Engaru (遠軽町, Engaru-chō) is a town in the Okhotsk subprefecture of Hokkaido, Japan. The name comes from the Ainu place name Inkar-us-i ("overlook-always doing-place"), meaning a lookout point.[1][2]
On October 1, 2005, the towns of Ikutahara and Maruseppu, and the village of Shirataki, all from Monbetsu Districtmerged into the expanded town of Engaru.[3] As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 20,757.[4] The total area is 1,332.32 square kilometres (514.41 sq mi),[5] making it the fifth largest municipality in Hokkaido.[6]
Engaru is known as the place where Aikido originated, in the Shirataki area.[7] It is also where the largest cosmos flower park in Japan is located. An Upper Paleolithic site at Shirataki Site Group is the source of some Yubetsu technique stone blades dating from approximately 13,000 years ago.
History
1869: Current town area was part of the Wakayama Domain (or Kishū Domain) jurisdiction.[8] There were expanses of plains.
1896: The Church of Christ in Japan established the Hokkaido Comrades Education Association, and planned a Christian university at Engaru.[2][9]
1897: On 7 May, the first immigrant party[2][8] of the Hokkaido Comrades Education Association arrived in Engaru, the first party to immigrate at Engaru. But the final construction of the university's plan did not materialize.[2][8][9]
1919: The village of Engaru is split off from Kamiyūbetsu (now the town of Yūbetsu).[8]
1925: The village of Ikutahara split off, becoming its own town in 1934.[8]
Major rivers: Yūbetsu River; Ikutahara River; Maruseppu River; Setose River; Shanafuchi River; Murii River
Waterfalls: Yamabiko no Taki, Rokumei no Taki, Jūsan no Taki, Shirataki
Others: Gambōiwa (瞰望岩), a rocky hill made of underwater lava of andesitic (hyaloclastite) which was spewn out from an underwater volcano in the Miocene Epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era (about 7 million years ago) with volcanic sandstone conglomerate. The top of the cliff is about 78 metres (256 ft) high.
In the past, Engaru Station was the intersection of the Nayoro Main Line (closed in 1989) and the Sekihoku Main Line. It had an important position in business and overall development.
