280px, Nayoro city center is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Kamikawa Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, 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 ...

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. , the city 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 24,702, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 46 people per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

The main rivers in the Nayoro Basin in northern Hokkaido are the

Teshio River The is a river in Hokkaido, Japan. At , it is the second-longest river on the island (after the Ishikari) and the fourth-longest in the country (after the Shinano, Tone, and Ishikari). A Class A river, the Teshio is the northernmost major rive ...

and its tributary, the Nayoro River. The urban area of Nayoro was formed islightly upstream from the confluence of the two rivers.

Neighbouring municipalities

** Shibetsu ** Shimokawa ** Bifuka ** Horokanai ** Omu

Climate

Nayoro 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 cold ...

(Köppen ''Dfb'') characterized by cold summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nayoro is 5.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1281 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 19.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around -9.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nayoro is as shown below. The city is in a long period of sustained population loss.

History

The area of Nayoro has been inhabited since the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

, and was the site of a ''kotan'' was built by the

Ainu people The Ainu are an Indigenous peoples, indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Ku ...

. On June 30, 1888, the Hokkaido government proclaimed the villages of Kaminayoro Shimonayoro. The area was initially settled by a group of colonists from Toei, Yamagata. In 1907, under the second-class town and village system was implemented, and Kaminayoro Village was established. It was raised to town status in 1915, becoming Nayoro Town. In 1920, Chiebun village split off from Shimonayoro village and was annexed by Nayoro in 1954. Nayoro was raised to city status in 1956.On March 27, 2006 Nayoro annexed the town of Fūren.

Government

Nayoro has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 18 members. Nayoro, as part of Kawakami sub-prefecture, contributes three members to the Hokkaidō Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the

Hokkaidō 6th district is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in the prefecture ''(-dō)'' of Hokkaidō and consists of Hokkaido's Kamikawa Subprefecture. The CDP lost the ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The economy of Nayoro is centered on agriculture, notably the production of glutinous rice. Asparagus, pumpkins and sunflowers are also produced in the area.

Education

Nayoro has seven public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the city government, and two public high school operated by the Hokkaidō Board of Education.

Universities

Nayoro City University is a public university in Nayoro, Hokkaido file:Nayoro city center area Aerial photograph.2011.jpg, 280px, Nayoro city center is a Cities of Japan, city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 2 ...

Junior colleges

Nayoro City University Junior College is a junior college in the city of Nayoro in Hokkaido, Japan. History The college opened in April 1960 for women only, but in April 1990, it became coeducational, adopting the present name at the same time. See also * Nayoro City Universi ...

High school

* Hokkaido Nayoro High School * Hokkaido Nayoro Industry High School

Transportation

Railways

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 ...

Sōya Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) in Hokkaido. The line connects Asahikawa Station in Asahikawa and Wakkanai Station in Wakkanai, and is the northernmost railway line in Japan. The name c ...

: - - - -

Highways

Nayoro is linked with National Route 40 linking

Wakkanai file:Wakkanai city office.JPG, 290px, Wakkanai City Hall file:Wakkanai shore.jpg, 290px, Shore of Wakkanai is a Cities of Japan, city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Wakkanai is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. Situated approx ...

and southern Hokkaido as well as the

Hokkaidō Expressway is the second-largest island of Japan 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 railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

linking with the island capital of

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 ...

. Nayoro is bypassed to the west with the Nayoro Bypass (Route 40) serving two interchanges. * *

Sister cities

International

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22,367 people ( 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough. It is located in the City of Kawartha Lakes, and is the hub for ...

, Canada *

Dolinsk Dolinsk () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Dolinsk, Sakhalin Oblast, a town in Dolinsky District of Sakhalin Oblast ;Rural localities * Dolinsk, Orenburg Oblast, a settlement in Toksky Selsoviet of K ...

, Russia.

Domestic

Fujishima, Yamagata was a List of towns of Japan, town located in Higashitagawa District, Yamagata, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 11,922 and a population density, density of 188.58 persons per ...

Suginami-ku is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 persons per km2. The total area ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Culture

Mascot

Nayoro's mascot is . He is a mochi alien who loves star watching and collecting toys. He carries a telescope all the time to study the stars. He is designed by Sakiko Yatani from Ebetsu and was named by Ayumi Hagiwara from Sapporo.

Noted people from Nayoro

Myra Arai , known professionally as , is a Canadian-Japanese actress and model. Personal life Born in Nayoro, Hokkaido, Japan, her father is Canadian and her mother Japanese. While still a high-school student, she was scouted by Twin Planet Entertainmen ...

, fashion model *

Ryo Ikuemi is a Japanese shōjo manga artist. Career In the beginning of her career, she published mainly in the manga magazine ''Margaret'', where she debuted in 1979 at age 15 with ''Maggie''. In 1993, her high school romance ''Pops'' was adapted a ...

, manga artist *

Naohiro Ishida is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6- dan. Early life and apprenticeship Ishida was born in Nayoro, Hokkaido on December 5, 1988. He learned how to play shogi at school with friends, and entered the Japan Shogi Association's appren ...

, professional ''shogi'' player *

Nayoroiwa Shizuo Nayoroiwa Shizuo (名寄岩静男, September 27, 1914 – January 26, 1971) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Nayoro, Hokkaidō, Nayoro, Hokkaidō, Japan. Career He joined Tatsunami stable and made his professional debut in May 1932. Along with hi ...

, sumo wrestler * Yuki Matsushita, actress

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Hokkaido