Kushiro

Kushiro (釧路市) is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. Located along the coast of the North Pacific Ocean, it serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island.

History
An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Kushiro as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.

Kushiro has been an important port because it is more reliably ice-free during winter than alternative Russian Far East warm-water ports such as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or other ports in Hokkaido such as Hakodate, which occasionally do freeze for short periods due to the lower salinity of the Sea of Japan. For this reason, Kushiro was considered a valuable target for the Tsars during the Russo-Japanese Wars, but it only became a really important port during the 1920s with the growth of commercial fishing, for which its reliable freedom from ice reduced costs.

In addition to its port, Kushiro is serviced by Kushiro Airport with flights from Honshu and by the Ōzora limited express train service, which runs six times per day to the main population centres in the west of Hokkaido.

In July 1945 the city of Kushiro was bombed by American naval aircraft, hundreds of people, mostly civilians, were killed. Following the Invasion of the Kuril Islands in August 1945, Kushiro was favoured by the Russians as the eastern cornerstone of a border between an American-occupied south and a Soviet-occupied north-coupled with Rumoi as the western cornerstone. However, these plans were cancelled after pressure by US President Harry S. Truman.

On October 11, 2005, the town of Akan, from Akan District, and the town of Onbetsu, from Shiranuka District, was merged into Kushiro. The town of Shiranuka now lies between the two sections of Kushiro.

In 2008, the city had an estimated population of 189,539 and a total area of 1,362.75 km2, giving a population density of 140 persons per km2 (363 persons per sq. mi.).

Kushiro was one of the many Japanese cities to receive a Peace Pagoda. Built by the monks and nuns of the Buddhist order Nipponzan Myohoji, it was inaugurated in 1959.

Kushiro was accorded city status on August 1, 1922. It is the sister city of Burnaby, British Columbia; Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia; and Kholmsk, Russia.
 * 1869: Kusuri becomes Kushiro.
 * 1900: Kushiro becomes a First Class Municipality as Kushiro Town.
 * 1920: Kushiro Town becomes Kushiro-ku. Kushiro Village (now Town) splits off.
 * 1922: Kushiro-ku becomes Kushiro City.
 * 1949: Tottori-cho was merged into Kushiro City.
 * 2005: The old city of Kushiro City, Akan Town, and Onbetsu Town merged was expanded city of Kushiro City.

Mountains

 * Mount Oakan
 * Mount Meakan
 * Mount Akan-Fuji

Rivers

 * Kushiro River
 * Akan River
 * Shitakara River

Lakes

 * Lake Akan
 * Lake Harutori
 * Lake Panketō
 * Lake Penketō
 * Lake Shunkushitakara

National Parks

 * Kushiro-shitsugen National Park
 * Akan National Park

Climate
Kushiro has a humid continental climate (Dfb) but its winter temperatures are less severe than those of inland East Asia at the same latitude. Its port is the most reliably ice-free throughout winter in all of Hokkaido, due to the lack of indentation in the coastline and absence of large inflows of cold fresh water nearby. It is also markedly sunnier than the extremely gloomy Kuril Islands to its north, being sheltered by Hokkaido's mountains from the heavy snowfalls produced on the Sea of Japan side by the Aleutian Low. It receives only a third as much snowfall as Sapporo and almost twice as much sunshine as the Kuril Islands are estimated to. Its daytime summer temperatures are noticeably cooler than in the interior, sheltered coastal areas and the south coast of Hokkaido.

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National

 * Hokkaido University of Education, Kushiro Campus

Public

 * Kushiro Public University of Economics

National

 * National Institute of Technology, Kushiro college

Private

 * Kushiro junior College

Public

 * Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High School
 * Hokkaido Kushiro Konan High School
 * Hokkaido Kushiro Meiki High School
 * Hokkaido Kushiro Commercial High School
 * Hokkaido Kushiro Technical High School
 * Hokkaido Kushiro Hokuyo High School
 * Hokkaido Akan High School (Municipal)

Private

 * Bushukan High School
 * Ikegami Gakuen High School, Kushiro Campus

Airport

 * Kushiro Airport

Conventional lines

 * Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaidō)
 * Nemuro Main Line : Chok- Onbetsu - (Shiranuka, Hokkaido) - Otanoshike - Shin-Otanoshike - Shin-Fuji - Kushiro - Higashi-Kushiro - Musa
 * Senmō Main Line : Higashi-Kushiro
 * Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight)
 * Nemuro Main Line: Kushiro Freight Terminal
 * Taiheiyō Coal Services
 * Rinkō Line

Expressways

 * JP Expressway E38.svg Dōtō Expressway
 * JP Expressway E38.svg Kushiro Sotokan Road

Local Bus
Operates both city, suburban, and intercity routes
 * Kushiro Bus
 * Akan Bus

Seaport

 * Port of Kushiro

Local attractions

 * Kushiro Wetland Park
 * Kushiro City Museum
 * Lake Akan
 * Lake Akan Kotan
 * Manabot Nusamai
 * Kushiro City Museum of Art
 * Moshiriya Chashi (Castle)
 * Itsukushima Jinja
 * Tottori Jinja

Sports
Ice hockey is one of the most popular winter sports in Kushiro. In addition to several leagues devoted to amateur play of all ages, Kushiro is home to the Asia League Ice Hockey Nippon Paper Cranes, three time Asia League Champions. Kushiro and many other cities are interested in hosting bandy teams. On January 8, 2017, the township of Akan hosted the first national championship, although the size of the field was a smaller version than the official rules for a bandy field. In January 2018, the first championship on a full-sized field took place in Shintoku, with participation from three teams, including FACEOFF Kushiro. The national team for women is based in Kushiro and made its World Championship debut in 2020.
 * Ice hockey
 * East Hokkaido Cranes (Asia League Ice Hockey)
 * Kushiro Bears (Women's Japan Ice Hockey League)
 * Daishin (Women's Japan Ice Hockey League)

The Kushiro Ice Arena is the city's biggest stadion for ice hockey, figure skating and shorttrack.

The Yanagimachi Speed Skating Rink hosted the 2003 World Junior Speed Skating Championships and several Japanese Championships. It has an asphalt inline speed skating track on the middle field.
 * Speed skating

Mascot
Kushiro's mascot is Rin-chan (りんちゃん). She is a gentiana triflora flower (though she represents all flowers) from Onbetsu. Her favourite drink is milk.

International

 * Sister Cities
 * Partner Cities

National

 * Sister Cities
 * Partner Cities

Sister ports
Port of Kushiro's sister ports are:
 * 🇺🇸 Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (since 1984)
 * 🇦🇺 Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia (since 1994)

Notable people

 * Kazuhiko Chiba, footballer
 * Yutaka Fukufuji, ice hockey goaltender
 * Yukinobu Hoshino, manga artist
 * Akira Ifukube, composer
 * Keisuke Itagaki, manga artist
 * Saori Kitakaze, sprinter
 * Satoshi Kon, anime film director
 * Luna H. Mitani, visual artist
 * Hiromi Nagakura, photographer
 * Maki Nomiya, singer (Pizzicato Five)
 * Shinji Somai, film director
 * Aina Takeuchi, ice hockey defenseman
 * Kazuro Watanabe, astronomer