Celebration! Celebration of the 130th anniversary of the opening of the town of Hokuryu

Monday, September 5, 2022

On Saturday, September 3, 2022, from 10:00 a.m., a ceremony was held in the main hall of the Hokuryu Community Center to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the opening of the town of Hokuryu.

In addition to celebrating the 130th anniversary of the town of Hokuryu, letters of appreciation were presented to 65 town residents in recognition of their great contributions to the development of the town. We would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations.

Ceremony and venue to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the opening of the town of Hokuryu

Hokuryu Community Center

Ceremony to Commemorate the 130th Anniversary of the Opening of Hokuryu Town

program of a ceremony (programme)

Moderator: Hajime Namba, Manager, General Affairs Division

The event started solemnly and smoothly with opening remarks by Mr. Hajime Namba, Manager of the Hokuryu Town General Affairs Division.

national anthem

Silent chanting as a preventive measure against coronavirus infection.

silent prayer

We offer a silent prayer for the repose of the souls of those who have passed away. All of us pray silently.

Ceremonial Address: Mayor Yutaka Sano of Hokuryu Town

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for attending today's ceremony to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the opening of Hokuryu Town, despite your busy schedules in both your private and public lives.

We are celebrating the significant 130th anniversary since the pioneers left their footprints on this unprecedented land in the distant 26th year of Meiji Era. It is my great pleasure to celebrate with the citizens of this town.

In retrospect, the plow was lowered by a group of immigrants from Honno Village in Chiba Prefecture, and they wielded axes and grasped hoes to face the harsh nature in the virgin forests, battling numerous natural disasters, hunger, and disease.

Later, a series of mass migrations from Akita, Ehime, Toyama, Ishikawa, and other prefectures promoted the development of this town and laid the foundation of today's Hokuryu-cho. I would like to express my deepest respect and gratitude to our predecessors for their great achievements.

Blessed with rich soil and water in the watersheds of the Uryu, Etai-betsu, Miha-Ushi, and Shodozawa Rivers, our town's core industry, agriculture, has been steadily developed by our predecessors and predecessors overcoming many difficulties in the development of agricultural infrastructure and facilities.

In the paddy rice industry, as Hokuryu Sunflower Rice, the company won the grand prize in the collective organization category of the Japan Agricultural Award in 2009.

Thanks to the efforts of producers, other agricultural products have also received high evaluations from various fields, and are playing an important role as a safe food production base that protects the lives and health of the people.

And even now, efforts are being made to further improve productivity and add value to agricultural products.

In terms of the promotion and development of the town, the modernization of agriculture, flood control, road and bridge maintenance, education, welfare facilities, and tourism have been promoted to improve the welfare of residents and to promote industry.

I am pleased to present to you today a letter of appreciation for your service to the local government and industry. I would like to express my sincere appreciation and respect for the efforts and achievements of our seniors, who have been personally involved in the promotion and development of the town.

In order to achieve further growth and development, Hokuryu Town has formulated the Sunflower Village Basic Plan and the Hokuryu Town Public Facility Reallocation Plan, and is promoting the enhancement of Sunflower Village as a tourist base and the development of a safe, secure, and prosperous town for the residents of the town.

The recent social climate has been unsettled by the global spread of new coronavirus infections and political unrest.

In the agricultural industry, we are also facing difficult times with sluggish rice consumption, rising material prices, and a shortage of bearers.

We feel that we have a responsibility to continue to establish our town's key industries and develop sunflower tourism, and to make even greater strides as a town of beautiful sunflowers, a town where people want to continue to live, and to pass it on to the next generation.

We are determined to continue our efforts to build a bright, livable, and prosperous Hokuryu Town, and we sincerely ask for your continued guidance and cooperation in this endeavor.

I would like to thank our predecessors for their hard work, and I would like to express my sincere wishes for the health and happiness of all those who are here today, as well as all the citizens of the town.

September 3, 2022 Mayor of Hokuryu Town Yutaka Sano

Presentation of Certificate of Appreciation

Three individuals accepted the certificates of appreciation on behalf of the presenters of the certificates.

