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 ...

. The total area of the town is . As of September 2016, the town had a population of 16,299, and a population density of 44 persons per km². Mount Komagatake, an active volcano, is located to the east of Mori, and much of the town is part of

Ōnuma Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park on the Oshima Peninsula in southwest Hokkaidō, Japan. The park encompasses the volcanic as well as the and ponds, which abut against the west slope of the mountain. The park, which was designated as quasi-national ...

. Mori is the home of

ikameshi is a Japanese dish of rice-filled squid. It is a regional dish from the Oshima area of Hokkaidō. Preparation Ikameshi is prepared by removing tentacles from and gutting the squid, which is then stuffed with washed rice and cooked in dashi. To ...

, a squid and rice dish invented in the mid-20th century.

Etymology

The name of the town originates from the word "Oniushi", meaning "a forested area" in 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 isola ...

. In the

Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

the name of the town is written as , meaning ''forest''. The suffix "", denoting town status in Japan, is pronounced as ''-chō'' in every municipality of Hokkaido with the exception of Mori, where it is read as ''-machi''.

Geography

Mori sits on the eastern coast 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 overlooks

Uchiura Bay The or is a bay southeast of the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. It has also been known as Iburi Bay and Volcano Bay. History The shoreline of Uchiura Bay was first settled by the Jōmon people as early as 4000 BC. Trade settlements have ...

( in diameter). The bay, also known as Funka Bay, is rich in

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

and is the site of

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

, both a mainstay of the town economy. Much of the town of Mori is mountainous or hilly.

Hokkaidō Komagatake , also , , or just is a andesite, andesitic stratovolcano on the border between Mori, Hokkaidō, Mori, Shikabe, Hokkaidō, Shikabe, and Nanae, Hokkaidō, Nanae, all within the Oshima Subprefecture of Hokkaidō, Japan. Occurrence of volcanic a ...

is an active

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

on the east of Mori where the town borders the nearby municipalities of Shikabe and Nanae. Major eruptions of Komagatake are recorded as early as 1640, and ash fallout from the volcano is frequent.

Mount Gujin Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(1,113) sits to the west. Volcanic ash from Komagatake covers the town and provides a rich soil for vegetable cultivation. Mori is crossed by several small rivers, including the Torizaki River (), Oshironai River(),

Katsura River The is a continuation of two other rivers, the Hozu River, a small, speedy river which begins in the mountains near Kameoka and then slithers through the mountains separating Kameoka and Kyoto; and the Ōi River (大堰川 ''Ōi-gawa''), whi ...

(), Nigori River (), Shukunobe River (), and the 茂無部川 (). Mori, along with the town of Nanae, shares a coastline on

Lake Ōnuma A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

(). Ōnuma, connected to Lake Konuma in Nanae, is technically a shallow pond. Ōnuma and Konuma, which sit at the southern foot of Mount Komagatake, were created when

mudflow A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/se ...

s from an eruption of the mountain dammed the Orito River. Komagatake, as well as Ōnuma and Konuma, are protected as part of

(), which covers much of eastern Mori. The park is home to

alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxon, taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial g ...

species such as ''iwabukuro'', a flowering plant of the family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

, and ''urajirotade'', a flowering plant of the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

. The middle reaches of Komagatake is home to stands of broadleaf trees, including ''mineyanagi'', a species of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

, ''doronoki'', a

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

species, birches, and ''mizunara'', a species of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

. Ōnuma is home to watershields,

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

, and wakasagi, a species of

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...

used in

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...

Neighboring municipalities

The coast of

forms the northern border of Mori. The town is bordered by five other municipalities by land: Hokuto and Nanae make up the town's broad southern border, Shikabe and Yakumo make up its short eastern and western borders respectively. Mori shares a border with Assabu to the southwest, high in the Oshima Mountain Range. *

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 *

** Hokuto ** Nanae ** Shikabe ** Yakumo

Climate

History

Mori was settled early in Japanese history as evidenced by the Jōmon-period

archaeological sites An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

now designated as the Washinoki Site. The town was settled by the Japanese in the 15th century. The settlement, like many other coastal areas of Hokkaido, was established as a

Pacific herring The Pacific herring (''Clupea pallasii'') is a species of the herring family associated with the Pacific Ocean environment of North America and northeast Asia. It is a silvery fish with unspined fins and a deeply forked caudal fin. The distribu ...

fishing base. Fishermen operating out of

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

noted the richness of herring in the Mori area, and soon established a base in Mori. The base became the village of Washinoki, and was administered as part of

Kōbō Abe , known by his pen name , was a Japanese writer, playwright and director. His 1962 novel ''The Woman in the Dunes'' was made into an Woman in the Dunes, award-winning film by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1964. Abe has often been compared to Franz Kaf ...

