Kitami

Kitami (北見市, Kitami-shi) is a city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefectural capital is Abashiri.

For other uses, see Kitami (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Kitakyushu; Kitanagoya; Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido; or Kitahiroshima, Hiroshima.

Kitami
北見市
City
Clockwise from top: View of downtown Kitami from Southhill Forest Park, Pierson Memorial Museum, Takinoyu Spa, Kitami BBQ Festival in February, Wakka Nature Center, Street in Onneyu area, Kitami Municipal Curling Arena
Flag
Emblem
Location of Kitami in Hokkaido (Okhotsk Subprefecture)
Kitami
Location in Japan
Coordinates: 43°48′N 143°54′E
CountryJapan
RegionHokkaido
PrefectureHokkaido (Okhotsk Subprefecture)
Government
 • MayorMakoto Sakurada
Area
 • Total1,427.56 km2 (551.18 sq mi)
Population
 (April 30, 2017)
 • Total119,135
 • Density83/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address1 Higashi Ni-chōme, Kita Go-jō, Kitami-shi, Hokkaido
090-8501
Websitewww.city.kitami.lg.jp
Symbols
FlowerChrysanthemum
TreeJapanese Yew
Wakka Nature Center

Kitami is in central Okhotsk Subprefecture. The Kitami Mountains are nearby.

As of November of 2021, the city has a population of 115,351,[1] in 61,793 households. The population density is 83 inhabitants per square kilometre (210/sq mi). The total area is 1,427.56 km2 (551.18 sq mi).

Etymology

The name came from a suggestion of the Japanese explorer and cartographer Matsuura Takeshirō during the Meiji Era, when imperial bureaucrats were registering the place for initiate the region's development trough the Hokkaidō Development Commission. Before the imperial intervention, there was no Ainu name for the place.

The meaning of the name consist in the kanji's combinations of characters 北 (North) 見 (See) and 市 (city), which means "City of the North View". The reason behind this is due to the region's mountains that allow to see the sea and the island of Sakhalin.

Originally, the name refers to a vast area between the Mountains and the Sea of Okhotsk . Since the merger of Kitami City with the surrounding Tokoro, Rubeshibe and Tanno Towns in 2006, it often being referred as the area around the Kitami Basin (so-called Kitami Inland Area ), excluding the former Tokoro Town area in the coastal area.

Historical Chronology
Central Kitami
  • 1872: The village of Notsukeushi-mura (ノツケウシ村) founded
  • 1875: Notsukeushi-mura was given the kanji 野付牛村.
  • 1910: Train service arrives (then called the Ikeda Railway Line), connecting the village to Sapporo.[2]
  • 1915: The villages of Rubeshibe and Oketo were split off.
  • 1916: Became Notsukeushi Town.
  • 1921: The villages of Tanno and Ainonai were split off.
  • June 10, 1942: Kitami becomes a city.
  • September 1956: The village of Ainonai was merged into Kitami.
  • March 5, 2006: The towns of Rubeshibe, Tanno and Tokoro (all from Tokoro District) merged with the city of Kitami to form the new city of Kitami.

Towns and Autonomous Regions

Kitami is the result of the administrative unification of smalls towns with the main city, which was made in 2006. These small towns still exists as a Autonomous region districts (自治区). There is 4 autonomous regions/towns in tolal.

City of Kitami

Translated as North View (北 見), is the main urban area of the region.The district flourished during prewar era through the production of mint, which at the time accounted for 70% of world production. Nowadays Kitami is the commercial, industrial and service center of the Okhotsk area. The government apply efforts of development through industry-academia-government collaboration involving universities and other higher education institutions that are also based in the district.

Town of Tanno

Translated as Border Field (端野), the district is mainly a farm field with smooth hills and a rural landscape in the Tokoro river basin. The district has an educational zone with elementary and junior high schools, social education facilities and parks in the main centre of the district. The rural landscape is also shaped by farms with urban convenience.

