Shimokawa, Hokkaido


Shimokawa is a town located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
As of 2008, the town has an estimated population of 3,836 and a density of six persons per km². The total area is 644.20 km².

Geography

Shimokawa is 90% forest: primarily oak, white birch, larch, and pine trees.

Rivers

The main river in Shimokawa is the Nayoro River which is a tributary of the Teshio River. The Nayoro River has two branches: the Sanru River and the Panke River. The Sanru River is very clear and is a spawning area for Cherry Trout. Fly fishing is very popular in Shimokawa.

Industry

Shimokawa was originally a mining town, extracting copper and gold. The mines are now exhausted and the primary industries are lumber and farming.

Lumber

There are five lumber mills in Shimokawa which produce a total of 60,000 m³ of lumber in a year. The lumber is used both in Japan and exported to Canada, Finland, New Zealand and elsewhere. After an area of the forest is harvested for lumber, it is always replanted with baby trees by the Forestry Union. Sometimes the union invites townspeople to help.

Sports

Shimokawa has produced many Olympic ski jumpers.

Olympic Ski Jumping

For the 2006 Winter Olympics, four ski jumpers who were born in Shimokawa attended. Until the 2014 Winter Olympics, Noriaki Kasai has participated seven times. Takanobu Okabe has taken part in four Olympics and got the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in the team tournament. Daiki Ito has participated thrice. Yuki Ito, Kenshiro Ito and Hiroo Shima have participated once.

Restaurants

There are many restaurants in Shimokawa. Apollo is an Italian café with coffee, pasta, pizza, and other meals. Morena is an Indian soup-curry restaurant with home-made cake and fruit juices. Monja is an okonomiyaki restaurant. Manbō is a made-to-order reservation-only restaurant.

Hot Springs

Shimokawa has one hot spring called Gomi Onsen. It is a small hot spring but has an outdoor section. It has a hotel with 30 rooms.

Schools

Shimokawa has one nursery school, one elementary school, one junior high school, and one commercial high school.

Festivals & Events

Annually, Shimokawa has three main festivals, and several smaller festivals. The three main festivals are as follows:
  1. Ice Candle Museum: For a week near the end of February, Shimokawa's main park is filled with snow sculptures and decorated with thousands of ice candles. Events are held throughout the week, and kicked off with a large outdoor BBQ party on the first day.
  2. Udon Festival: The last weekend in August is a two-day festival filled with events such as races, baking contests, and traditional dances. Until 2005 it was called the Homecoming Festival.
  3. Great Wall Festival: One afternoon in early spring, a large BBQ party with events and carnival-style booths is held in Shimokawa's main park, which contains a small replica of the Great Wall of China.
Here are some of the many other festivals held annually in Shimokawa :