Kamikawa (上川町, Kamikawa-chō) is a town located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (June 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 3,701 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:上川町]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|上川町}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Quick Facts 上川町, Country ...

Kamikawa 上川町
Town
Sounkyo Gorge Ice Fall Festival, one of the famous winter festivals in Hokkaido
Flag Emblem
Location of Kamikawa in Hokkaido (Kamikawa Subprefecture)
Location of Kamikawa Subprefecture in Hokkaido
Kamikawa Location in Japan
Coordinates: 43°50′52″N 142°46′13″E
Country	Japan
Region	Hokkaido
Prefecture	Hokkaido (Kamikawa Subprefecture)
District	Kamikawa (Ishikari)
Government
• Mayor	Yoshiji Sato (since April 2008)
Area
• Total	1,049.24 km2 (405.11 sq mi)
Population  (December 31, 2017)
• Total	3,706
• Density	3.53/km2 (9.1/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	Minami-machi 180, Kamikawa Town, Kamikawa District, Hokkaido (北海道上川郡上川町南町180) 078-1753
Climate	Dfb
Website	www.town.hokkaido-kamikawa.lg.jp
Symbols
Flower	Therorhodion camtschaticum
Mascot	Kamikki (かみっきー)
Tree	Picea glehnii

Close

As of December 31, 2017, the town has an estimated population of 3,706, and a density of 3.53 persons per km². The total area is 1,049.24 km².

The town is approximately 30 minutes by bus or car from Sōunkyō Onsen and other tourist attractions which make up Daisetsuzan National Park. The Ishikari River, the longest river in Hokkaido, flows from here. The town also prides itself on "the most delicious ramen in Japan".^[1]

This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009)

Many years ago, Kamikawa's primary industry was coal mining. Since then, Japan has adopted higher environmental standards and coal production is no longer economically sound, the townspeople like those in Kamikawa have had to find other means of employment. Beef and other types of farming are common ("Black Angus" cattle were originally imported here from Alberta, Canada in the 1980s), as well as "Purin" (pudding) producers and "Ramen" producers and shops. Kamikawa also capitalizes on its proximity to Daisetsuzan National Park as many of its townspeople work with Road Construction and Transportation through the Town Municipal Government, and others work in the tourist haven/onsen heaven that is Sōunkyō Gorge (modeled after Whistler, British Columbia, Canada - site of the 2010 Winter Olympics).

Asiana Airlines operates a sales office in Kamikawa, near the Asahigawa Airport grounds.^[4]

Kamikawa broadened its international horizons in 1984 by becoming a Sister City with Rocky Mountain House in Alberta, Canada and participating in the JET Programme.^[6] Kamikawa boasts a Rotary club (started in the 1980s) with some members that have been to Canada several times. The resident Assistant Language Teacher of Kamikawa is often invited to join the Rotary Club dinner meetings (a.k.a. enkai) where both sides can practice their command of a foreign language.

In 2018, the town is expected to hire a second JET Programme Assistant Language Teacher, bringing the total up to two. This is in response to changes to the English education in Japan taking place between 2018 and 2020.

• Sara Takanashi, ski jumper