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 ...

Okushiri Island is an island in Hokkaidō, Japan. It has an area of . The town of Okushiri and the Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park encompass the entire island. It has many pastures, beech tree forests, and a rocky coastline. There are two elementary schools, o ...

, located in

Hiyama Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan located on the Oshima Peninsula on the Sea of Japan side. It includes Okushiri Island. It was established in 1897. Geography Mergers History *1897: Hiyama Subprefecture was established. *20 ...

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 ...

. As of September 2016, the town has 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 2,812, 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 20 persons per km². The total area is 142.98 km².

Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in southwest Hokkaidō, Japan. Established in 1960, the park spans the municipalities of Esashi, Kaminokuni, Okushiri, Otobe, Setana, and Yakumo. Notable islands within the park include Okushiri Island and K ...

encompasses the entire island and town.

Etymology

The name Okushiri comes from the Ainu name ''Ikusyun-shiri''. ''Iku'' means ''other side'' and ''shiri'' means island. However, the Japanese meaning of the two kanji used for the name mean "deep inside/innermost" and "buttocks/hips".

History

On July 12, 1993, the Southwest Hokkaido Open Sea earthquake (北海道南西沖地震) of

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

7.8 in 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 ...

off southwest Hokkaido created a devastating

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

. This

killed 198 people in the town, despite a

tsunami warning system A tsunami warning system (TWS) is used to detect tsunamis in advance and issue the warnings to prevent loss of life and damage to property. It is made up of two equally important components: a network of sensors to detect tsunamis and a communica ...

and a seawall, and also caused landslides on the hills above. Another 32 people were missing, including 3 in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and 129 were injured. The subsequent fire burned down much of what remained. The island was reshaped by the tsunami, which was 10 meters high in town. The tsunami struck within five minutes of the earthquake, leaving residents absolutely no warning. *1906: The village of Okushiri was founded. *1966: Okushiri Village became Okushiri Town. *1993: Southwest Hokkaido Open Sea earthquake occurred.

Climate

Okushiri 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 ...

''Dfa'') closely bordering on a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Okushiri is . The average annual rainfall is with August as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Okushiri was on 10 August 1999; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 2 February 1996.

Transportation

Okushiri Island is accessible by air or sea.

Okushiri Airport is an airport located in Okushiri, Okushiri Island, Hokkaidō, Japan. Airlines and destinations References External links Airport Guide Okushiri Airport- Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airl ...

serves the island with daily flights to and from

Hakodate Airport is an airport located eastAIS Japan
of

Esashi (2 hours and 20 minutes) and

Setana is a town located in Hiyama Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 8,501, and a density of 13 persons per km². The total area is 638.67 km². Geography Setana is located on the northe ...

(1 hour and 40 minutes) are provided by Heartland Ferry, and time timetable changes seasonally. A local bus service operates year-round.

Education

* High schools ** Hokkaido Okushiri High School * Junior high schools ** Okushiri Junior High School ** Aonae Junior High School (closed in 2017 to merge with Okushiri Junior High School) * Elementary schools ** Okushiri Elementary School ** Aonae Elementary School

Etymology

History

Climate

Transportation

Education

Sister city

References

External links