is a town located in

Hidaka Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The west side of the Hidaka mountains occupies most of the area. Hidaka is sparsely populated and has many of Hokkaido's natural resources. The governmental office is located in Urakawa. Hi ...

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 lar ...

, Japan.

History

The town was established September 1881.

Geography

Niikappu stretches from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

of southeast Hokkaido north to the Hidaka Mountains along the Niikappu River. The town covers a total area of 585.88 km². Its highest point is

Mount Poroshiri or sometimes Mount Horoshiri is located in the Hidaka Mountains, Hokkaidō, Japan. Its name was derived from a phonetic kanji transcription of the Ainu words for "great mountain", ''poro-shiri''. It is the highest mountain in the Hidaka ran ...

, and the lowest is at the coast. The town runs East-West and North-South

Economy

The town is mainly known for production of racehorses, including Haiseiko,

Narita Brian Narita Brian ( ja, ナリタブライアン, Hepburn: ; May 3, 1991 – September 27, 1998) was a Japanese racehorse. Until T M Opera O surpassed him in 2000, Narita Brian was the world's top money earner. Background Narita Brian was a bay h ...

, and

Oguri Cap Oguri Cap ( Japanese : オグリキャップ, 27 March 1985 – 3 July 2010) was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, sired by Dancing Cap. Oguri Cap was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1991. Racing career In May 198 ...

. Other popular exports include kelp, green capsicum, and

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

Art and Culture

Niikappu has a large collection of

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, preserved in Japan's largest vinyl record museum. In the Taiyo district of Niikappu lies the Forest of the Sun Dimaccio Museum, a converted elementary school dedicated to housing the works of French artist Gerard Dimaccio. Other features of Niikappu include: * A

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce la ...

''deikazan'' (Supposedly the only one in Japan.) * Hangandate Forest Park, a seaside park with a playground and an ocean view * A Youth Hostel * ''Shonen Shizen no Ie'' boys' nature house * A campground

Mascot

Niikappu's mascot is . She is a superhero horse who wears earrings made of azalea and green bell peppers and a cape. Her weapon is an asparagus. Her heart-shape nose is a sign of peace. She watches over Niikappu everyday.

Transportation

Rail

Niikappu was served by the

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 ...

Hidaka Main Line The is a railway line in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), between Tomakomai Station in Tomakomai and Samani Station in Samani, running along the coast of Hidaka Subprefecture. Services on the 116.0 km ...

. However, no services have operated between and since January 2015, due to storm damage. Plans to restore this section of the line have been abandoned, due to declining passenger numbers and very high maintenance costs, and the section will be officially closed on 1 April 2021 to be replaced by a bus service. Stations in Niikappu: - -

Road

References

External links

*
Official Website
Towns in Hokkaido {{Hokkaido-geo-stub