You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (June 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:釧路市]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|釧路市}} to the talk page.
Kushiro (釧路市, Kushiro-shi) 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.[1]
Kushiro had been an important port because it is more reliably ice-free during winter than alternative Russian Far Eastwarm-water ports such as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or other ports in Hokkaido such as Hakodate, which occasionally 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. Its importance grew during the 1920s with the growth of commercial fishing, for which its reliable freedom from ice reduced costs.[2]
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.[3] 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.[4][5][6][7]
In 2008, the city had an estimated population of 189,539 and a total area of 1,362.75 km2 (526.16 sq mi), 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 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.
Climate data for Kushiro/Kenebetsu weather station, 14m amsl (WMO identifier: 47418) 1991−2020 normals, extremes 1910−present
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 HockeyNippon Paper Cranes, three time Asia League Champions.
Kushiro and many other cities are interested in hosting bandy teams.[13] On January 8, 2017, the township of Akan hosted the first national championship,[14] 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.[15] The national team for women is based in Kushiro and made its World Championship debut in 2020.[16]
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.[18]
External relations
Kushiro Tourism and International Relations Center
^Holloway, David, ‘Jockeying for Position in the Postwar World: Soviet Entry into the War with Japan in August 1945’, in The End of the Pacific War: Reappraisals, ed. by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007), pp. 145-188 (pp. 178-179).
