Rebun, Hokkaido

Rebun (礼文町, Rebun-chō) is a town located in Rebun District, Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. The district and town both cover the island of the same name: Rebun Island. Rebun Island is famous for its alpine flowers.

Geography

The town covers the entire area of Rebun Island in the Sea of Japan. Rebun is located approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Wakkanai on mainland Hokkaido and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Rishiri Island. The entire island is part of the Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park. 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.^[1] Such flowers include: Cypripedium macranthum Sw. var. rebunense (Kudo) Miyabe et Kudo (Rebun atsumori-sō).

As of December 31, 2007, the town has an estimated population of 3,194 and a density of 39 persons per km². The total area is 81.33 km².

Rebun hosts a flower festival every year.^[2]

^ Hunt, Paul (1988). "Rishiri-san". Hiking in Japan: An Adventurer's Guide to the Mountain Trails (First ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd. pp. 191–192. ISBN 0-87011-893-5.
^ Bisignani, J. D. (December 1993). "Dohoku-Northern Hokkaido". In Taran March (ed.). Japan Handbook (Second ed.). Chico, CA USA: Moon Publications, Inc. pp. 836–841. ISBN 0-918373-70-0.