Country Japan Population 2,822 (31 Dec 2007) District Sōya District, Hokkaido Flower Lingonberry | Area 590 km² Local time Thursday 7:25 AM Region Hokkaido | |
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Prefecture Hokkaido (Sōya Subprefecture) Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) City hall address 172 Onishibetsu-nishi, Sarufutsu-mura, Hokkaidō
098-6292 Website www.vill.sarufutsu.hokkaido.jp Weather -2°C, Wind N at 18 km/h, 84% Humidity | ||
Sarufutsu (猿払村, Sarufutsu-mura) is a village located in Sōya District, Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
Contents
- Map of Sarufutsu Soya District Hokkaido Prefecture Japan
- Geography
- SettlementsLocalities in Sarufutsu
- Neighbouring municipalities
- Economy
- War
- Koishi
- Asajino
- Education
- Recreation
- Summer
- Winter
- References
Map of Sarufutsu, Soya District, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan
As of September 2014, the village has an estimated population of 2,884 and a density of 4.91 persons per km². The total area is 590.00 km².
Geography
Sarufutsu is the northernmost village in Japan and is the largest village in Hokkaido in area. Located on the Tonbetsu Plain, it faces the Sea of Okhotsk to the east where, during the winter, there is drift ice. 80% of the village's total area is covered by forests.
Settlements/Localities in Sarufutsu
Neighbouring municipalities
Economy
Sarufutsu is famous for its large and particularly excellent scallops, among other seafood. Likewise, a relatively large part of the village is utilized for dairy farming. Sarufutsu has a fledgling tourist industry, as it is a highlight for motor bikers in the summer, who stop overnight at one of the biker camps. The tourist center is located a few kilometers south of Hamaonishibetsu.
War
Sarufutsu was the site for many Korean prisoners of war from World War II to be sent as labor force for the building of an Air Field in Asajino. Approximately 80 Korean prisoners of war died over the course of construction from abuse or malnutrition. The air field was never completed, and has since lost nearly all signs of its existence. In recent year, the village made attempts to construct a monument in memory of the Korean prisoners who died there. However, construction was forced to be cancelled after Japanese nationalists orchestrated by the Internet began overwhelming the village office with threatening phone calls, calling them traitors, and threatening the village with a boycott of its scallop industry.
Koishi
In the 1960s to early-1970s, Koishi was the largest settlement in Sarufutsu with several thousand people working in the coal industry. It had its own hospital, as well as a movie theater. With the decline of the coal industry across Japan, the population also drastically dropped in Koishi, and its current population is less than 50 people.
Asajino
As previously mentioned, Asajino was the potential site for an air field during World War II.