Shimokawa, Hokkaido
, the town has an estimated population of 3,202 and a density of five persons per km². The total area is 644.20 km². Geography. Shimokawa is 90% forest: primarily oak, white birch, larch, and pine trees. The main river in Shimokawa is the Nayoro River which is a tributary of the Teshio River (the second longest river in Hokkaido). The Nayoro River has two branches: the Sanru River (smaller) and the Panke River (larger). The Sanru River is very clear and is a spawning area for Cherry Trout. Fly fishing is very popular in Shimokawa. Climate. Shimokawa's seasonal  snowfall can begin as early as November and continue through to April. Though it is generally shorter than an average summer season, June–August sees temperatures reach as high as 30 °C. Industry. Shimokawa was originally a mining town, extracting copper and gold. The mines are now exhausted and the primary industries are lumber and farming. 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. For the 2006 Winter Olympics, four ski jumpers who were born in Shimokawa attended (Noriaki Kasai, Takanobu Okabe, Daiki Ito and Kenshiro Ito). 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  and cafes. There are many restaurants in Shimokawa. There are also a couple of cafes in the main street such as: Hot Springs. Shimokawa has a hot spring called 五味温泉 (Gomi Onsen)". It is located approximately a 5-minute car drive away from the city center. The onsen features a carbon dioxide-containing hydrogen carbonate spring that is rare in Japan. The site has indoor and outdoor onsen baths as well as a sauna. The main building has two western-style and 8 traditional-style hotel rooms. An adjacent annex has 7 traditional-style rooms. Around Gomi Onsen, there is  a forest called "Experience Forest" where you can take a walk along the promenade. There are west forest, east forest, and north forest, and you can observe the characteristic trees, scenery, flora, and fauna of each. Other wooden paths and biotopes are available as well. Schools. Shimokawa Town has one nursery school, one elementary school, one junior high school, and one commercial high school. Festivals and events. Annually, Shimokawa has three main festivals, and several smaller festivals. The three main festivals are as follows: Below are some of the many other festivals held annually in Shimokawa (in rough order of  size): Town Mascot-Character "Yuru-chara". Shimokawa's town mascot-character is called しもりん "Shimorin".