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Esashi 江差町 | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 View of Esashi fromKamome Island | |
 Flag  Emblem | |
 Location of Esashi inHokkaido (Hiyama Subprefecture) | |
  Esashi Location in Japan | |
| Coordinates:41°52′N140°8′E / 41.867°N 140.133°E /41.867; 140.133 | |
| Country | Japan |
| Region | Hokkaido |
| Prefecture | Hokkaido (Hiyama Subprefecture) |
| District | Hiyama |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Yonosuke Terui |
| Area | |
• Total | 109.57 km2 (42.31 sq mi) |
| Population (September 30, 2016) | |
• Total | 8,117 |
| • Density | 74.08/km2 (191.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+09:00 (JST) |
| City hall address | 193-1 Aza-Nakauta-chō, Esashi-chō, Hiyama-gun, Hokkaidō 043-8560 |
| Climate | Cfa |
| Website | www |
| Symbols | |
| Flower | Japanese Rose |
| Tree | Thujopsis |
Esashi (江差町,Esashi-chō) is atown inHiyama Subprefecture,Hokkaido,Japan. It is the capital of Hiyama Subprefecture.
One of the oldest towns in Hokkaido, the name Esashi comes from theAinu word forkombu, a type of ediblekelp well known in Japan. It is the birthplace of afolk music tradition calledEsashi oiwake.
Esashi is a district and port town located on the western seaboard of Hokkaido on the Assabugawa river, facing theSea of Japan. Its eastern part is mountainous. The town is bordered by the municipalities ofKaminokuni,Assabu andOtobe. It has aferry connection toOkushiri island. The rail link was discontinued in 2014;Esashi Station was the terminus of theEsashi Line.[1]
Kamome Island in the town is part ofHiyama Prefectural Natural Park.
Esashi has a hotHumid Continental Climate (Köppen climate classificationDfa), bordering on ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa) with far less snow in winter than elsewhere in Hokkaido due to the influence of the warmingtsushima-kairyuocean current.
| Climate data for Esashi (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1941−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.6 (51.1) | 14.5 (58.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 23.7 (74.7) | 27.2 (81.0) | 30.5 (86.9) | 34.0 (93.2) | 34.6 (94.3) | 33.6 (92.5) | 28.0 (82.4) | 20.4 (68.7) | 15.5 (59.9) | 34.6 (94.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) | 2.3 (36.1) | 5.8 (42.4) | 11.1 (52.0) | 15.8 (60.4) | 19.8 (67.6) | 23.8 (74.8) | 25.9 (78.6) | 23.0 (73.4) | 17.1 (62.8) | 10.4 (50.7) | 4.3 (39.7) | 13.4 (56.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.6 (30.9) | −0.2 (31.6) | 2.9 (37.2) | 7.7 (45.9) | 12.3 (54.1) | 16.4 (61.5) | 20.6 (69.1) | 22.6 (72.7) | 19.5 (67.1) | 13.7 (56.7) | 7.5 (45.5) | 1.6 (34.9) | 10.3 (50.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.3 (26.1) | −3.0 (26.6) | −0.3 (31.5) | 4.2 (39.6) | 8.9 (48.0) | 13.5 (56.3) | 18.0 (64.4) | 19.7 (67.5) | 15.9 (60.6) | 9.8 (49.6) | 4.1 (39.4) | −1.1 (30.0) | 7.2 (45.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −12.7 (9.1) | −11.9 (10.6) | −10.6 (12.9) | −4.0 (24.8) | 0.0 (32.0) | 5.3 (41.5) | 9.0 (48.2) | 10.7 (51.3) | 5.4 (41.7) | 0.2 (32.4) | −6.7 (19.9) | −11.3 (11.7) | −12.7 (9.1) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 84.9 (3.34) | 68.4 (2.69) | 63.6 (2.50) | 74.7 (2.94) | 98.0 (3.86) | 78.6 (3.09) | 126.4 (4.98) | 167.0 (6.57) | 135.6 (5.34) | 105.5 (4.15) | 118.6 (4.67) | 109.5 (4.31) | 1,230.7 (48.45) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 77 (30) | 60 (24) | 26 (10) | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 11 (4.3) | 71 (28) | 219 (86) |
| Average rainy days | 18.6 | 15.3 | 11.7 | 9.2 | 9.7 | 8.1 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 15.9 | 19.6 | 150.1 |
| Average snowy days | 20.3 | 16.9 | 7.7 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 | 13.3 | 60.5 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 67 | 67 | 66 | 70 | 77 | 80 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 69 | 67 | 67 | 72 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 34.9 | 57.5 | 123.3 | 169.9 | 179.3 | 163.4 | 138.5 | 165.1 | 162.3 | 138.4 | 65.6 | 33.1 | 1,431.2 |
| Source 1:JMA[2] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:JMA[3] | |||||||||||||
The area is home to Esashi Oiwake, a traditional Japanese folk music derived from mago-uta verses from Shinshu which spread throughout Japan during the Edo era and have become an Esashi art form.[4] The district holds a national oiwake convention each September. The oiwake musician 青坂満 comes from Esashi.
The ubagami-daijingu dogyo festival, based around the ubagami-daijingushrine, is celebrated in August.
Esashi was the subject of the 1992 singleEsashi love-song by Yuka Õne.
The town also has a celebrated historical dance: Doba Shishimai. The dance's three acts include a Shinto ritual dance of three fawns, a pestle-swinging dance and a dance of hinds quarreling over a fawn.[5]
Esashi has an official sister town,Notogawa (now part ofHigashiо̄mi city) inShiga prefecture. It also has official friendship status withSuzu city inIshikawa prefecture.
In theEdo period, Esashi grew wealthy as a herring fishing town. The town's prosperity coined a saying, "Even Edo is not as busy as Esashi in May" and visitors to the town described the herring as being so plentiful that it turned the color of the sea white.
SeveralMeiji-era residences of those who grew wealthy on the trade are preserved in the town today, including the Sekikawa family country house and the Nakamura family house. The majority of Esashi's historic buildings are located on Esashi Inishie Road.
The fisheries failed around the turn of end of the 19th century and the town tried to replace its major industry with tourism. The town advertised itself using the Min'yo classical Japanese folk song, the main part of which was originally from the village of Oiwake in central Japan, but became known as Esashi Oiwake as the town's version gained renown.[6]
Media related toEsashi, Hokkaidō (Hiyama) at Wikimedia Commons
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