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 the

Shiribeshi Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The subprefecture's capital is Kutchan. As of July 31, 2004, the estimated population was 256,184 and the area was 4,305.65 km2. Geography Municipalities Mergers History ...

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 ...

Demographics

As of September 2018, the

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 Yoichi has dropped to 18,993 people, a drop of 10% over less than a decade. The

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 ...

is 160 persons per km². The total area of Yoichi is 140.60 km².

Geography

Yoichi is located on the southeastern edge of the Shakotan Peninsula and faces 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 ...

. North of the town belongs to the

Niseko-Shakotan-Otaru Kaigan Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park in the Shiribeshi Subprefecture of Hokkaido, Japan.List of ...

Neighboring municipalities

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 ...

Niki __NOTOC__ Niki may refer to: People * Niki (given name) * NIKI (singer), Indonesian singer and songwriter * Niki DeMar, American singer * Niki Etsuko (1928–1986), Japanese author of mystery fiction Places * Niki, Hokkaido, a town in Japan * Ni ...

* Akaigawa * Furubira

Climate

The climate in Yoichi is mild (8.2 °C average), with temperatures ranging from −6 °C to 26 °C.

Industry

Yoichi is the home of the

Yoichi distillery is a Japanese whisky distillery. It is located at , a town in the Yoichi District, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. The distillery is owned by Nikka Whisky Distilling, and was opened in 1934. It is the older of the two distilleri ...

owned by

Nikka Whisky Distilling The is a producer of Japanese whisky and other beverages headquartered in Tokyo. It is owned by Asahi Group Holdings. The company operates a number of distilleries and other facilities in Japan, including two Japanese whisky distilleries, the Yo ...

. Yoichi is also famous for its fruit, particularly apples, and wine, and Yoichi apple juice is also famous throughout Japan. Yoichi is also becoming a well-known wine region. In Sawa-machi, near the port, there are many fish processing factories, producing goods such as migaki-nishin.

Culture and tourism

Yoichi is a coastal town, with several nice beaches, including Moire kaisuiyokujo. Yoichi is popular with surfers from autumn through to spring, but in summer there is very little swell, and the coastline is better suited to kayaking and swimming. In July and August, the beaches are popular with campers, and other tourists. Many people pass Yoichi on their way to explore Shakotan peninsula or Niseko. Yoichi is also close to some local club ski fields such as Niki Ski Field. There are also many lovely walks in the back country in the hills behind Yoichi. Additional English tourist information is available at The Yoichi Soran festival, featuring

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

firework Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in ...

s and delicious food and drink, is held every year in the first weekend of July, a few weeks after the Yoichi shrine festival. The

cave paintings In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are mor ...

Fugoppe Cave Fugoppe Cave is an archaeological site in Hokkaido, Japan, dating from the Jōmon period. It is located on a hillside known as Maruyama in the town of Yoichi. Along with the nearby Temiya Cave in Otaru City, it is one of only two significant pet ...

in Yoichi are the first known signs of

prehistoric life The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as ''Ga'', for ''gigaannum'') and evide ...

on Hokkaido. Their origin remains a mystery. Yoichi is easily accessible by

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

, which run approximately hourly to and 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 of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, and

Kutchan is a town located in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Kutchan lies slightly north of the volcano Mount Yōtei, and is approximately 50 kilometers west of Sapporo. The subprefecture government offices are located in this town, making it ...

, a town 45 minutes south of Yoichi where world class

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

may be enjoyed. A new motorway is being built connecting Yoichi to Sapporo, reducing the drive to 30 minutes. It is due for completion in 2018.

Twin towns

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs ( sco, The Briggs; gd, Achadh an Easbaig) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bear ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...

Education

High schools

Hokkaido Yoichi High School was merged with Hokkaido Niki High School (Niki) and Hokkaido Furubira High School (Furubira) in 2010. * Public ** Hokkaido Yoichi Koshi High School * Private ** Hokusei Gakuen Yoichi High School

Junior high schools

* Asahi Junior High School * Higashi Junior High School * Nishi Junior High School

Elementary schools

* Kurokawa Elementary School * Nobori Elementary School * Ōkawa Elementary School * Sakae Elementary School * Sawamachi Elementary School

Notable people

Yoichi is the birthplace of Mamoru "Mark" Mohri, the first Japanese

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

; he attended elementary and junior high schools here. The Yoichi Space Museum, also called the Space Apple, was dedicated in his honor when it was opened in 1998. Other Yoichi luminaries include ski jumping Olympic gold medalists

Yukio Kasaya is a Japanese former ski jumper. At the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo he became the first Japanese athlete to win a gold medal and the second Japanese (after Chiharu Igaya) to win any medal at the Winter Olympics. Previously he placed second at the ...

and

Kazuyoshi Funaki (born 27 April 1975) is a Japanese former ski jumper. He ranked among the most successful sportsmen of its discipline, particularly in the 1990s. Funaki is known for his special variant of the V-style, in which the body lies flatter between the ...

. They were born in Yoichi and took up ski jumping at the facility built by

Masataka Taketsuru was a Japanese chemist and businessman. He is known as the founder of Japan's whisky industry and Nikka Whisky Distilling. Born to a family that had owned a sake brewery since 1733, he traveled to Scotland in 1918 to study organic chemistry and ...

, the founder of

.Yoichi Town
fleemy.com

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoichi, Hokkaido Towns in Hokkaido