The name of the town originates from the word "ShakKotan" in the Ainu language. It is formed from two words, the first, "shak", meaning "summer", and the second, "kotan", meaning "village". [1]
In the Japanese language the name of the district is written with ateji, or kanji characters used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words. The first, 積, means to "store" or "accumulate", and the second, 丹, means "red" or "red earth". The meaning of the written form of Shakotan has no relationship to the meaning of "Shakotan" in the Ainu language.
Geography and climate
Shakotan District is a peninsula located on the southwestern coast of Hokkaido. The district borders the city of Otaru in the Shiribeshi District to the east and is approximately forty miles from the prefectural capital Sapporo. Shakotan District is characterized by steep mountains as high as 1,300m interspersed with flatlands suitable to farming. Small streams flow down from the mountains feeding small wetlands and ponds.[citation needed]
Shakotan District has a humid continental climate. As with much of Hokkaido, the temperature of the district varies widely, from mild, humid summers to snowy winters.
History
Cape Shakotan Lighthouse
Shakotan was first settled by the Japanese immigrants in the Edo period (1603 – 1868). The Tokugawa shogunate, the feudal rulers of Japan of the period, granted the Matsumae Clan rights to trade with the Ainu people in the southern Hokkaido region; some samurai families during the Edo period chose to give up life as a warrior class, migrating to Shakotan to farm and develop the rich herring industry.[1]
Economy
The district's economy is dominated by rural farming, commercial fishing, and to a lesser extent, local tourism.
Tourists mainly from Sapporo come to the district for hiking, fishing, and the peninsula's scenery.[citation needed]
References
^ abc"積丹（町）". Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC153301537. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
