50 Years of Tourism Association [1990s].
| year number | month | major events |
| Heisei era (1989.1.8- )2counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system) 1990counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system) | 4 | Tetsuo Sasaki is appointed head of the Tourism Association. |
| 5 | ordinal21The 2nd Hokuryu Town Cherry Blossom Festival held (Kompirayama Park) | |
| 6 | Declaration of "a safe food-producing town that protects the lives and health of its citizens" at a farmers' rally, followed by resolutions by the town council, agricultural committee, land improvement district, and other related organizations. | |
| 7 | The Hokuryu Tunnel on the Muzume-Inda Route, which had been closed during the winter, was opened to year-round traffic. | |
| 7 | Agricultural products collection and shipping facilities3issue(1,233(nf) Construction | |
| 🌻 | Sunflower Village concession stand cooperative established and begins operations at Sunflower Village.(3The Sunflower Festival has changed from an event for local residents to a tourist-oriented festival, with the start of the "Jumbo Maze" by the Ryutopia Association and the "Sunflowers of the World" by the junior high school. | |
| 8 | ordinal4Held the 2nd Sunflower Festival (held in front of the Agricultural Cooperative Association and at the Sunflower Village) | |
| 8 | Designated as Shokan Yakejiri National Park. | |
| 8 | Sunflower Street Lamp100A certain installation (Kaikki, Hokuryu-cho)100(Year project) | |
| 8 | Hokkaido Governor Yokoji visits Hokuryu Town to see the Sunflower Village. Governor Yokoji advocated "One Village, One Product" in Hokkaido. In Hokuryu Town, the "Sunflower Commercial Use Study Committee" was formed and started research on "bath additives" and "sunflower drinks", and launched "sunflower ramen" and "sunflower kun". | |
| 9 | Geothermal development boring succeeded in gushing hot spring water at a depth of 1,200m, with a water temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius and a rate of 420R per minute. | |
| Heisei era (1989.1.8- )3counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system) 1991counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system) | 3 | In November 1990, a call was made for a sunflower character, and in March 1991, the design by Ms. Hiroe Kamono from the Kyoei neighborhood association was adopted. In 1992, the character was named "Himawari Sakiki-chan" (Sunflower Blossom Girl), and is used effectively on envelopes, postcards, traffic safety flags, and other items. |
| 5 | The 22nd Hokuryu Town Cherry Blossom Festival (Mt. Kompira Park)The festival will be held from the following year, which will be the last Cherry Blossom Festival. | |
| 6 | Commissioned the first Sunflower Daughters, Hiromi Takahata and Mika Hatsuda | |
| 7 | Received the 1st Regional Revitalization Contribution Award, "Sunflower and Town Development Award, Himawari no Sato" from the Hokkaido Development Bureau. | |
| 7 | Held the 5th Sunflower Festival (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 7 | At Hokuryu Junior High School, the "World Sunflower Corner" was created after last year's sunflower cultivation around the world, and full-fledged efforts are now underway. | |
| 7 | Senior citizen clubs provide "Tourist Guides" for Sunflower Village. | |
| 8 | Himawari Agricultural Cooperative (Aichi Prefecture) and Hokuryu Agricultural Cooperative form sisterhood. Mikawa Tezutsu Fireworks to Commemorate the Affiliation. | |
| 9 | Completed "Beiryumon" commemorating the 100th anniversary of the town's foundation. | |
| 12 | At the All Hokkaido Agricultural Cooperative Women's Club Convention, Women's Club Director Chiyoko Kayoda's presentation on "Sunflower Town Revitalization Activities" won the Grand Prize. | |
| 🌻 | Sunflower Village was featured on TV Asahi's "Sunday Project" nationwide. | |
| 🌻 | NTV 24-hour TV special program commemorating the end of the war "Sakhalin of Love and Sorrow" starring Taishu Kasei, Yuki Saito, Iyo Matsumoto, etc. * Filmed at the Hokuryu sunflower field | |
| 1992 1992counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system) | 5 | The Hokuryu Town Cherry Blossom Festival was stopped and Kompira Park was opened. |
| 6 | Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen opens (hot springs, restaurants, stores) | |
| 6 | Sunflower Park Hokuryu Hot Springs opens (hot springs, restaurant, and store). Support for weeding by the Hokuryu Town Senior Citizens Club begins. | |
| 7 | The 6th Sunflower Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 🌻 | Launched "Sunflower Pie," "Sunflower Cake," "Dragon Pie," and "Northern Sun." | |
| 🌻 | Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. won the bid for Van Gogh's masterpiece "Sunflowers" for 5.8 billion yen, and through the efforts of Tsutomu Sako, the company received a donation of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers (reproduction)" from Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. | |
| Introduced in the public relations magazine of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as "Sunflower Land where dragons dance. | ||
