Article

01425 ／かみすながわちょう

Hokkaido 空知郡

Kamisunagawa Town

A coal shaft became a zero-gravity lab.

Mitsui Sunagawa Central Shaft

Photo by Suikotei (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Former Kamisunagawa Station

A station building moved after the line closedkeeps its timetables and ticket gate.

The former Kamisunagawa Station building was moved to its present site after the Kamisunagawa Line closed in 1994. The town says it keeps the timetables and ticket gate as they were and displays photos from the filming days. The line opened in 1919 as the predecessor Mitsui private railway.

Line closed in 1994
Opened 1919 as a Mitsui private railway
Timetables and ticket gate kept as they were

02 ／ Itokawa

A crater on the asteroid Itokawacarries the town's name.

In March 2009 JAXA announced that 14 place names on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa had been approved by the International Astronomical Union. JAXA describes the crater name Kamisunagawa as a town name in Sorachi District, Hokkaido, with a microgravity test facility.

14 names approved (February 19, 2009)
One of the crater names
Described as a town with a microgravity test facility

03 ／ Name origin

Upstream of Sunagawa, it was namedKamisunagawa, the town records.

The town says its mother town Sunagawa was named from the Ainu name Otaushinai (ota, sand; ushi, many; nai, river). Lying upstream of Sunagawa, it was named Kamisunagawa, and the town was born in 1949 when it split off.

Sunagawa named from Ainu Otaushinai
Upstream of Sunagawa
Split off in 1949

Kamisunagawa Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot June 2015)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

No station, near the middle of Sorachi.

about 3,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town, and the Kamisunagawa Line closed in 1994. According to the town, it lies almost in the middle of the Sorachi area of central Hokkaido and borders Utashinai City, Sunagawa City, Naie Town and Ashibetsu City. The town belongs to Sorachi District.

People living here: 2,841people
Area: 39.98km²
Households: 1,479households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —1 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities.

Kamisunagawa Town in Japan43.483°N 141.984°E

Territory of Kamisunagawa Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

8.4km

Naie Town, Utashinai City, Sunagawa City, Ashibetsu City

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Kamisunagawa Town isthis kind of town.

01After the coal mine closed, the old Mitsui Sunagawa Central Shaft was converted into the experiment building of an underground zero-gravity center, and the town calls its tower a symbol of Kamisunagawa to this day
02The former station building was moved after the Kamisunagawa Line closed, and JAXA describes the Itokawa crater name Kamisunagawa as a town name
03The town has no railway station, and the town records that it was named Kamisunagawa for lying upstream of Sunagawa

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kamisunagawa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes