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 o ...

located in Rumoi Subprefecture,

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island 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 from Honshu; th ...

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 n ...

. 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 usi ...

of 7,338. The total area is 472.49 km². The town also administers the two islands of Yagishiri and

Teuri Teuri Island (天売島 Teuri-tō) is an island in the Sea of Japan 30 km west of Haboro port in Haboro, Tomamae District, in the Rumoi Subprefecture in Hokkaido. The Island, along with neighboring Yagishiri island on its east side, belong ...

. Haboro was officially designated a town in 1921. The villages of Teuri and Yagishiri were merged into Haboro in 1955 and 1959, respectively.

Etymology

The name of the town is from the

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...

, but of uncertain origin. Haboro may have originated with the Ainu language word ''hapuru'', meaning "a soft sound", or ''haporopetsu'', meaning "the basin of a large river". In

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, the name of the town is written with

ateji In modern Japanese, principally refers to kanji used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words with less regard to the underlying meaning of the characters. This is similar to in Old Japanese. Conversely, also refers to kanji use ...

, or

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

characters used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words. The first, , means "feather" or "wings", and the second, , means "curtain" or "cloth".

Geography

Haboro 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, i ...

. Much of the area of the town is within the Teshio Mountains, and much of the town is protected as a national forest. Mount Pisshiri is the highest point in the city at . Two rivers cross the town: the Haboro and the Chikubetsu.

Islands

The municipality of Haboro includes two sparsely populated islands in the Sea of Japan. *

Yagishiri Island is a small, sparsely populated island in the Sea of Japan, northwest of Haboro Bay in Haboro, Hokkaido. The island, along with neighboring Teuri Island on its west side, belongs to the town of Haboro in Rumoi Subprefecture. It is noted for its ...

(), population 273, is located northwest of

Haboro Bay is a town located in Rumoi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 7,338. The total area is 472.49 km2. The town also administers the two islands of Yagishiri and Teuri. Haboro w ...

, and is known for its dense forests. *

Teuri Island Teuri Island (天売島 Teuri-tō) is an island in the Sea of Japan 30 km west of Haboro port in Haboro, Tomamae District, in the Rumoi Subprefecture in Hokkaido. The Island, along with neighboring Yagishiri island on its east side, belongs ...

, population 366, is located west of Yagashiri, and the two islands are separated by the

Musashi Channel is a Japanese name, which may refer to: People *, Japanese master swordsman, painter, and author of ''The Book of Five Rings'' *, Japanese science fiction writer *, Japanese former professional footballer *, Japanese retired kickboxer *, Wush ...

. Teuri covers , and is protected as a bird sanctuary.

Neighboring municipalities

* Rumoi Subprefecture ** Tomamae District：

Tomamae is a town located in Rumoi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is typical of the small coastal towns that line the western coast of Hokkaido. Demographics As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 3,261 and a density of 7.2 ...

, Shosanbetsu ** Teshio District： Enbetsu *

Kamikawa Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The name is derived from Kamikawa no hitobito no Shūraku (Village of the Upstream People), a translation of the Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japa ...

** Uryū District： Horokanai

Climate

Haboro 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 freez ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Dfb'') with warm summers and cold winters. Precipitation is high throughout the year; the months from August to December are wetter than the rest of the year. The highest temperature recorded was on August 1, 2021. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 January 1923.

Transportation

Rail

Haboro was originally connected to other areas of Hokkaido by rail. The

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

extended 141.1 km between Rumoi and Horonobe. Construction on the line dated to 1927, but it was discontinued in 1987 with establishment of

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

during the privatization of Japanese National Railways.

Highway

Haboro is crossed by National Route 232, a

national highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans ...

of Japan that ranges across western Hokkaido between

Wakkanai ' meaning "cold water river" is a city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. It contains Japan's northernmost point, Cape Sōya, from which the Russian island of Sakhalin can be seen. As of 1 ...

and

Rumoi is a city located in Rumoi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Rumoi Subprefecture. As of September 2016, the city has an estimated population of 22,242 and the density of 75 persons per km2. The total area is 297.44 ...

. Teuri and Yagishiri have a single road surrounding the island.

Ferry

The islands of Yagishiri and Teuri are served by ferry from the Port of Haboro.

Port of Haboro

The Port of Haboro was established in March 1953. It is administered by the town.

Schools

High schools

* Haboro Senior High School * Teuri Senior High School

Junior high schools

* Haboro Junior High School * Teuri Junior High School * Yagishiri Junior High School

Elementary school

* Haboro Elementary School * Teuri Elementary School * Yagishiri Elementary School

Mascot

Haboro's mascot is . He is a fashionable

common murre The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land t ...

. He contributes to the town by promoting sightseeing and certain events. He is eat sand eels. As an auk, e is a skilled swimmer. He owns a hat collection (the most favourite of his is shrimp toque). Children will mistake him for a penguin.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haboro, Hokkaido Towns in Hokkaido