| 1993 1993 | 4 | Sunflower Section" is newly established in the Town Hall and is designated as the Commerce, Industry, and Sunflower Tourism Section. |
| 6 | Commissioned the 2nd Sunflower Daughters, Shizuka Fujii and Yuko Ishida. | |
| 7.8 | Held the 7th Sunflower Festival (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 7 | Covered wagon "Himawari-go" in Himawari-no-sato (Sunflower Village) Started renting out free sunflower bicycles. | |
| 9 | Received the 3rd AAC Regional Event Award of Excellence from the Center for Regional Revitalization | |
| 11 | Received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Community Development | |
| 🌻 | Establishment of a special products sales council (town, JA, commercial promotion council, Sunflower Park) Trial production of Sunflower Advanced Utilization Study Committee research results (sunflower bath salts, sunflower bank, sunflower bird tea) | |
| 🌻 | Selling Sunflower Ice Cream, Sunflower Health Tea (Herb Sunflower Tea), Sunflower Honey Candy, and Sunflower Cookies. | |
| 🌻 | Toho Pictures "The Place Closest to the Blue Sky" Directed by Shoji Konoue, starring Hidetaka Yoshioka and Mayumi Hasegawa *Filmed at Himawari no Sato | |
| 1994 1994 | 6 | Simple park golf course (3 courses) set up by the Board of Education next to the Hekisui gate ball field |
| 7.8 | 8th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 10 | Completion and opening of Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen accommodations | |
| 11 | Received an award from the National Agricultural Cooperative Association of Japan at the 2nd Beautiful Japanese Village Landscape Contest. | |
| 11 | Received the 11th National Award for Community Building, Chairman's Commendation by the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Exchange Conference. Received the President's Award from the Hokkaido Tohoku Development Corporation | |
| 🌻 | Cold weather causes rice shortage | |
| 1995 1995 | 1 | Roadside Station "Sunflower Hokuryu" completed (17th in Hokkaido) |
| 5 | Yew forest creation: Nobuaki Takahashi and 200 townspeople planted yew trees | |
| 6 | Commissioned three Sunflower Daughters, Hiromi Iwakura, Tomoe Horiguchi, and Sachiko Tsugiki | |
| 7.8 | The 9th Sunflower Festival (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 9 | Chuo Bus to begin service from Fukagawa to Sunflower Park on September 1. | |
| Launch of "Sunflower of the North (Soleil)" confectionery | ||
| 1996 1996 | 4 | Sunflower Poem" Junmai-shu (pure rice sake) was licensed as a retailer at Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen (hot spring) and began sales. Sunflower Wine (produced by Yubari Melon Brandy Brewing Institute) and Melon Wine (produced by Otaru Hokkaido Wine) are also sold. |
| 7 | (Parking lot: 14 large-sized vehicles, 485 standard-sized vehicles, sightseeing restrooms) Parking lots were added in 1994 and 1995 due to a lack of parking spaces, which caused traffic congestion on the national highway as cars overflowed onto the highway. | |
| 7.8 | The 10th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 7.8 | Regular sightseeing bus service (Sapporo~Yusyu~Hokuryu) operated by Chuo Bus (CB Tours), and later other sightseeing buses also planned courses to visit Himawari no Sato. | |
| 8 | The Chamber of Commerce and Industry invited NIRA researcher Terutaka Suzuki to give a "town development lecture" on the theme of tourism. The following year (1997), a sunflower symposium was held in Hokuryu-cho with Terutaka Suzuki, STV announcer Toyoko Hashimoto, and Kengo Kuma as panelists. In 1989, Mr. Kengo Kuma worked on the "Sunflower Village Basic Plan" as a regional creation advisor, and in the same year he was appointed as the Hokuryu-cho Tourism Ambassador. | |
| 🌻 | NHK's TV drama series "Himawari" used Hokuryu-cho Himawari no Sato as the title background, The popular song "Dreaming Girl" by Tatsuro Yamashita was played from April to October in the mornings, afternoons and on the days of the week. It was broadcast as a compilation. | |
| 1997 1997 | 6 | Commissioned the 4th Sunflower Daughters, Sachiko Sezugi and Makiko Tamura |
| 6 | Unveiling ceremony and tree-planting ceremony for a monument commemorating Dr. Dorokame's poem "In the forest there is beauty, there is love, and here there are dreams" in the yew forest. | |
| 7 | Construction of "Himawari Sightseeing Center" in Himawari-no-sato 198,975,000 yen (14 Himawari Sightseeing Centers) Construction of exterior of Sightseeing Center 121,127,500 yen *A tourist center was built in the Sunflower Village and a parking lot was constructed, and the number of tourists increased by 100,000 compared to the previous year. | |
| 7-8 | The 11th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 10 | One million visitors to Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen reached. | |
| 🌻 | Cultivation of sunflower sprouts "Himawarikko" begins by Mr. Toshihisa Yamada. Cheese & Butter Madeleines" and "(Himawari Yokan) Himawari no Yume" are launched. | |
| 1998 1998 | 5 | Expansion of Sunflower Village from 6 ha to 13 ha (utilization of nursery land of the forestry department) |
| 7-8 | 12th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 7 | The sightseeing car Himawari-go (by Shuji Ito) changed from a horse to a tractor and started operation. | |
