# Hiroo, Hokkaido

Hiroo (広尾町, Hiroo-chō) is a town located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 7,182 and a density of 12 persons per km$^2$. The total area is 596.14 km$^2$.
Hiroo is recognized as the only place in Japan to be designated as a "Santa-Land" from the municipal government of Oslo, Norway.

## History

Hiroo was established as a county in 1869, and was upgraded to a village in 1926 and to a town in 1946.
Railway service to Hiroo began in 1932 and ended in 1987.
The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami resulted in a 2.8m tsunami striking Hiroo, causing over 1 billion yen in damage.

## Climate

Although cold for its latitude and coastal position, the humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) of Hiroo is moderated by East Asian standards. Summers are cooled by the ocean and cloudy weather, whereas the influence of the Siberian landmass drops temperatures in winter. Due to the ice-free nature of the ocean, Hiroo stays narrowly above freezing during days, whereas nights regularly drop beneath −10 °C (14 °F).
Climate data for Hiroo, Hokkaido (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1958−present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.1 (50.2) | 12.6 (54.7) | 17.9 (64.2) | 26.8 (80.2) | 35.8 (96.4) | 33.3 (91.9) | 34.8 (94.6) | 35.1 (95.2) | 33.7 (92.7) | 25.6 (78.1) | 21.5 (70.7) | 16.2 (61.2) | 35.8 (96.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.3 (31.5) | 0.0 (32.0) | 4.0 (39.2) | 9.9 (49.8) | 14.6 (58.3) | 16.5 (61.7) | 20.1 (68.2) | 22.1 (71.8) | 20.3 (68.5) | 15.5 (59.9) | 9.4 (48.9) | 2.6 (36.7) | 11.2 (52.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.2 (24.4) | −3.9 (25.0) | 0.1 (32.2) | 5.2 (41.4) | 9.8 (49.6) | 12.7 (54.9) | 16.6 (61.9) | 18.6 (65.5) | 16.6 (61.9) | 11.3 (52.3) | 5.2 (41.4) | −1.3 (29.7) | 7.2 (45.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.2 (15.4) | −9.1 (15.6) | −4.4 (24.1) | 0.9 (33.6) | 5.8 (42.4) | 9.8 (49.6) | 14.1 (57.4) | 15.9 (60.6) | 13.1 (55.6) | 6.8 (44.2) | 0.6 (33.1) | −5.8 (21.6) | 3.2 (37.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −21.2 (−6.2) | −22.1 (−7.8) | −20.2 (−4.4) | −11.6 (11.1) | −2.6 (27.3) | 1.0 (33.8) | 4.0 (39.2) | 8.4 (47.1) | 1.6 (34.9) | −4.1 (24.6) | −11.6 (11.1) | −17.2 (1.0) | −22.1 (−7.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 71.6 (2.82) | 59.9 (2.36) | 95.1 (3.74) | 111.3 (4.38) | 162.4 (6.39) | 149.2 (5.87) | 166.2 (6.54) | 217.7 (8.57) | 262.6 (10.34) | 194.2 (7.65) | 127.7 (5.03) | 91.4 (3.60) | 1,709.3 (67.29) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 83 (33) | 70 (28) | 63 (25) | 16 (6.3) | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (2.0) | 60 (24) | 298 (118.7) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 7.3 | 7.4 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 10.1 | 8.8 | 10.7 | 11.7 | 11.4 | 10.5 | 10.2 | 8.9 | 114.9 |
| Average snowy days | 8.9 | 8.4 | 9.0 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 7.7 | 37.5 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 64 | 65 | 66 | 70 | 77 | 87 | 89 | 88 | 82 | 74 | 65 | 63 | 74 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 166.1 | 162.3 | 186.1 | 181.8 | 173.1 | 126.7 | 108.3 | 113.9 | 134.5 | 164.5 | 149.2 | 149.4 | 1,815.9 |
| Source 1: JMA ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: JMA ||||||||||||||

## Culture
### Mascots

Hiroo's mascots are Sata-chan (さーたちゃん) and Tree-kun (ツリーくん, Tsurī-kun).
* Sata-chan is supposed to be a granddaughter of Santa Claus. Her story is that she wants to become his successor. To do this, she must start practicing with the small town of Hiroo. She lives at Santaland. Her birthday is October 26th. Her character was unveiled in 2013 and became a town mascot on November 12, 2014. She was designed by a first grade student at Hiroo Elementary School.
* Tree-kun is a Christmas tree. He was unveiled in 1995. His character joins Sata-chan to search for Bell-kun (ベルくん, Beru-kun) who has been missing for years. He resides in Daimaruyama Forest Park. As Sata-chan's assistant, he is in charge of collecting energy.

## Economy

The Port of Tokachi, located in Hiroo, is a major shipping port for the Tokachi area. Customs facilities opened at the port in 1999, and a Marubeni-led consortium opened Hokkaido's largest feed terminal facility at the port in 2010.

## Transportation

Hiroo's primary transport connections are Japan National Route 236 and Japan National Route 336. It is the planned terminus of the Obihiro-Hiroo Expressway, which currently ends in the town of Taiki. There is scheduled bus service to Obihiro (2 hours) and Sapporo (4.5 hours).
The closest airport is Tokachi-Obihiro Airport, about one hour away by car. The airport has multiple daily flights to Tokyo-Haneda.
Hiroo was connected to Obihiro by rail until 1987, but currently has no rail service. The closest railway stations are Obihiro Station and Samani Station, each of which are two hours away by car or bus.

## Notable people from Hiroo

* Ichiro Nakagawa, politician
* Yoshio Nakagawa, politician
* Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi, former sumo wrestler