Large donor: Mr. Hisao Shinoda

Persons of merit in local government: Council members (those who have served two terms as a council member for at least eight years and have not yet received an award)
Mr. Masami Komatsu

Persons of merit in the agricultural industry: Officers of agricultural cooperatives (those who have been in office as an officer of an agricultural cooperative for 15 years or more and have not yet received an award).
Mr. Masakazu Yoshio

Name of the presenter of the Certificate of Appreciation (honorifics omitted)

Major Donors

Hisao Shinoda

person who has rendered distinguished service to his (her) country

Council members (those who have served at least two terms and eight years as a council member and have not yet received an award)

Masami Komatsu

Agricultural commissioner (who has been in office as an agricultural commissioner for 4 terms and 12 years or more and has not yet received an award)

Shigeki Mizutani, Hirokuni Kitakiyo

Special staff (those who have been employed by the town as special staff and have not yet been awarded a prize)

Hiroyuki Honke, Kazushi Honda, Noriyuki Takeuchi

School board members (who have been in office as a school board member for at least 12 years and have not yet received an award)

Reiko Yamamoto, Toshiyuki Takada, Yoshiko Hayashi, Nobuyuki Takebayashi, Kimimasa Mikami

National Health Insurance Steering Committee members (those who have been in office for 20 years or more as National Health Insurance Steering Committee members and have not yet received an award)

Yukihiko Uramoto, Hisayuki Shinohara, Takashi Watanabe

Civilian worker (who has been in office as a civilian worker for 12 years or more and has not yet received an award)

Yuyo Nakamura

Probation Officers (those who have been employed as a probation officer for 15 years or more and have not yet received an award)

Katsuhiro Nagai

Election committee members (those who have been in office as election committee members for at least 12 years and have not yet received an award)

Nakamura, Shoichi; Takahashi, Yasutsugu; Ishibashi, Yuji

Fixed Assets Valuation Review Committee Member (Fixed Assets Valuation Review Committee Members who have been in the position for more than 12 years and have not yet been awarded a prize)

Yukio Takada

Fairness Committee Member (who has served as a member of the Fairness Committee for at least 12 years and has not yet received an award)

Seiichi Eda, Nobuyoshi Teragaki, Yasunori Watanabe

Firefighters (those who have been in service for 30 years or more as firefighters or executives and have not yet received an award)

Shigeyuki Nakayama, Takashi Ukai

Traffic Instructor (who has been employed as a traffic instructor for at least 15 years and has not yet received the award)

Koichi Oshima, Tsuyoshi Michishita, Masayoshi Misaki, Takao Yamada, Akio Fujii, Toshiaki Tachikawa, Junichi Fukase, Kobayashi, Masatoshi Kagami, Naoki Shiraoka

Sports promoters (those who have been employed as a sports promoter for 15 years or more and have not yet received the award)

Eriko Oya, Takashi Hatsuda, Misuzu Namba

Bailiffs (those who have been employed by the town for 35 years or more and have not yet received the award)

Masanobu Fujinobu, Takashi Inoue, Hideki Yamada, Yoshiyuki Oya, Takeshi Otomo, Nobuhiro Yamada, Yumiko Minami, Michito Nakamura, Yasuhiro Sugiyama, Hideyuki Minami, Hiroyuki Takimoto, Yoshinori Mori, Keiko Tsuneki, Hiroe Kitakiyo, Kumi Yamamoto

person who has made a distinguished career in the realms of industry

Officers of agricultural cooperatives (those who have been in office as an officer of an agricultural cooperative for 15 years or more and have not yet received an award)

Masakazu Yoshio, Katsuzo Ito

Land Improvement District Officers (those who have been in office as a Land Improvement District Officer for 15 years or more and have not yet received an award)

Hironobu Omi, Akira Kono

Officers of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (those who have been in office as an officer of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for at least 15 years and have not yet received an award)

Akio Okino, Hajime Futagami, Masahito Fujii, Kenji Sasaki, Katsutoshi Yamamoto

Agricultural cooperative employees (employees who have been employed by Hokuryu Agricultural Cooperative for 35 years or more and are at the rank of general manager or above)

Kenichi Niwa, Kazuaki Takigami

Congratulatory speech: Yasuhiro Sasaki, Chairman, Hokuryu Town Council

As one of the residents of Hokuryu Town, it is with great pride and a high spirit of love that I congratulate you on today's 130th anniversary of the opening of Hokuryu Town.

Mr. Hisao Shinoda, who donated a large sum of money, is a former chairman of the Numata Town Council and a former mayor of Numata Town, and I believe that he has contributed to the wider Sorachi area's self-government. We are truly indebted to him. Thank you again today.

When I look at the faces of each and every one of the town's residents, I can't help but cry, thinking of all the hard work they have done. Thank you very much. I hope you will continue to take care of yourselves and the guidance of the town.

