Mikasa, Hokkaido
Encyclopedia
is a city
Cities of Japan
||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

 located in Sorachi
Sorachi Subprefecture
is a subprefecture of Hokkaidō, Japan. As of 2004, its estimated population is 373,736 and its area is 6,558.26 km².-Cities:* Akabira* Ashibetsu* Bibai* Fukagawa* Iwamizawa * Mikasa* Sunagawa* Takikawa* Utashinai* Yūbari...

, Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is one of the birthplaces of the mining and railroad industries in Hokkaidō, and the Hokkai Bon song
Bon Festival
or just is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed...

 was invented there. Though in the past it flourished due to its natural abundance of coal, the mines have largely closed down and this has caused the population of the city to fall rapidly.

Notable local products include watermelon, musk melon, cucumber, northern plum, and wine.

Quite a few fossil specimens have also been collected there, particularly ammonites and the prehistoric marine reptile Yezosaurus mikasaensis, both of which can be viewed at the city's natural history museum.

As of 2008, the city has an estimated population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 11,228 and the density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

of 37.1 persons per km². The total area is 302.64 km². It is bordered on three sides by mountains, and on its east side is the man-made Lake Katsurazawa.

The city was founded on April 1, 1957.

External links

Official website
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