Celebrating Hokuryu Town's 130th Anniversary!

September 5, 2022
Feature Articles, Hokuryu Town Hall, Hokuryu Land Improvement District
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Monday, September 5, 2022

The Hokuryu Town 130th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony was held at the Hokuryu Town Community Center Grand Hall from 10:00 on Saturday, September 3, 2022.

To celebrate the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town, and to recognize the great contributions that have been made to the town's development, 65 townspeople were presented with letters of appreciation. We would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations.

table of contents

1 Hokuryu Town 130th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony and Venue
- 1.1 Hokuryu Town Community Center
2 Hokuryu Town 130th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony
3 Name of the recipient of the letter of appreciation (titles omitted)
4 Attractions
5 Kita Sorachi Newspaper
6 YouTube videos
- 6.1 Commemorative Ceremony
- 6.2 Hokuryu Taiko (full version)
7 Other photos
8 Related articles

Hokuryu Town 130th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony and Venue

Hokuryu Town Community Center

Hokuryu Town 130th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony

Ceremony procedure

Moderator: Hajime Nanba, General Affairs Division Manager

The event started solemnly and smoothly with opening remarks by Hajime Minami, General Affairs Division Chief of Hokuryu Town.

General moderator: Hajime Nanba, Director of the Planning and Promotion Division of Hokuryu Town

Singing the national anthem

Silent chanting as a preventative measure against coronavirus infection.

silent prayer

We offer our deepest gratitude to our deceased ancestors and pray for their souls to rest in peace, and we offer a moment of silence.

Speech by Mayor Yutaka Sano of Hokuryu Town

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules, both public and private, to attend this ceremony to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town.

This significant year marks 130 years since pioneers left their mark on this uncharted territory in 1893. I am delighted to be able to celebrate this with all the townspeople.

Looking back, the hoes were laid down for development when a group of people migrated from Motono Village, Chiba Prefecture, and they swung axes and hoes in the virgin forest, facing the harsh elements and battling numerous natural disasters, hunger and disease, but they continued to develop the area with an indomitable spirit.

After that, a succession of mass migrations from Akita, Ehime, Toyama, Ishikawa and other prefectures led to the development of this town, laying the foundation for the Hokuryu town we know today. We would like to express our heartfelt respect and gratitude to our ancestors for their great achievements.

Agriculture, the town's core industry, is blessed with rich soil and water in the basins of the Uryu River, Edaibetsu River, Mibaushi River, and Azusawa River, and our predecessors and seniors have steadily developed agricultural infrastructure and facilities since early on, overcoming numerous difficulties.

In the field of paddy rice, Hokuryu Sunflower Rice won the Grand Prize in the Collective Organization category of the Japan Agriculture Awards in 2017.

Thanks to the efforts of our producers, our other agricultural products have also received high praise from all quarters, and we are fulfilling an important role as a safe food production base that protects the lives and health of the people.

Currently, efforts are underway to further improve agricultural productivity and add value to agricultural products.

In addition, in order to promote and develop the town, we have been working to modernize agriculture, conserve soil and water, improve road and bridge construction, enhance educational and welfare facilities, and promote tourism, thereby improving the welfare of residents and promoting industry.

I would like to present a letter of appreciation to the local government industry representatives in attendance today for their contributions. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude and respect to my predecessors, who have personally contributed to the promotion and development of the town.

With the aim of achieving further development and leaps forward, Hokuryu Town is currently formulating the Sunflower Village Basic Plan and the Hokuryu Town Public Facility Relocation Plan, and is working to enhance Sunflower Village as a tourist hub, ensure safe and secure lives for the townspeople, and promote the development of a prosperous town.

The current social situation is showing signs of unrest due to the global spread of COVID-19 and political instability.

Agriculture is also facing difficult times, with sluggish rice consumption, rising material costs, and a shortage of workers.

