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 the

Shiribeshi Subprefecture is a Subprefectures of Hokkaido, subprefecture of Hokkaido, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The subprefecture's capital is Kutchan, Hokkaido, Kutchan. As of July 31, 2004, the estimated population was 256,184 and the area was 4,305.65 km2. ...

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 ...

Demographics

As of September 2018, the

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 ...

o
Yoichi
has dropped to 18,993 people, a drop of 10% over less than a decade. The

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 ...

is 160 persons per km². The total area of Yoichi is 140.60 km².

Geography

Yoichi is located on the southeastern edge of the

Shakotan Peninsula The in Shiribeshi, on the west coast of Hokkaidō, Japan, is a mountainous peninsula which projects some into the Sea of Japan. The Shakotan Peninsula forms part of the Niseko-Shakotan-Otaru Kaigan Quasi-National Park. Geography The penin ...

and faces 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 ...

. North of the town belongs to the Niseko-Shakotan-Otaru Kaigan Quasi-National Park.

Neighboring municipalities

* Akaigawa * Furubira *

Niki __NOTOC__ Niki may refer to: People * Niki (given name) * Niki (singer) * Ni-Ki, member of the South Korean boy band Enhypen. Places * Niki, Hokkaido, a town in Japan * Niki, Florina, a village in Greece Other uses * Niki (airline), former ...

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 ...

Climate

The climate in Yoichi is mild (8.2 °C average), with temperatures ranging from −6 °C to 26 °C.

Industry

Yoichi is the home of the

Yoichi distillery is a Japanese whisky distillery. It is located at , a List of towns in Japan, town in the Yoichi District, Hokkaido, Yoichi District, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. The distillery is owned by Nikka Whisky Distilling, and was op ...

owned by Nikka Whisky Distilling. Yoichi is also famous for its fruit, particularly apples, and wine, and Yoichi apple juice is also famous throughout Japan. Yoichi is also becoming a well-known wine region. In Sawa-machi, near the port, there are many fish processing factories, producing goods such as migaki-nishin.

Culture and tourism

Yoichi is a coastal town, with beaches Moire kaisuiyokujo. Yoichi is popular with surfers from autumn through to spring, but in summer there is little swell, and the coastline is better suited to kayaking and swimming. In July and August, the beaches are popular with campers and other tourists. Many people pass Yoichi on their way to explore Shakotan peninsula or Niseko. Yoichi is also close to local club ski fields such as Niki Ski Field. There are also many walks in the back country in the hills behind Yoichi. The Yoichi Soran festival, featuring

dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

firework Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

s and delicious food and drink, is held every year in the first weekend of July, a few weeks after the Yoichi shrine festival. The

cave paintings In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin. These paintings were often created by ''Hom ...

at Fugoppe Cave in Yoichi are the first known signs of

prehistoric life The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and extinct organisms evolved, from the earliest Abiogenesis, emergence of life to the present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as ''Ga'', for ''gigaa ...

on Hokkaido. Their origin remains a mystery. Yoichi is easily accessible by

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

and

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

, which run approximately hourly to and from

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 Kutchan, a town 45 minutes south of Yoichi where world class

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

may be enjoyed. A new motorway is being built connecting Yoichi to Sapporo, reducing the drive to 30 minutes. It is due for completion in 2018.

Twin towns

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs (; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

Education

High schools

Hokkaido Yoichi High School was merged with Hokkaido Niki High School (Niki) and Hokkaido Furubira High School (Furubira) in 2010. * Public ** Hokkaido Yoichi Koshi High School * Private ** Hokusei Gakuen Yoichi High School

Junior high schools

* Asahi Junior High School * Higashi Junior High School * Nishi Junior High School

Elementary schools

* Kurokawa Elementary School * Nobori Elementary School * Ōkawa Elementary School * Sakae Elementary School * Sawamachi Elementary School

Notable people

Yoichi is the birthplace of Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

; he attended elementary and junior high schools here. The Yoichi Space Museum, also called the Space Apple, was dedicated in his honor when it was opened in 1998. Other Yoichi luminaries include ski jumping Olympic gold medalists Yukio Kasaya and Kazuyoshi Funaki. They were born in Yoichi and took up ski jumping at the facility built by Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka Whisky Distilling.Yoichi Town
fleemy.com

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoichi, Hokkaido Towns in Hokkaido