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01661 ／くしろちょう

Hokkaido 釧路郡

Kushiro Town

Rail came; the timber sluice stays shut.

Former Timber Sluice Gate

Photo by pakku (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Kushiro Mukashibaku

A mammal the town dates to about 38 million years agois called Kushiro Mukashibaku.

Under the place name Tomachise, the town's tourism portal records that a fossil of the mammal Kushiro Mukashibaku was found in 1968, and says it lived about 38 million years ago. A specimen of its upper jaw was described as a new species in a 1983 research bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science.

About 38 million years ago (town)
Found in 1968 (town)
Described as a new species, 1983

02 ／ Hosooka Station

The Senmo Line came and Hosooka Station opened;the town says Kushiro River traffic ended.

The town's chronology records that in 1927 the Senmo Main Line opened between the Beppo signal station (now Higashi-Kushiro Station) and Shibecha, that Toya and Hosooka stations opened with it, and that this ended river traffic on the Kushiro River.

1927: Toya and Hosooka stations opened (town)
Opening of the line from the Beppo signal station (now Higashi-Kushiro Station) to Shibecha (town)

03 ／ Hard-to-read place names

Even the town's guide does not knowwhat "Mataitoki" means.

The town's tourism portal writes that its place names are said to be a group of hard-to-read, hard-to-interpret names unmatched elsewhere in Hokkaido, and explains 45 of them with readings. Attyorobetsu is said to mean a river for soaking the bark of the ohyo elm, while the meaning of Mataitoki is not known.

45 place names explained (town)
Attyorobetsu (town)
Mataitoki (town)

Kushiro 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–July 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

East of Kushiro City, with about 81 percent of its area forested.

about 20,000 people
Rural district town

The town lies in southeastern Hokkaido, bordering Akkeshi Town to the east, Kushiro City to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the south and Shibecha Town to the north. Of its 252.66 km², about 81 percent is forest, and the 2020 census counted 19,105 people.

People living here: 19,105people
Area: 252.04km²
Households: 8,268households
Rent (average for rentals): 41,362yen
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 11 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —5 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.

Kushiro Town in Japan42.996°N 144.466°E

Territory of Kushiro 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

20.7km

Shibecha Town, Kushiro City, Tsurui Village, Akkeshi Town

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

Kushiro Town isthis kind of town.

01The former timber sluice gate, completed in 1931, was built to divert water into the Kushiro River for uses such as carrying timber, and the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau writes that it stayed closed after timber moved to the railway
02Kushiro Mukashibaku is a fossil mammal that the town records as found at Tomachise in 1968 and as having lived about 38 million years ago, and it was described as a new species in 1983
03The town records that the opening of Hosooka Station on the Senmo Main Line ended river traffic on the Kushiro River, and its tourism portal explains 45 place names with readings

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kushiro Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes