ku, Sapporo, Japan. It was built in December, 1970, holds 11,500 people (10,024 seats, fixed plus temporary, and 1,476 ...

Makomanai Open Stadium The Makomanai Sekisui Heim Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Sapporo, Japan. During the 1972 Winter Olympics, it hosted the opening ceremonies and the speed skating events.Mount Moiwa is a mountain located about southwest of the center of Sapporo, Hokkaido and southwest of Sapporo Station. A ropeway Ropeway may refer to: Cable transport * Cableway, or cable transport, a broad class of transport modes that have cables * A ...

- observation deck and ski resort. **

Mount Moiwa Ropeway The is Japanese aerial lift line in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. This is the only line operates, while the company also operates a ski jumping course and an amusement park. Opened in 1958, the line climbs . The observatory is built for the panoramic v ...

Sources

External links

Minami-ku, official homepage
{{Authority control Wards of Sapporo