Town of Tokoro

Agriculture and fisheries thrive in this district with abundant nature, including Wakka Wild Flower Park, where flowers stand out on the sandbar between the Sea of Okhotsk and Lake Saroma. It has a year-round curling hall, which is one of the largest of its kind in Japan, as well as historical sites such as the Tokoro Site and the birthplace of scallop cultivation.

Town of Rubeshibe

Translated as Legacy of the Detained Pistils (留辺蘂), the district is surrounded by thick forests at the foot of the Taisetsu mountains and along the Muka River. Its key industries are White Flower (shirohana-mame) beans production, for which it boasts the nation’s largest yield, and the forest products industry, which uses locally produced wood. As a tourist spot, Yama no Aquarium (Kita no Daichi no Aquarium) in the Onneyu Onsen resort is attracting nationwide attention with its unique display tanks.

Economy and industry

Kitami's first economy was the natural production of Mentha (Mint). During at one time (pre-war) the region exported mint (known as hakka locally) in a scale that represented the supply of 70% of the world's mint consumption.[3][4]

Education

Kitami is home to the Kitami Institute of Technology, an engineering university that originally opened in 1960,[5] and the Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing, established in 1999 by the Japanese Red Cross through consolidation of several other institutions.[6]

National

Private

Public
  • Hokkaido Kitami Hokuto High School
  • Hokkaido Kitami Hakuyou High School
  • Hokkaido Kitami Ryokuryo High School
  • Hokkaido Kitami Commercial High School
  • Hokkaido Kitami Technical High School
  • Hokkaido Rubeshibe High School
  • Hokkaido Tokoro High School

Private
  • Kitami Fuji Girls' High School

Festivals
  • The Kitami Winter Festival, held annually during the 2nd week of February.[7]
  • The Kitami Bonchi Festival (Summer Festival) in early July.[8]
  • The Kitami Chrysanthemum festival in mid October−early November.[9]

Sports

Curling

The city has strong associations with the sport of curling, inherited from the former town of Tokoro absorbed into the city in 2006. Interest in the sport grew following a friendship visit in 1980 by a curling team from Alberta in Canada.[10] An outdoor curling rink was built in Tokoro the following year, and it hosted the 1st NHK Cup Curling Championship.[10] In January 1988, the town built a dedicated 5-lane curling hall, the first in Japan.[11] This eventually closed in early 2013, replaced by a new, larger, all-year-round structure.[11]

Curling was introduced in schools in Tokoro as part of the physical education curriculum, and the two produced a number of Olympic curlers.[10] Five members of the Japanese curling team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano were from Tokoro, three members of the Japanese curling team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino were from Tokoro, and three members of the Japanese curling team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were from Tokoro.[10]

Climate

Kitami has a humid continental climate with cold winters and relatively warm summers. The coldest month is January, with an average low of −14.7 °C (5.5 °F), and the warmest month is August, with an average high of 25 °C (77 °F). Kitami's inland location creates a larger temperature range than some coastal cities. Due to the mountains nearby, the Foehn wind effect occurs in summer when prevailing winds are from the southeast, so that Kitami often has the hottest temperatures in Hokkaido during this season and averages about 5 °C (9 °F) hotter than Kushiro. Traces of snow fall every day during the winter and cover is heavy, usually peaking at 0.82 metres (32.28 in), though Kitami still receives less overall precipitation than any other town in Japan as it is shielded from the heaviest moisture from both the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean.

