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Kushiro

Japan

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Last Updated: Feb 4, 2025 • Article History

Kushiro, city, eastern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It is situated along both banks of the Kushiro River where that river empties into the Pacific Ocean.

The city was first settled by 537 Japanese immigrants in 1870. The natural harbour of the river mouth has since been developed into the largest commercial and fishing port of eastern Hokkaido. The Kushiro coalfield is worked near the city. Kushiro Shitsugen National Park, just north of the city, protects wetland habitat for cranes and other aquatic birds. The city also serves as the southern entrance to Akan National Park in the mountains farther to the north. Pop. (2005) 190,478; (2010) 181,169.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

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Hokkaido

island, Japan

Also known as: Hokkaidō, Yezo

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Hokkaido, northernmost of the four main islands of Japan. It is bordered by the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the west, the Sea of Okhotsk to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the east and south. Together with a few small adjacent islands, it constitutes a dō (province) of Japan. Sapporo, in the southwest on the Ishikari River, is the administrative headquarters.

Hokkaido province comprises about one-fifth of Japan’s total land area. It is characterized by a cool climate and geologically recent mountains and volcanoes along a central north-south spine. Sapporo is the province’s industrial, commercial, and tourist centre. Hokkaido University, founded in 1876, is located there. Other important towns are the ports of Hakodate, Otaru, and Muroran.

Hokkaido was long the domain of the aboriginal Ainu peoples. Serious Japanese settlement of the island began in 1869, when the territory, which was then called Yezo province, was renamed Hokkaido (“North Sea Province”). Most Ainu subsequently were assimilated under the growing Japanese presence, but small numbers of people of Ainu descent have retained their Ainu identity, primarily in northern Hokkaido.

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The economic development of Hokkaido includes iron, steel, wood pulp, dairy, and fishing industries. Rice, soy and kidney beans, oats, barley, hay, and white potatoes are important crops. The island contains the largest coal deposits in Japan. Construction of the Seikan Tunnel, which was dug under the Tsugaru Strait in order to link Hokkaido with the main Japanese island of Honshu, was begun in 1964 and was completed in 1988. The tunnel carries a rail line between Hakodate on Hokkaido and Aomori on Honshu. Area island, 30,107 square miles (77,978 square km); province, 32,221 square miles (83,453 square km). Pop. province, (2010) 5,506,419.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.

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