Hokuto 北斗市

"Hokuto" (北斗) means the Big Dipper, or more generally the bright stars of the northern sky. It is not an Ainu name. The merger council held a public call for names and received 1,308 entries⁹. A subcommittee narrowed the entries to six, and the 25 council members chose the winner by vote¹⁰. The person who proposed the name wished for a city that would shine like the Hokuto star in the northern sky. The name also stands for the two former towns: two bright stars that come together to make one Hokuto⁹¹⁰. The Kenshiro statue at the station is a play on this name¹³.

Former town names:

• Kamiiso (上磯) means "the upper shore." It is the coast to the west of Hakodate¹.
• Ōno (大野) has three explanations. It may describe the wide plain, it may come from Ōno in Fukui Prefecture where settlers came from, or it may come from the Ainu word onne ("large")².

Ainu-derived local names. Several districts and rivers carry Ainu names:

• Mohechi (茂辺地): from the Ainu name of the Mohechi River. It is usually read as mo-pet, "quiet river." Another theory reads it as mu-pet, "blocked river"²³.
• Tōbetsu (当別): from to-pet, "lake (marsh) river"²⁴.
• Kunebetsu (久根別): from kunne-pet, "black river," because the river was always muddy²⁵.
• Hekirichi (戸切地): from peker-pet, "clear (bright) river"¹⁹.

"Kijihiki" is a Japanese name. It is said to come from the practice of sliding felled logs down the slope on spring snowmelt²².

• 1443: The Andō clan, driven out of northern Honshu, crossed to Hokkaido and built Mobetsu-date (茂別館) at Yafurai (矢不来). It was one of the Twelve Forts of Dōnan (道南十二館). Its lord was Shimonokuni Andō Iemasa (下国安東家政)¹⁰²⁶.
• 1457–1458: During Koshamain's War (コシャマインの戦い), the Ainu took 10 of the 12 forts. Mobetsu-date and Hanazawa-date held out. Koshamain and his son were shot with arrows and killed at Nanaehama (七重浜), now part of Hokuto, by Takeda Nobuhiro (武田信広)²⁶²⁷.
• 1692: A farmer named Sakuemon cleared 450 tsubo (about 1,500 m²) of paddy near the Fumizuki River (文月川), watered it naturally, and harvested 10 bales of rice. A monument put up in 1949 treats this as the start of rice farming in Hokkaido. The tourism association lists other recorded dates: the Kanbun era (1661–1673), 1685 and 1805¹⁸. Japanese Wikipedia uses 1685¹⁰.
• 1849: Hōki-an (法亀庵), later Hōkiji Temple, was founded in Ōno Village. It is now known for its weeping cherry²⁸.
• 1855: After the port of Hakodate opened, the shogunate ordered the Matsumae domain to build defenses. The domain built Hekirichi Jinya in five months. It was designed by Fujiwara Shuma (藤原主馬), a pupil of Sakuma Shōzan, as a four-bastioned star fort based on European designs¹⁹²⁹.
• 1868–1869: The defenders burned the Jinya themselves as the former shogunate army advanced²⁹¹⁹. In spring 1869, at the Battle of Futamata-guchi (二股口の戦い), Hijikata Toshizō's troops held earthworks on Daiba-yama for about two weeks. They won the fighting, but the new government won the campaign³⁰. The naval Battle of Hakodate Bay followed¹⁰.
• 1872: The geologist Benjamin Smith Lyman found limestone. Taneda Kinjūrō started a cement works, and the Hokkaido Development Commission (開拓使) built the Mohechi brick factory¹⁰.
• 1880s: Village headman offices were set up in 1880⁹. The Arikawa Orthodox Church, now the Kamiiso Orthodox Church (上磯ハリストス正教会), was built in 1884¹⁰.
• 1890–1894: Hokkaido Cement was founded in 1890, and its plant began operating in 1894¹⁰. Asano Cement took over the plant in 1915, and it was renamed the Kamiiso Plant in 1944. It is now part of Taiheiyo Cement³¹.
• 1896: The Trappist monastery held its opening ceremony on 21 November 1896. It was named for Our Lady of the Lighthouse, after the nearby Kattoshi lighthouse. The first community of nine, including two priests, came from Europe and Canada, and the founding prior came from Bricquebec Abbey in France³².
• 1900–1918: The villages were merged into Kamiiso Village and Ōno Village in 1900¹⁰. The railway reached Hongō Station (本郷駅), today's Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, on 10 December 1902¹³. The Oshima Agricultural Experiment Station opened in 1909. It is now the Dōnan Agricultural Experiment Station. The Hakodate–Kamiiso railway opened in 1913, and Kamiiso became a town in 1918¹⁰.
• 1903–1920: The monastery's buildings burned in 1903. The same year a brother brought five Holstein cattle from the Netherlands on the new Trans-Siberian Railway, and the monks began dairy farming. The brick main building was finished in 1908. The butter factory was working by 1917–1920³².
• 1920–1924: The poet Miki Rofū (三木露風) taught at the monastery. The city says his lyrics for the children's song "Akatombo" (赤とんぼ, "Red Dragonfly") were written in Hokuto³³³⁴.
• 1926–1942: Nakamura Chōhachirō developed the pond at Hachirō-numa around 1926¹⁰. The line west to Kikonai opened in 1930¹⁰. Hongō Station was renamed Oshima-Ōno (渡島大野) on 1 April 1942¹³.
• 26 September 1954: In Typhoon No. 15, the Seikan ferry Tōya Maru sank off Nanaehama. Of the 1,314 people on board, 1,155 died or went missing. Japanese Wikipedia calls it the worst accident in Japan's maritime history. A memorial stands at Nanaehama 7-chōme³⁵.
• 1955–1982: Kamiiso absorbed Mobetsu Village in 1955, and Ōno became a town in 1957⁹. Hekirichi Jinya became a national historic site in 1965, and the Mobetsu-date site in 1982¹⁰.
• 1985–2005: The Technopolis Hakodate Kamiiso industrial park was completed in 1985. Seseragi Onsen opened in 1993. The first section of the Hakodate-Esashi Expressway opened in 2003¹⁰³⁶.
• 1 February 2006: Kamiiso and Ōno merged to form Hokuto City⁹.
• 26 March 2016: The Hokkaido Shinkansen opened. Oshima-Ōno Station was rebuilt and renamed Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. The coastal JR line passed to the Dōnan Isaribi Railway¹³¹⁰.
• 2024–2026: Hokuto became the starting point of IRONMAN Japan Minami-Hokkaido in 2024¹⁰. The 2025 Census preliminary count of 40,601 continues a steady decline from the 2005 peak⁵³.

