Kitami
Kitami (北見市, Kitami-shi) is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefectural capital is Abashiri.
Kitami is in central Okhotsk Subprefecture. The Kitami Mountains are nearby.
As of March 1, 2012, the city has a population of 124,789, with 60,646 households, and a population density of 87.55 persons per km². The total area is 1,427.56 km2 (551.18 sq mi).
Kitami at one time exported mint (known as hakka locally) to 70% of the world's mint consumption.[1][2]
History
- 1872 The village of Notsukeushi-mura (ノツケウシ村) founded
- 1875 Notsukeushi-mura given the kanji 野付牛村.
- 1910 Train service arrives (then called the Ikeda Railway Line), connecting the village to Sapporo.[3]
- 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.
- April, 1971 The population exceeded 100,000.[citation needed]
- On March 5, 2006, the towns of Tanno, Rubeshibe and Tokoro (all from Tokoro District) merged with the city of Kitami to form the new city of Kitami.
Education
Kitami is home to the Kitami Institute of Technology, an engineering university that originally opened in 1960,[4] and the Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing, established in 1999 by the Japanese Red Cross through consolidation of several other institutions.[5]
Festivals
- The Kitami WInter Festival, held annually during the 2nd week of February.[6]
- The Kitami Bonchi Festival (Summer Festival) in early July.[7]
- The Kitami Chrysanthemum festival in Mid October–early November.[8]
Climate
Kitami has a humid continental climate with cold winters and relatively warm summers. The coldest month is January, with an average high of −2.9 °C (26.8 °F), and the warmest month is August, with an average high of 25 °C (77 °F) and a record high of 37 °C (99 °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 Hokkaidō 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, Japan (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) |
15.1 (59.2) |
32.2 (90.0) |
33.9 (93.0) |
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) |
37.0 (98.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °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) |
| Mean daily minimum °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 | 0.0 | 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[9] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Japan Meteorological Agency[10] | |||||||||||||
Transportation
National Route 39 passes through Kitami. The Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company[11] has a number of inter-city as well as out-of-city routes. The Hokkaido Railway Company 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 in Kitami.
The city is served by Memanbetsu Airport in neighboring Ōzora Town.
Sister cities
Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA. Signed on June 12, 1969.[12]
Poronaysk, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. Signed on August 13, 1972.
Jinju, South Korea
Barrhead, Alberta, Canada (Barrhead Town had a relationship with the former town of Tokoro. However Tokoro merged into Kitami city so the official status of the relationship is unknown.)
Notes
- ^ "Kitami Mint Commemoration Hall Mint Distillation Hall". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Peppermint Era Inns". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "The Inconvenient Journey between Sapporo and Nokkeushi–the Opening of the Ikeda Railway Line". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Facts about the Kitami Institute of Technology". kitami-it.ac.jp. National University Corporation. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ^ "History". rchokkaido-cn.ac.jp. Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Kitami Winter Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Kitami Bonchi Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Kitami Chrysanthemum Festival". kitamikanko.jp. Kitami Tourism. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "平年値（年・月ごとの値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
- ^ "観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
- ^ "Hokkaido Kitami Bu8s Company Inc". h-kitamibus.co.jp. Hokkaido Kitami Bus Company Inc. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
- ^ "Sister Cities and States". sapporo.usconsulate.gov. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
References
- "Selected Essays on the History of Kitami City, Hokkaido, Japan". city.kitami.lg.jp. City of Kitami. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
External links
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