is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Oshima Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. As of 2004, it had a population of 456,621 and an area of 3,715.38 km2. Hakodate Airport is located in the City of Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port lo ...

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan 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 fr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 4,448, and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 20 persons per km². The total area is 221.88 km².

Geography

Kikonai is located on the southwest of the

Oshima Peninsula The Oshima Peninsula (渡島半島 ''Oshima-hantō'') is the southernmost part of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Where the peninsula starts is open to interpretation. A more generous interpretation is to draw a line southea ...

and faces

Tsugaru Strait The is a strait between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point 12.1 miles ...

Neighboring towns

Hiyama Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan located on the Oshima Peninsula on 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 ...

** Assabu ** Kaminokuni *

** Hokuto ** Shiriuchi

Climate

History

*1902: Kikonai village was founded. *1942: Kikonai village became Kikonai town. *2012: Hokkaido Kikonai High School was closed.

Transportation

Kikonai's station,

Kikonai Station is a railway station in Kikonai, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) and South Hokkaido Railway Company. Lines Kikonai Station is served by the following lines. *South Hokkaido Railway Line *Kaikyō Line (freigh ...

, is located at the north end of the Seikan Tunnel, which connects the islands of

and

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

. The town government is actively promoting the development of the

Hokkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...

and proposes offering intermodal service on the line.

Matsumae Line Matsumae may refer to: * Matsumae (surname), a Japanese surname * Matsumae clan, a former Japanese clan * Matsumae Castle, a castle located in Matsumae in Hokkaidō, Japan * Matsumae, Hokkaidō, a town located in Matsumae District, Oshima, Hokkaid� ...

used to run from Kikonai but it was abolished in 1988. The section of

Esashi Line The was a Japanese railway line formerly operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). It connected (near Hakodate) and . The section between and closed in May 2014, and the remainder was transferred to Public–private partnership#Ja ...

from Kikonai to Esashi was also abolished in May 2014. *

: Kamaya - Izumisawa - Satsukari - Kikonai ( - Oshima-Tsuruoka - Yoshibori) *

Kaikyō Line The is an railway line operated mainly by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The line connected Naka-Oguni Station in Sotogahama, Aomori, through the Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, to Kikonai Station in Kikonai, Hokkai ...

: Kikonai

Sister city

Tsuruoka is a Cities of Japan, city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 125,389 in 49,024 households, and a population density of 95.74 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Tsuruoka is the biggest city in ...

, Yamagata,

(since 1989)

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Hokkaido