We will continue to work to establish our town's core industries and develop sunflower tourism, and we feel a responsibility to make even greater strides toward making it a beautiful town of sunflowers, a town where people want to continue living, and to pass it on to the next generation.

We are determined to continue our efforts to make Hokuryu a bright, livable, and prosperous town, and we sincerely ask for your continued guidance and cooperation as you have provided until now.

I would like to once again express my gratitude for the hard work of our predecessors, and I would like to conclude my speech by praying for the health and happiness of everyone in attendance today, as well as all the townspeople.

September 3, 2022 Mayor of Hokuryu Town, Yutaka Sano

Presentation of a letter of appreciation

Three people accepted the certificates of appreciation on behalf of the donors.

Large donor: Hisao Shinoda

Municipal Merit Award: Assembly Member (Two terms as an assembly member, serving for more than eight years, but not receiving the award)
Mr. Masami Komatsu

Representative of the Municipal Meritorious Service Award, Mr. Masami Komatsu

Industry Merit Award recipient: Agricultural Cooperative Officer (those who have served as an agricultural cooperative officer for 15 years or more and have not yet received the award)
Mr. Masakazu Yoshio

Representative of the Industry Meritorious Contributors: Masakazu Yoshio

Name of the recipient of the letter of appreciation (titles omitted)

Large donors

・Hisao Shinoda

Municipal Merit Award

Member of Parliament (Two terms as a member of parliament, serving for more than eight years, and not receiving the award)

・Masami Komatsu

Agricultural Commissioner (has served as an agricultural commissioner for four terms, more than 12 years, and has not received the award)

Shigeki Mizutani and Hirokuni Kitakiyo

Special-duty employee (those who are currently serving as special-duty town employees and have not received the award)

Hiroyuki Honke, Kazushi Honda, Noriyuki Takeuchi

Board of Education members (those who have served as board members for 12 years or more and have not received the award)

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

National Health Insurance Committee Member (has served as a National Health Insurance Committee member for over 20 years and has not received the award)

Yukihiko Uramoto, Hisayuki Shinohara, and Takashi Watanabe

Welfare Commissioner (those who have served as welfare commissioners for 12 years or more and have not yet received the award)

・Yutaka Nakamura

Volunteer probation officer (those who have worked as a volunteer probation officer for 15 years or more and have not received the award)

・Katsuhiro Nagai

Election Commissioner (those who have served as election commissioners for 12 years or more and have not received the award)

・Naoichi Nakamura, Yasushi Takahashi, and Yuji Ishibashi

Member of the Fixed Assets Appraisal Committee (a member of the Fixed Assets Appraisal Committee who has served for more than 12 years and has not received the award)

・Yukio Takada

Fairness Committee Member (a person who has served as a fairness committee member for 12 years or more and has not received the award)

Seiichi Eda, Nobuyoshi Teragaki, Yasunori Watanabe

Firefighters (those who have served as firefighters or officers for over 30 years but have not received the award)

・Nakayama Shigeyuki and Ukai Takashi

Traffic instructor (those who have worked as a traffic instructor for 15 years or more and have not received the award)

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

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

Eriko Oya, Takashi Hatsuda, and Misuzu Nanba

Official (Town employee with over 35 years of service who has not received the award)

Masanobu Fujinai, Takashi Inoue, Hideki Yamada, Yoshiyuki Oya, Takeshi Otomo, Nobuhiro Yamada, Yumiko Minami, Michihito Nakamura, Yasuhiro Sugiyama, Hideyuki Minami, Hiroyuki Takimoto, Yoshinori Mori, Keiko Tsuzuki, Hiroe Kitakiyo, and Kumi Yamamoto

person of merit in industry

Agricultural Cooperative Officer (those who have served as an agricultural cooperative officer for 15 years or more and have not yet received the award)

Masakazu Yoshio and Katsuzo Ito

Land Improvement District Officer (those who have served as land improvement district officers for 15 years or more and have not yet received the award)