(1836 – 1908), a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

and naval commander of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, lost the capitol at

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

to forces loyal to the

Meiji Emperor , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ended the Tokugawa shogun ...

as 1868 as part of the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

(1868 – 1869). Enomoto fled from Edo and landed his fleet of eight steam warships, the remainder of the Tokugawa Navy, a Washinoki en route to establishing a base at

. The present-day town of Mori became part of Enomoto's

Republic of Ezo The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

. Enomoto and the republic were soon defeated in the

Naval Battle of Hakodate The was fought from 4 to 10 May 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate navy, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy. It was one of the last stages of Battle of H ...

(1869), and all of Hokkaido, including the villages of Mori, came under the rule of the central Japanese government. Mori was incorporated as a town in 1921. A great fire broke out in the town in 1961 and half of Mori was burned, with 554 homes destroyed . The town of Sawara (from Kayabe District) was merged into Mori on April 1, 2005.

Economy

The fishing industry of Mori focuses on the

s. The volcanic ash from Mount Komagatake has created a rich soil for fruit and vegetable production in Mori. The town is noted for its production of melons, tomatoes, pumpkins and prunes. Sawara is noted for its production of blueberries and at the town's Michi No Eki, you can sample blueberry jam and ice cream.

Transportation

Rail

Mori is connected by rail via the

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

Hakodate Main Line The is a railway line connecting the cities of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Hakodate and Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Asahikawa via Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. It is one of the trunk lines that is operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The Sawa ...

, which connects

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, and continues to

Asahikawa is a Cities of Japan, city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a Core cities of Japan, core city since April 1, 2000. The city i ...

in north-central Hokkaido. Stations along the Hakodate Main Line in Mori were completed between 1903 and 1904. Mori Station serves the central business and administrative district of the town. The Sawara Branch Line, which runs between Mori Station and

Ōnuma Station is a railway station on the Hakodate Main Line located in Nanae, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is operated by JR Hokkaido and has the station number "H68". Lines The station is served by the Hakodate Main Line and is located 27.0 km from the start ...

in Nanae, serves several small stations in the Sawara area. Stations along the Hakodate Main Line in Mori were completed in 1945. *Hakodate Main Line **Stations: Akaigawa -- Komagatake -- Higashiyama -- Himekawa—Mori -- Katsuragawa -- Ishiya -- Hon-Ishikura -- Ishikura *Sawara Branch Line **Stations: Oshima-Mumajiri -- Oshima-Sawara -- Kakarima -- Oshironai -- Higashi-Mori—Mori Station

Highways

Japan National Route 5 is a major highway on the island and prefecture of Hokkaido in northern Japan. The highway begins at an intersection with National Routes 279 and 278 in Hakodate. It travels north across the southern half of the island, traveling through Ot ...

, a national highway of

, runs through the town and is the main highway to Hakodate with the rest of Hokkaido. Route 5 runs north through Yakumo and Oshamanbe and then veers east towards the Shakotan peninsula and into the town

Otaru is a Cities of Japan, city and Seaports of Japan, 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 ...

before connecting to Sapporo. Japan National Route 229 was completed in 1971.

Culture and cuisine

Festivals

The annual town ''

matsuri Japanese festivals, or , are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. The origin of the word ''matsuri'' is related to the ; there are theories that the word ''matsuri'' is derived from meaning "to wait (for ...

'' festival of Mori is held in early August. The festival is associated with the Mori Inari Shrine, and includes the carrying of

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

throughout the central Mori district,

taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

drumming, and stalls serving

ramen is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...

and other Japanese cuisine.

Ikameshi

Mori is the home of

, a dish composed of squid cooked with rice inside. Mori Station

bentō A is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese-style single-portion take-out or Packed lunch, home-packed meal, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid (often a segmented box with different parts of the meal placed in diff ...

vendor Abe Bentōten invented ikameshi in 1941 as a result of food rationing during World War II.

Japanese flying squid The Japanese flying squid, Japanese common squid or Pacific flying squid, scientific name ''Todarodes pacificus'', is a squid of the family Ommastrephidae. This animal lives in the northern Pacific Ocean, in the area surrounding Japan, along the e ...

were caught in plentiful supply near Mori, and used as a way to ration rice. The Abe Bentōten store continues as the Ikameshi Abeshoten Co., a bentō and prepared foods company, located in Mori, with a shop at Mori Station.

Education

Mori is home to one high school, Mori Prefectural High School, a public high school operated by the Prefecture of Hokkaido. The high school was established in 1941 as a girl's high school run by the Town of Mori, but became a coeducation high school run by the prefecture in 1948. The Town of Mori Board of Education maintains two middle schools: Mori Middle School and Sawara Middle School. The town is home to six elementary schools. There are several empty elementary school buildings due to the declining population of the town, the most recent closings being Ishikura elementary school in 2017 and Akaigawa elementary school in 2011.

Services

Post

The town of Mori is served by four post offices. The main post office is in the Miyukichō district, near the Mori Town Hall.

Local government

Keizō Kajiya (b. 1956), a graduate of

Ashikaga Institute of Technology is a private university in Ashikaga, Tochigi, 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 ...

and mayor of the former town of Sawara, was elected mayor of Mori on October 16, 2012.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Hokkaido Towns in Hokkaido Populated places established in the 15th century Mori, Hokkaido