Noboribetsu, Hokkaido
Encyclopedia
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...
in Iburi subprefecture
Iburi Subprefecture
is a subprefecture of Hokkaidō, Japan.- Geography :Located in south-central Hokkaido, Iburi stretches East-West and North-South. Iburi covers an area of . Iburi borders Oshima subprefecture to the West, Shiribeshi, Ishikari, and Sorachi subprefectures to the North, and Hidaka subprefecture to the...
, 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...
. Part of Shikotsu-Toya National Park
Shikotsu-Toya National Park
is a national park in the central part of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. Named after the volcanic caldera lakes of Lake Shikotsu and Lake Tōya, it has a total area of 993.02 square kilometers...
, it is southwest of Sapporo, west of Tomakomai and northeast of Hakodate. The name, Noboribetsu, derives from an Ainu
Ainu language
Ainu is one of the Ainu languages, spoken by members of the Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō....
word, nupur-pet, which means dark-coloured river.
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 53,018 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 250 persons per km². The total area is 212.11 km².
The mountains dominate the west and north while the plains dominate around five km within the coastline. There are three towns along the Pacific Ocean: from northeast to southwest, Noboribetsu, Horobetsu and Washibetsu. These betsu are derived from river in the Ainu language
Ainu language
Ainu is one of the Ainu languages, spoken by members of the Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō....
. Noboribetsu is on the Noboribetsu River. Horobetsu and Washibetsu are on the Iburi-horobetsu River and the Washibetsu River respectively.
The city office is in Horobetsu. The town of Noboribetsu is at the mouth of the Noboribetsu river and is therefore a much narrower area.
Six km inland from this is the smaller town of Noboribetsu-onsen
Onsen
An is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth...
(Noboribetsu hot-spring). Enjoying many hot springs of varying ingredients, Noboribetsu-onsen is one of many well-known resorts in Japan and the largest "hot spring town" in Hokkaidō.
Noboribetsu Town as a municipality was born in 1961 by renaming the former Horobetsu Town. It was given city status on August 1, 1970.
Noboribetsu has four train stations and is accessed by the Dōō Expressway
Doo Expressway
The is a national expressway in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.-Naming:The expressway is named the Dōō Expressway in Japanese, however its official English name is the Hokkaidō Expressway...
with two interchanges and route 36.