It takes two and half hours to reach the town by train. It is the end of Sasshou Line of Japan Railway Hokkaido.
Almost all the citizens are the descendants of immigrants from Nara Prefecture.
In August of 1889, Totsukawa Village in Nara Prefecture was hit by heavy rain and swamped by flood.It was described as a hinterland where even the birds did not visit in the old book. Tons of rocks and earth retained the water flow of the river after the landslides. The water flow changed the direction and swallowed the village like a dragon. The village and the lives of the citizens were devastated. The number of casualties were 168. The damage of agricultural fields were 226 ha and 426 houses were broken or lost. Three thousand citizens lost their asset and the way to live.
Emigration plan was discussed in the village. Hawaii and undeveloped area in Japan were on the table in the discussion. Seeking for the new hometown, 600 households, 2,489 citizens decided to move to Hokkaido. They were divided into three groups and each of them headed to Otaru City by ship from the port of Kobe City.
At that time, developing Ishikari Plain of Hokkaido is the priority of Japanese Central Government to avoid to be conquered by Russia.
The details are at
http://www.town.shintotsukawa.lg.jp/
but written only in Japanese.
I will introduce it not-so-distanced future;)
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