Hokuto lies in the southern Oshima Peninsula. The southeast of the city is plain, the west is mountains, and the south faces Hakodate Bay⁹. The city's investment guide adds that the south also faces the Tsugaru Strait. The city spans 41°43′–41°59′N and 140°25′–140°43′E³⁷.

• Mountains: the highest peaks are Futamata-dake (二股岳, 826 m), Kenashi-yama (毛無山, 751 m) and Katsura-dake (桂岳, 734 m)¹⁰. Kijihiki Plateau's panorama deck stands at 560 m²².
• Rivers: the Kunebetsu, Ōno, Hekirichi and Mohechi rivers flow into Hakodate Bay¹⁰.
• Lakes: Kamiiso Dam (上磯ダム) is an irrigation dam. Work began in 1972 and it was completed in 1991³⁸. Hachirō-numa (八郎沼) is a man-made pond¹⁰³⁹.
• Coast: Nanaehama (七重浜) on Hakodate Bay is the city's swimming beach⁴⁰. From the Kijihiki deck, the view reaches across the bay to Hakodate-yama and, on clear days, the Shimokita Peninsula²².
• Land use: forest covers 30,164 ha (about 76% of the city) and farmland 4,200 ha (2,340 ha of paddy and 1,860 ha of upland fields)⁴¹.
• Parks: this research found no national or quasi-national park within the city. Lake Ōnuma, in neighboring Nanae⁶, is about 30 minutes away by car¹⁷.

Climate. The Tsushima Current gives Hokuto a maritime climate. It is mild and has little snow by Hokkaido standards⁹. The city's investment guide says its temperatures follow roughly the same pattern as Karuizawa's³⁷. The Japan Meteorological Agency's Hokuto station (北斗, Honchō, 25 m) records these normals for 1991–2020⁴²¹⁰:

• Annual mean temperature: 8.6 °C
• January mean: −3.5 °C (average daily high 0.2 °C, low −8.1 °C)
• August mean: 21.5 °C (average daily high 25.8 °C, low 17.9 °C)
• Annual precipitation: 1,149.6 mm. Annual sunshine: 1,526.1 hours
• Records: highest 34.5 °C (24 August 2023); lowest −19.6 °C (28 January 2012, equalling 12 January 2012); heaviest daily rain 180 mm (15 October 1991)⁴³
• The station does not measure snow⁴².

Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture estimates Hokuto's 2024 farm output at ¥7.29 billion. Vegetables account for ¥4.34 billion (about 60%), rice ¥2.03 billion, beef cattle ¥430 million and dairy ¥150 million⁴¹. The 2020 farm census counted 464 farm businesses. Rice was grown on 1,363 ha by 256 farms. The main vegetables were long green onions (negi, 155 ha, 176 farms), tomatoes (62 ha, 152 farms) and spinach (33 ha, 114 farms)⁴¹. Local long-onion (negi) varieties include Kita-no-Takumi, White Sword and Kan'u Ippon-futo. The main tomato varieties are Rinka 409 and Reika. The Fukkurinko rice brand received the top "Special A" taste rating for its 2014 crop²¹. The Hokkaido Research Organization's Dōnan Agricultural Experiment Station and Ōno Agricultural High School are both in the city³⁷.