As I was coming into the community center where the ceremony will be held today, I saw some athletes from the Kokugakuin University track team in the parking lot.

'What is happening today?' I answered, 'It is 130 years since the town of Hokuryu was founded. A ceremony will be held to commemorate the event. Then the athletes from the track and field team gathered around and greeted me saying, "Congratulations on the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town! They greeted me with the words, "Congratulations on the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town!

I really felt that such courteous players would come to Hokuryu because of the good community development.

The shape of the country "Japan" is currently changing. The environment surrounding Hokkaido and the town of Hokuryu in Japan is severely affected by a declining and aging population, frequent disasters due to climate change, and international problems such as the unexpected new coronavirus infection and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The first steps of Honmachi were taken 130 years ago by people who moved from Honno Village in Chiba Prefecture, and the peaceful life of Hokuryu-cho is based on the foundation of our predecessors' hard work from time to time in the course of our history, as they went through hardships from cultivation to pioneering.

We now live in a free and peaceful country. But we must protect this freedom and democracy with our own hands. To protect our precious values and ideals is to protect our homeland, and it is also to protect our beloved families. I believe that this is our great responsibility today.

I believe it is our role to pass on the seeds that have been sown to the next generation.

Thirty years ago, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the opening of the town, children buried a "time capsule" next to the flag tower. Although the capsule will not be opened for another 20 years, I wonder what the children were thinking at the time and how they envisioned the bright future of Hokuryu Town in their hearts 30 years ago.

As stated in the town's citizens' charter, we are singing about building a Hokuryu that is firmly focused on the future for our children. We would like to work together to create a bright Hokuryu Town.

I would like to congratulate Hokuryu Town and wish that 10, 50, and 100 years from now, it will continue to blossom like a sunflower as a small but sparkling town with great potential.

September 3, 2022 Yasuhiro Sasaki, Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Council

attraction

Members of Hokuryu Taiko perform "Hayabusa," "Bountiful Celebration Taiko," and "Yamahiko.
This is a wonderful moment when the heroic sound of Hokuryu Taiko echoes to the beat of the heart and creates a great swell of emotion with its high pitched rumblings.

A brave performance by the members of Hokuryu Taiko

A series of powerful strikes

The powerful sound of Japanese drums

Applause for the moving!

The spirit of the great townspeople, passed down and protected over 130 years.

We express our infinite love, gratitude, and prayers to the precious souls of the town of Hokuryu, who continue to devote themselves to the best of their ability in a changing and difficult environment, with a bright future in their hearts.
　

Kitasukochi Newspaper

Youtube Video

memorial ceremony

Hokuryu Taiko (full version)

Yuyo Nakamura, "Hokuryu Taiko and My Twenty Years" (Hokuryu Town Sunflower University) - Hokuryu Town Portal (Hokkaido) - Japan's No.1 Sunflower Village

We will bring you the "now" of this vibrant and shining town with a population of 2,100 and an aging population rate of 40%. The town of Hokuryu, where families are as bright and harmonious as sunflowers...

More Photos

Click here for 86 photos of the 130th anniversary celebration of the opening of the town of Hokuryu 2022 >>

Related Articles

Hokuryu Town Portal

Mayor of Hokuryu Town Yutaka Sano Activity report, August 8 (Mon.), 130th anniversary of the founding of the town, summer traveling radio calisthenics session, gymnastics session for everyone, meeting of the town mayor and heads of departments, craft beer report (Ryuunishi Farm), community development cooperation meeting (Iwamizawa City)

Tuesday, August 9, 2022...

Ceremony Held to Commemorate the 120th Anniversary of the Opening of Hokuryu Town - Portal of Hokuryu Town (Hokkaido) - The Sunflower Village that Boasts the Best Sunflowers in Japan

We will bring you the "now" of this vibrant and shining town with a population of 2,100 and an aging population rate of 40%. The town of Hokuryu, where families are as bright and harmonious as sunflowers...

Celebrating the 120th Anniversary of the Opening of the Town and Related Events (2012) - Portal of Hokuryu Town (Hokkaido), Japan's No.1 Sunflower Village

Sunflower Village in Hokuryu-cho, Hokkaido, a superb view of Japan. A sightseeing spot in Hokkaido. Please come and see it. Rice sommelier raves about "Oborozuki...

◇ Photography and Editing: Noboru Terauchi Reporting and Writing: Ikuko Terauchi