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 Sōya Subprefecture,

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 district and town both cover the island of the same name:

Rebun Island is an island in the Sea of Japan off the northwestern tip of Hokkaidō, Japan. The island sits off the coast of Hokkaidō. Rebun stretches from north to south and from east to west. The island covers approximately . Rebun Island is located ...

. Rebun Island is famous for its alpine flowers.

History

Pre-Dynastical and Prehistorical Period

Various prehistoric ruins from the Okhotsk culture have been discovered in the areas of Kafukai and Funadomari. Later down the line it seems that there was also the presence of various Ainu , leading to the various remains of castles from the Ainu period, scattered across the area.

Kosho Period

In 1456 (

Kōshō was a after ''Kyotoku, Kyōtoku'' and before ''Chōroku.'' This period spanned the years from July 1455 through September 1457. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', pp. 331349. Change of Era * ...

2): A battle between the Kafukai Ainu and the Isogai Ainu took place near present-day Momoiwa, right next to today's town.

Jokyo Period

1685 Events January–March * January 6 – American-born British citizen Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University in the U.S. is named, completes his term as the first leader of the Madras Presidency in India, administering the colony ...

( Jokyo 2): The area became a soya place directly controlled by the Matsumae Domain, and both the settlements in Rishiri and Rebun became their subsidiary places.https://www.town.rebun.hokkaido.jp/hotnews/files/00002500/00002556/009.pdf

Meiwa Period

1765 Events January–March * January 23 – Prince Joseph of Austria marries Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria in Vienna. * January 29 – One week before his death, Mir Jafar, who had been enthroned as the Nawab of Bengal and ...

(

Meiwa was a after '' Hōreki'' and before ''An'ei.'' This period spanned the years from June 1764 through November 1772. The reigning empress and emperor were and . Change of era * 1764 : The era name became ''Meiwa'' (meaning "Bright Harmony") be ...

2), Rebun, Rishiri, and Soya were declared independent provinces.

Bunsei Period

In the later part of the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, in

1819 Events January–March * January 2 – The Panic of 1819, the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States, begins. * January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia. * January 29 – Si ...

(

Bunsei was a after '' Bunka'' and before ''Tenpō''. This period spanned the years from April 1818 through December 1830. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * April 22, 1818 (): The new era name was created to mark the enthronement of the emp ...

2), Ihei Fujino becomes the contractor for the Soya place of the Matsumae domain, developing it.

Koka Period

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon betwee ...

( Koka 3): Mannosuke Yanagida, who moved from the Aomori Prefecture, becomes the first immigrant to Shakunin and begins developing fishing grounds, opening the Oshima fishing grounds in Shakunin (Kafuku/Rebun). Up until now the population was mostly Ainu.

Meiji Period

During the Meiji era, the city strenghtened its administrative core, as in 1878 ( Meiji 11) The village head offices of Rebun County were established in Kafuka. However, in 1892 (Meiji 25), the village of Funadomari was separated, shrinking its size. This was part of a larger campaign in the Meiji Era to modernize local administrations, thus part of the famous

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

Showa Period

Whilst politically, through the establishment of a modern local administration in the area, the Meiji restoration had already reached the town, only by the Showa Period would the construction of a power distribution line be completed in Uchiji village, and only then would the electricity is now distributed to all villages in the Kafuka district, including Rebun. On September 20, 1956 ( Showa 31), due to the deterioration of the financial situation of Kafuka Village, the villages of Funadomari and Kafuka merge (to form a new village) known as Rebun Village, once again enlarging Rebun's administrative area. This was officialized in 1959 (Showa 34), as the town was incorporated as Rebun Town.

Geography

The town covers the entire area of

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 ...

. Rebun is located approximately from

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 ...

on mainland Hokkaido and northwest of

Rishiri Island is a volcanic island in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Administratively the island is part of Hokkaido Prefecture, and is divided between two towns, Rishiri and Rishirifuji. The island is formed by the cone-shaped extinct ...

. The entire island is part of the

Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park is a national park on the Rishiri Island, Rebun Island, and a coastal area from Wakkanai to Horonobe at the north-western tip of Hokkaidō, Japan. Areas of the park cover . The park is noted for its alpine flora and views of volcanic moun ...

. Lake Kushu and Mount Rebun (Rebun's highest point) are located in the town. Rebun is well known for its 300 species of alpine flowers, some of which are endemic to the island. For this it has earned the moniker the ''island of flowers''. Such flowers include: .

Climate

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Rebun has declined in recent decades.

Arts and culture

Rebun hosts a flower festival every year.

Mascot

Rebun's mascot is , who is a Rebun lady's slipper orchid (a type of the large-flowered cypripedium orchid species). As a flower, its gender is unknown, but its feelings are gentle and calm. It is known to like nature. Its heart (its charm point) is actually the seed of happiness from fourteen different native flowers. However, it will not tolerate anyone harming nature (especially seedlings). If damage is done to nature, its heart will stop beating. It was unveiled in September 2012.

Airspace violations

With its location in the far north of Japan, Rebun has been the site of the most violations of Japanese airspace. From 1967 to 2017 14 of the 39 violations of Japanese airspace have been near Rebun. This is the most of any location in Japan. They were all by either Soviet aircraft during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

or by Russian aircraft after 1991.

Sister cities

* Ohasama, Iwate (Currently Hanamaki) * Yutaka, Hiroshima (Currently Kure)

Gallery

Image:Rebun Town Office.jpg, Rebun town hall Image:Reiban elementary school Misaki branch.jpg, Elementary school in Rebun Image:Rebun 20140725 110632.jpg, Cape Sukai Image:130726 Kafuka Port in Rebun Island Hokkaido Japan02s3.jpg, Kafuka Port

References

External links

* *
Official Website
Towns in Hokkaido Sōya Subprefecture {{Hokkaido-geo-stub