・Hironobu Omi and Akira Kono

Chamber of Commerce officer (those who have served as a chamber of commerce officer for 15 years or more and have not received the award)

Akio Okino, Hajime Futagami, Masahito Fujii, Kenji Sazaki, and Katsutoshi Yamamoto

Agricultural cooperative staff (those who have worked for Hokuryu Agricultural Cooperative for over 35 years and hold the position of department head or higher)

Kenichi Sakuraniwa and Kazuaki Takigami

Congratulatory speech: Yasuhiro Sasaki, Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Council

Mr. Yasuhiro Sasaki, Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Council

"Today marks the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town, and as a resident of the town, I offer my congratulations with great pride and a strong love for the town.

Mr. Hisao Shinoda, who made such a large donation, is a former chairman of the Numata Town Council and former mayor of Numata Town, and I believe he is a person of great merit who has contributed greatly to the local government of Sorachi. I am truly grateful for his support. Thank you again today.

When I see the faces of each and every one of you in the town, I am reminded of the hardships you have endured, and tears well up in my eyes. Thank you so much. I hope you will continue to take care of yourself and continue to receive guidance from the town.

As I was entering the community center where the ceremony was being held today, I saw athletes from Kokugakuin University's track and field team in the parking lot.

The athletes asked me, "Is there something going on today?", and I answered, "It's been 130 years since Hokuryu Town was founded. A commemorative ceremony is being held." The track and field athletes then all gathered together and greeted me, saying, "Congratulations on the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town!"

I truly felt that such polite athletes come to Hokuryu because we have built a good town.

The shape of the country of Japan is currently undergoing change. With a declining population, an aging society, frequent disasters due to climate change, the unexpected spread of COVID-19, and international issues such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the environment surrounding Hokkaido and Hokuryu Town in Japan is severe, and we are concerned about its future.

The town's first steps were taken 130 years ago by people who moved from Motono Village in Chiba Prefecture. Throughout the history of our ancestors, they have endured many hardships, from clearing land to developing the area. The peaceful life of Hokuryu Town is built on the foundation of the hard work of their ancestors at each stage of their history.

We now live in a free and peaceful country. However, we must protect this freedom and democracy with our own hands. Protecting our cherished values and ideals means protecting our homeland, and it also means protecting our beloved families. I believe that this is the great responsibility that has been placed upon us 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 town's 100th anniversary, children buried a "time capsule" next to the flagpole. It won't be opened for another 20 years, but I wonder what those children were thinking at the time, and what they were imagining in their hearts for the bright future of Hokuryu 30 years ago.

As stated in the town charter, we want to create a town of Hokuryu that looks firmly to the future for our children. We want to join forces to create a bright town of Hokuryu.

We celebrate and pray that Hokuryu Town, despite its small size, will continue to shine brightly in 10, 50, and 100 years' time, and that this town with great potential will continue to bloom like a large sunflower.

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

I pray for the continued development of Hokuryu Town.

Attractions

Members of Hokuryu Taiko performed "Hayabusa," "Harvest Celebration Taiko," and "Yamabiko."
It's a wonderful moment when the majestic sound of the Hokuryu Taiko drums resonates with the heartbeat, resonating loudly and creating a huge wave of emotion.

A heroic performance by members of the Hokuryu Taiko group

Powerful hits

The powerful sound of Japanese drums

Touching applause!

The great spirit of the townspeople has been passed down and protected for over 130 years...

With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers to the noble souls of Hokuryu Town who continue to work to the best of their ability, envisioning a bright future in their hearts, even in a changing and difficult environment...
　

With gratitude to the great spirit that Hokuryu Town has inherited...

Kita Sorachi Newspaper

Commemorating the 130th anniversary of the founding of Hokuryu Town [Kita Sorachi Shimbun]

YouTube videos

Commemorative Ceremony

Hokuryu Taiko (full version)

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Other photos

Photos (86 photos) from the Hokuryu Town 130th Anniversary Ceremony 2022 are here >>