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 ...

on Okushiri Island, located in

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 ...

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 2,812, 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 142.98 km². Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park encompasses the entire island and town.

Etymology

The name Okushiri comes from the Ainu name ''Ikusyun-shiri''. ''Iku'' means ''other side'' and ''shiri'' means island. However, the Japanese meaning of the two kanji used for the name mean "deep inside/innermost" and "buttocks/hips".

History

On July 12, 1993, the Southwest Hokkaido Open Sea earthquake (北海道南西沖地震) of

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

7.8 in 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 ...

off southwest Hokkaido created a devastating

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

. This

killed 198 people in the town, despite a tsunami warning system and a seawall, and also caused landslides on the hills above. Another 32 people were missing, including 3 in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and 129 were injured. The subsequent fire burned down much of what remained. The island was reshaped by the tsunami, which was 10 meters high in town. The tsunami struck within five minutes of the earthquake, leaving residents absolutely no warning. *1906: The village of Okushiri was founded. *1966: Okushiri Village became Okushiri Town. *1993: Southwest Hokkaido Open Sea earthquake occurred.

Climate

Okushiri 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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfa'') closely bordering on a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Okushiri is . The average annual rainfall is with August as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Okushiri was on 10 August 1999; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 2 February 1996.

Transportation

Okushiri Island is accessible by air or sea. Okushiri Airport serves the island with daily flights to and from

Hakodate Airport is an airport located eastAIS Japan
of Hakodate Station in Hakodate, a city in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is owned by the Mi ...

. Regular ferry services to and from Esashi (2 hours and 20 minutes) and Setana (1 hour and 40 minutes) are provided by Heartland Ferry, and time timetable changes seasonally. A local bus service operates year-round.

Education

* High schools ** Hokkaido Okushiri High School * Junior high schools ** Aonae Junior High School (closed in 2017 to merge with Okushiri Junior High School) ** Okushiri Junior High School * Elementary schools ** Aonae Elementary School ** Okushiri Elementary School

Etymology

History

Climate

Transportation

Education

Sister city

References

External links