Fisheries. The 2023 fishery census counted 70 fishing businesses and 113 workers. The most common methods were salmon set-nets (35 businesses) and gillnets (31)⁴¹. The 2018 catch was 1,117 t. Sardines made up 601 t, salmon and trout 220 t, and shellfish 63 t⁴¹. The best-known local seafood is hokki clam, along with Garō oysters and farmed Kaikyō wakame seaweed²¹.

Industry. Cement has been made in Hokuto since the Meiji era¹⁰. Taiheiyo Cement's Kamiiso Plant (at Yayoshi, 谷好) and its Garō limestone mine (峩朗鉱業所) are both in the city³¹. The Technopolis Hakodate Kamiiso industrial park opened in 1985¹⁰. Japanese Wikipedia lists Idemitsu Kosan, Taiheiyo Cement, the snack maker Natori, Hasegawa Store and the burger chain Lucky Pierrot among the companies with operations in the city¹⁰.

Tourism. Hokkaido counted 887,400 visits to Hokuto in fiscal 2025, 7.5% fewer than the 958,900 of fiscal 2024. Of these, 755,600 were day trips and 131,800 were overnight stays. Foreign overnight guests rose to 16,953 from 10,861, and 9,960 of them came from Taiwan⁴⁴.

Population and revitalization. The census population peaked at 48,056 in 2005 and was almost unchanged in 2010 (48,032). It fell to 46,390 in 2015 and 44,302 in 2020³, and the preliminary 2025 count is 40,601⁵. In 2020, 13,332 residents (about 30%) were 65 or older, and 5,444 (about 12%) were under 15⁴¹. The city calls population decline its most important challenge. It is building its future plans around the Shinkansen, and its investment guide refers to the Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto–Sapporo extension as due in fiscal 2030³⁷. In May 2024 the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) reported that this date was extremely difficult to meet. The current estimate is around the end of fiscal 2038, and no new official date has been set⁴⁵. Other efforts include a vacant-house bank, subsidies for people who move to the city for work⁴⁶, and a "Music Town Hokuto" (音楽のまち・ほくと) campaign³⁴.

• The song "Akatombo": Miki Rofū taught Japanese literature at the Trappist monastery from 1920 to 1924, and "Akatombo" and "Nobara" (野ばら) grew out of his time there³³. "Akatombo" plays every day over the city's disaster-warning loudspeakers³⁴.
• Music Town Hokuto: Kamiiso Junior High School's wind band and choir have won awards at national contests. The city holds a yearly Hokuto Music Festival, and its music life centers on the Kanade~ru cultural center (かなで～る)³⁴⁵⁴.
• Religious sites: at Tōbetsu Church, next to the monastery shop, Mass is held every Sunday from 8:45 and anyone may attend⁵⁵. The Kamiiso Orthodox Church began in 1884 as the Arikawa Orthodox Church¹⁰. Hōkiji Temple dates from 1849²⁸.
• Museum: the Hokuto Local History Museum (郷土資料館) is in the general branch office at Honchō 1-1-1 (tel. 0138-77-8811)⁵⁶¹⁴.

Few records of Ainu life in Hokuto survive, and no Ainu cultural facility was found in the city. The best-documented episode is Koshamain's War of 1457. It began after a Japanese blacksmith at Shinori killed an Ainu man in a quarrel over a knife (makiri). Mobetsu-date in present-day Hokuto was one of only two forts that held out. Koshamain himself was killed at Nanaehama²⁷²⁶. The Mobetsu-date site at Yafurai has been a national historic site since 1982¹⁰.

Ainu names still mark the landscape: Mohechi (mo-pet, "quiet river"), Tōbetsu (to-pet, "lake river"), Kunebetsu (kunne-pet, "black river") and Hekirichi (peker-pet, "clear river")^23242519. One theory also traces Ōno to the Ainu word onne². To learn more about Ainu culture, visit Upopoy (National Ainu Museum) in Shiraoi.

None found. Neither the city overview nor Japanese Wikipedia lists a sister or friendship city⁹¹⁰.

• Michiya Mihashi (三橋美智也, 1930–1996): singer of popular songs and folk songs (min'yō), born in Kamiiso. His record sales are said to have reached 100 million⁷⁰.
• Sueo Masuzawa (増沢末夫, b. 1937): jockey, born in Ōno. He rode Haiseikō, and in 1991 he became the first JRA jockey to reach 2,000 wins⁷¹.
• Akira Sasaki (佐々木明, b. 1981): alpine skier, born in what is now Hokuto. He competed in four Winter Olympics in a row (2002–2014) and finished second in the World Cup slalom at Wengen in 2003¹⁰⁷².
• Miki Rofū (三木露風): poet, not a native. He taught at the Trappist monastery from 1920 to 1924³³.