Climate data for Kitami, Hokkaido (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 8.0
(46.4)		 7.9
(46.2)		 24.2
(75.6)		 32.2
(90.0)		 38.1
(100.6)		 34.2
(93.6)		 35.9
(96.6)		 37.0
(98.6)		 32.1
(89.8)		 27.7
(81.9)		 22.0
(71.6)		 14.5
(58.1)		 38.1
(100.6)
Average high °C (°F) −2.9
(26.8)		 −1.9
(28.6)		 2.9
(37.2)		 11.3
(52.3)		 17.6
(63.7)		 21.2
(70.2)		 24.3
(75.7)		 25.7
(78.3)		 21.3
(70.3)		 15.4
(59.7)		 7.5
(45.5)		 0.1
(32.2)		 11.9
(53.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −8.5
(16.7)		 −7.8
(18.0)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 5.0
(41.0)		 10.9
(51.6)		 15.0
(59.0)		 18.7
(65.7)		 20.2
(68.4)		 15.8
(60.4)		 9.1
(48.4)		 2.1
(35.8)		 −5.0
(23.0)		 6.1
(43.0)
Average low °C (°F) −14.7
(5.5)		 −14.1
(6.6)		 −8.1
(17.4)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 4.7
(40.5)		 9.7
(49.5)		 14.1
(57.4)		 15.8
(60.4)		 10.6
(51.1)		 3.4
(38.1)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 −10.6
(12.9)		 0.6
(33.1)
Record low °C (°F) −30.1
(−22.2)		 −30.9
(−23.6)		 −24.3
(−11.7)		 −14
(7)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 −0.9
(30.4)		 3.4
(38.1)		 6.3
(43.3)		 0.3
(32.5)		 −4.6
(23.7)		 −16.3
(2.7)		 −24.6
(−12.3)		 −30.9
(−23.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 47.5
(1.87)		 32.4
(1.28)		 42.5
(1.67)		 47.6
(1.87)		 56.7
(2.23)		 57.3
(2.26)		 94.0
(3.70)		 113.2
(4.46)		 106.3
(4.19)		 69.0
(2.72)		 43.9
(1.73)		 49.4
(1.94)		 759.8
(29.92)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 119
(47)		 97
(38)		 101
(40)		 29
(11)		 3
(1.2)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 17
(6.7)		 87
(34)		 453
(177.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 11.4 9.6 11.2 10.1 9.9 9.0 10.6 10.2 10.6 9.1 9.4 10.8 121.9
Average snowy days (≥ 5 cm) 30.9 28.2 29.4 6.3 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1.6 20.1 116.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours 114.7 128.6 166.4 164.9 179.6 167.7 154.7 155.3 145.3 155.0 129.7 115.6 1,777.5
Source 1: Japan Meteorological Agency[12]
Source 2: Japan Meteorological Agency[13]

Transportation

Highway

Bus

The Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company has a number of inter-city as well as out-of-city routes.[14]

Rail

The JR Hokkaido Sekihoku Main Line that passes through Kitami reached the city on October 19, 1910, when the town was still called Notsukeushi. The largest station is Kitami Station, with Nishi-Kitami Station, Hakuyo Station, and Itoshino Station also located in Kitami.

Air

The city is served by Memanbetsu Airport in the neighboring town of Ōzora.

Sister cities

Notable people from Kitami

In pop culture

The 2019 manga series Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! is set in Kitami and its author, Kai Ikada, is a native of the city.[17]

Notes
  1. "Official website of Kitami City" (in Japanese). Japan: Kitami City. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  2. "The Inconvenient Journey between Sapporo and Nokkeushi−the Opening of the Ikeda Railway Line". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  3. "Kitami Mint Commemoration Hall Mint Distillation Hall". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  4. "Peppermint Era Inns". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  5. "Facts about the Kitami Institute of Technology". kitami-it.ac.jp. National University Corporation. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  6. "History". rchokkaido-cn.ac.jp. Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  7. "Kitami Winter Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  8. "Kitami Bonchi Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  9. "Kitami Chrysanthemum Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  10. "Curling" (in Japanese). Japan: City of Kitakami. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  11. 常呂町カーリングホール　今季限り [Tokoro Curling Hall to close at the end of this season]. Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). Japan: The Asahi Shimbun Company. January 29, 2013. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  12. "平年値（年・月ごとの値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  13. "観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  14. "Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company Inc". h-kitamibus.co.jp. Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company Inc. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  15. "Sister Cities and States". sapporo.usconsulate.gov. U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  16. "Tatsuki Nara at Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  17. 北見出身の漫画家・伊科田 海さん（25） (in Japanese). Denshobato. December 24, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

References
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