| 8 | Ryutopia Kai will complete and unveil "Kodomo no Ryu" (Children's Dragon). | |
| 🌻 | Released "Hokuryu Okaki", "Himawari Dorayaki" and "Himawari Sesame Senbei". | |
| 1999 1999 | 4 | April 11 Sunflower Tourism Association established (reorganized from Hokuryu-cho Tourism Association) In 1987, various festivals were integrated into the "Sunflower Festival", and in 1989, the "Sunflower Village" was created, and in 1992, the Sunflower Park concept planned in 1990 was launched. Established in 1972, it promoted local tourism development, the construction of tourist facilities, and tourist events. However, as sunflowers, which began in 1980, were positioned as the center of tourism, the Sunflower Festival Executive Committee was organized in 1988, and the Sunflower Festival was held 12 times. |
| 4 | Hokuryu Ostrich Club established (test grazing of ostriches conducted) | |
| 6 | Commissioned the 5th Sunflower Daughters, Kaori Michishita and Yukie Goto | |
| 7-8 | The 13th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 8 | Sunflower Village at night will be televised on TV Asahi's "News Station". | |
| 10 | Himawari Nosan (headed by Tsutomu Yoshida) began selling rice cakes from rice paddies. | |
| Year 2000 Year 2000 | 5 | Sunflower Village expanded from 13 ha to 14.5 ha |
| 5 | Appointed 10 "Hokuryu Tourism Ambassadors" (Hajime Hibara, Tomoya Shimizu, Susumu Yotsuji, Yoshinori Fujie, and Minoru Sato) (Masao Fujisaki, Sayoko Fujii, Sawa Kanayama, Mika Fujinobu, Hiromi Kawase) | |
| 5 | Created "Sunflower Road" on Route 275 | |
| 6 | Dacho Pasture completed and full-scale grazing begins. | |
| 7 | The 14th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 8 | NHK "Ohayo Nippon" broadcasts Sunflower Village nationwide. | |
| 8 | Nippon Television Network Corporation's "Zoom In! Saturday" on Nippon Television Network Corporation | |
| 8 | Sunflower Festival "Fireworks Display" held When Mayor Toyomae Sano was in charge of tourism, he proposed the idea of the Sunflower Fireworks Festival, and the event started as part of the Sunflower Festival. | |
| 2001 2001 | 5 | Sunflower Village Expansion from 14.5a to 16.8ha |
| 6 | June 29, a tornado (size F2) hit Sunflower and related facilities, causing extensive damage. | |
| 6 | 324 people participated and supported the Sunflower Village "Weeding Crusade". | |
| 6 | Commissioned the 6th Sunflower Daughters, Chiaki Sakai and Satomi Fujii | |
| 7 | Ostrich maze established | |
| 7.8 | 15th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 9 | Himawari Park Golf Course (Yew Sunflower Course) opens. | |
| 2002 2002 | 5 | Sunflower Voluntary Association was established, and started providing tourist guides in the Sunflower Village, as well as cooperative funds. |
| 5 | Creation of "rows of cherry trees" as a project to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the founding of the town, sponsored by the Lions Club. Trees were planted by 340 cherry tree owners and a memorial camp was erected. | |
| 5 | Sunflower Tourism Association (organization) received the Hokkaido Tourism Promotion Merit Award from the Hokkaido Tourism Federation. | |
| 6 | Ostrich club starts "duck farm" in Sunflower Village. | |
| 7.8 | The 16th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 7 | U.S. Senator Steinegger of Kansas State visited the town and toured Sunflower Village. | |
| 9 | The Hokuryu Town Local Products Sales Council receives a Silver Award from the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau in the category of local specialty products in the 1st "Our Village is Beautiful - Hokkaido | |
| 2003 2003 | 1 | Opened Palm, a food and agriculture workshop; production of sunflower oil and nuts at JA ceased. |
| 3 | Hokuryu Sunflower IC of Fukagawa-Rumoi Expressway opens (March 27). | |
| 3 | JR Bus withdraws from Takigawa-Numata route, Chuo Bus takes over operation. | |
| 4 | Highway Rumoi stops in front of the town hall (from April 1) | |
| 4 | Shinji Kanayama appointed head of Himawari Tourism Association | |
| 4 | Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen reaches 2 million visitors. | |
| 5 | Sunflower field expanded from 16.8 ha to 20.8 ha | |
| 5 | Expand "Sunflower Road" along Route 275 to the Cultivation Head Office area | |
| 5 | 7th Sunflower Daughters, Chiaki Mori and Megumi Okamoto, were commissioned | |
| 7.8 | The 17th Himawari Festival held (Himawari no Sato) | |
| 8 | The 38th Hokusho Road Race will be changed from the National Highway 275 Land Federation certified course to the Himawari-no-sato course. | |
| 🌻 | TBS "Hanamaru Market" televised Sunflower Village nationwide. | |
| 🌻 | Garden Island was established to promote flower tourism in Hokkaido. The Sunflower Tourism Association has been a member of the Sunflower Village since 2006. | |
| 🌻 | SARS outbreak, WHO issued a worldwide alert and positioned it as a global health threat and issued an unusual travel advisory. | |
| 2004 2004 | 5 | Tetsuo Sasaki, Chairman of Himawari Tourism Association (individual), receives an award for distinguished service from the Hokkaido Tourism Federation. |
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