was 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 Nishi District,

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 ...

. The town's name translates as bear rock after a prominent rock formation that looks like a bear and cub on its coast. As of 2004, the town had 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 3,487 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 15.82 persons per km². The total area was 220.38 km². As many "town" districts, Kumaishi itself is composed of many smaller villages strung out along the coast facing 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 ...

. Its industry mainly comprises fishing, notably squid fishing and at night many lights of the squid fishing fleets can be seen far out in the sea. The area is beautifully scenic in many portions and provides some rare untouched Japanese wilderness although some of the coastline has seen Japanese style engineering and been "decorated" with concrete "tetrapods".

History

On October 1, 2005, Kumaishi was merged with the old town of Yakumo (formerly from Yamakoshi District,

) to create the new and expanded town of Yakumo (now in the newly created Futami District,

). Therefore, Kumaishi was transferred from

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 ...

as a result of financial difficulties.

Climate

References

External links

Yakumo official website
Dissolved municipalities of Hokkaido Yakumo, Hokkaido {{Hokkaido-geo-stub