Yūbari 夕張市 | |
|---|---|
 From top left: Yubari melon, Mount Yubari, Yubari River, Coal Mine Museum in Yubari, Yubari Melon Castle, Yubari Film Festival site | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location of Yūbari inHokkaido (Sorachi Subprefecture) | |
  Yūbari Location in Japan | |
| Coordinates:43°3′N141°58′E / 43.050°N 141.967°E /43.050; 141.967 | |
| Country | Japan |
| Region | Hokkaido |
| Prefecture | Hokkaido (Sorachi Subprefecture) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Tsuyoshi Atsutani |
| Area | |
• Total | 763.20 km2 (294.67 sq mi) |
| Population (January 31, 2024) | |
• Total | 6,374 |
| • Density | 8.4/km2 (22/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+09:00 (JST) |
| City hall address | 4-2 Honchō, Yūbari-shi, Hokkaido 068-0492 |
| Climate | Dfb |
| Website | www |
| Symbols | |
| Flower | Azalea |
| Tree | Sakura |
Yūbari (夕張市,Yūbari-shi) is acity located inSorachi Subprefecture,Hokkaido,Japan.
As of January 31, 2024, the city has an estimatedpopulation of 6,374, with 3,863households.[1] The total area is 763.20 km2. Hemmed in by mountains, Yūbari stretches for 25 kilometers along a mountain valley.
The city is famous for theYubari Melon and theYubari International Fantastic Film Festival, which skipped a show in 2007 due to the city's financial crisis.[2] It is also birthplace ofMitsuharu Misawa.
The city was founded on April 1, 1943, as acoal mining town. When the mines were operating Yūbari had as many as 120,000 people. With the closing of the colliery in the 1980s, an attempt was made to convert the economic base to tourism. Subsidies were obtained from the central government and huge debts incurred for the building of tourist attractions, but few visitors came. In 2007 the city was in the news due to bankruptcy and the refusal of the national government to bail it out. City services had been severely cut and itswhite elephant amusement park and museums were up for sale.[3] The amusement park has begun to be demolished as of June 2008.[4]
Roughly half of Yūbari's government officials resigned in March 2007 as part of an attempt to streamline the local fiscal situation. The majority of officials stepping down who responded to a survey conducted byMainichi Shimbun say they "feel no sense of responsibility" for the city's financial problems.[5]
| Climate data for Yūbari (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1976−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) | 11.6 (52.9) | 14.4 (57.9) | 26.2 (79.2) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.6 (88.9) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.9 (94.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 24.4 (75.9) | 19.0 (66.2) | 11.5 (52.7) | 35.0 (95.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.7 (27.1) | −1.7 (28.9) | 2.4 (36.3) | 9.9 (49.8) | 17.0 (62.6) | 20.6 (69.1) | 23.7 (74.7) | 24.4 (75.9) | 20.7 (69.3) | 14.1 (57.4) | 6.3 (43.3) | −0.6 (30.9) | 11.2 (52.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.6 (20.1) | −6.0 (21.2) | −1.8 (28.8) | 4.5 (40.1) | 10.9 (51.6) | 15.0 (59.0) | 18.8 (65.8) | 19.6 (67.3) | 15.6 (60.1) | 8.9 (48.0) | 2.1 (35.8) | −4.2 (24.4) | 6.4 (43.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −11.1 (12.0) | −10.8 (12.6) | −6.4 (20.5) | −0.3 (31.5) | 5.5 (41.9) | 10.5 (50.9) | 15.2 (59.4) | 16.0 (60.8) | 11.3 (52.3) | 4.2 (39.6) | −1.8 (28.8) | −8.1 (17.4) | 2.0 (35.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −21.6 (−6.9) | −23.6 (−10.5) | −19.5 (−3.1) | −13.8 (7.2) | −2.8 (27.0) | 1.2 (34.2) | 5.1 (41.2) | 7.1 (44.8) | 0.2 (32.4) | −3.8 (25.2) | −13.3 (8.1) | −19.0 (−2.2) | −23.6 (−10.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 115.3 (4.54) | 82.0 (3.23) | 78.5 (3.09) | 78.4 (3.09) | 107.1 (4.22) | 86.4 (3.40) | 129.8 (5.11) | 185.6 (7.31) | 156.0 (6.14) | 119.7 (4.71) | 129.5 (5.10) | 131.5 (5.18) | 1,399.8 (55.12) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 225 (89) | 172 (68) | 132 (52) | 34 (13) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (1.2) | 84 (33) | 230 (91) | 880 (347.2) |
| Average rainy days | 19.0 | 16.3 | 14.9 | 12.5 | 12.0 | 10.1 | 10.8 | 12.3 | 12.2 | 14.5 | 17.0 | 20.2 | 171.8 |
| Average snowy days | 18.7 | 16.4 | 14.5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 6.6 | 18.7 | 80.3 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 94.7 | 103.7 | 142.5 | 160.4 | 186.1 | 160.8 | 132.8 | 142.0 | 153.7 | 134.9 | 90.9 | 80.1 | 1,582.6 |
| Source:JMA[6][7] | |||||||||||||
Per Japanese census data, the population has been rapidly declining since 1960.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 99,530 | — |
| 1960 | 107,972 | +8.5% |
| 1970 | 69,871 | −35.3% |
| 1980 | 41,715 | −40.3% |
| 1990 | 20,969 | −49.7% |
| 2000 | 14,791 | −29.5% |
| 2010 | 10,922 | −26.2% |
| 2020 | 7,334 | −32.9% |
| 2024 | 6,374 | −13.1% |
| Source: Censuses[8][9] | ||
The central train station wasYūbari Station on the Yubari branch of theSekishō Line, formerly operated byJR Hokkaido. However, on March 31, 2019, the Yubari branch line closed after 127 years of operation,[10] requiring passengers from Yubari to take a bus toShin-Yūbari Station.
|  | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
