Hiroo, Hokkaido

Hiroo (広尾町) is a town located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.

As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 7,182 and a density of 12 persons per km2. The total area is 596.14 km2.

Hiroo is recognized as the only place in Japan to be designated as a "Santa-Land" from the municipal government of Oslo, Norway.

History
Hiroo was established as a county in 1869, and was upgraded to a village in 1926 and to a town in 1946.

Railway service to Hiroo began in 1932 and ended in 1987.

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami resulted in a 2.8m tsunami striking Hiroo, causing over 1 billion yen in damage.

Climate
Although cold for its latitude and coastal position, the humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) of Hiroo is moderated by East Asian standards. Summers are cooled by the ocean and cloudy weather, whereas the influence of the Siberian landmass drops temperatures in winter. Due to the ice-free nature of the ocean, Hiroo stays narrowly above freezing during days, whereas nights regularly drop beneath -10 C.

Mascots
Hiroo's mascots are Sata-chan (さーたちゃん) and Tree-kun (ツリーくん).
 * Sata-chan is a girl who wanted to become a successor to Santa Claus as she is one of his granddaughters. However, she must know Hiroo first and then various cities/towns/villages and countries. She birthday is October 26 (Ironically, her birthday is six days away from Halloween). She was unveiled in 2013 before becoming one of the mascots of the town on 12 November 2014. She resides in Hiroo Santa Land. She is designed by a first grader at Hiroo Elementary School.
 * Tree-kun is a Christmas tree. He is unveiled in 1995. He joins Sata-kun to search for Bell-kun (ベルくん) who is missing for years. He resides in Daimaruyama Forest Park. As Sata-chan's assissant, he is in charge of collecting energy.

Economy
The Port of Tokachi, located in Hiroo, is a major shipping port for the Tokachi area. Customs facilities opened at the port in 1999, and a Marubeni-led consortium opened Hokkaido's largest feed terminal facility at the port in 2010.

Transportation
Hiroo's primary transport connections are Japan National Route 236 and Japan National Route 336. It is the planned terminus of the Obihiro-Hiroo Expressway, which currently ends in the town of Taiki. There is scheduled bus service to Obihiro (2 hours) and Sapporo (4.5 hours).

The closest airport is Tokachi-Obihiro Airport, about one hour away by car. The airport has multiple daily flights to Tokyo-Haneda.

Hiroo was connected to Obihiro by rail until 1987, but currently has no rail service. The closest railway stations are Obihiro Station and Samani Station, each of which are two hours away by car or bus.

Notable people from Hiroo

 * Ichiro Nakagawa, politician
 * Yoshio Nakagawa, politician
 * Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi, former sumo wrestler