Ishikari Subprefecture

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Ishikari Subprefecture

|native_name = {{nobold|石狩振興局}}

|native_name_lang = ja

|official_name = Ishikari-shinkō-kyoku

|image_map = Ishikari Subprefecture.png

|seat = Sapporo

|seat_type = Capital

|subdivision_type = Prefecture

|subdivision_name = Hokkaido

|area_magnitude =

|area_total_km2 = 3539.86

|area_footnotes =

|population_total = 2379802

|population_as_of = July 31, 2023

|population_footnotes =

|population_note =

|population_density_km2 = auto

|website = [http://www.ishikari.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ ishikari.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp]

}}

Image:Ishikari Subprefecture Map.gif

File:4 Chome Sakaigawa, Chūō-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaidō 064-0943, Japan - panoramio.jpg]]

{{nihongo|Ishikari Subprefecture|石狩振興局|Ishikari-shinkō-kyoku}} is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, located in the western part of the island. The subprefecture covers {{convert|3539.86|km2|mi2}} and on July 31, 2023 had a population of 2,379,802.{{cite web | url = http://www.ishikari.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/gaiyo/index.htm | script-title=ja:振興局の概要: 地勢 |trans-title=Subprefecture Overview: Topography | year = 2011 | publisher = Hokkaido Government Ishikari Subprefectural Bureau | location = Sapporo, Hokkaido | access-date = Sep 23, 2012 | language = ja}} The subprefecture takes its name from the Ishikari River, the third longest in Japan, which flows through western Hokkaido and empties into the Sea of Japan in the city of Ishikari. There are 6 cities, three towns, and one village under its jurisdiction. Sapporo is both the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture and Ishikari Subprefecture. Shikotsu-Toya National Park is located in the southern part of the subprefecture, and Shokanbetsu-Teuri-Yagishiri Quasi-National Park in the north.{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Japan |title=S |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-09-23 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |oclc=56431036 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=2007-08-25 }}

Etymology

The word Ishikari comes from the Ainu language, and several theories exist as to the meaning of the name.{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Nihon Kokugo Daijiten |title=石狩川 |trans-title=Ishikara River |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-08-02 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=ja |oclc=56431036 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=2007-08-25 }}

The most common translation of "Ishikari", proposed by the missionary and researcher of the Ainu language John Batchelor (1854 – 1944) in 1935, is "a greatly wandering river", a reference to the meandering path of the Ishikari River. According to Batchelor Ishikari is a corruption of "i-sikar-pet" or "ishikaripet". The 'i' sound of i-sikar-pet is a prefix meaning "greatly" or "exceedingly"; shikari meaning "zigzag" or "serpentine", and pet is the Ainu word for river.{{cite book | last = Batchelor | first = John | script-title=ja:アイヌ語より見たる日本地名研究 |trans-title=Japanese Place Names of Ainu Language Origin | year = 1935 | publisher = Bachirā Gakuen | location = Sapporo | language = ja | oclc = 672445037}}
Tōgo Yoshida (1864 – 1918), proposed in the Dai Nihon Chimei Jisho, published between 1907 and 1910, that "Ishikaripet" had its origin in the Ainu language word "Ishikarapet", meaning "a beautifully formed river"; ishu meaning "beautiful", kara meaning "constructed" and pet meaning river.{{cite book | last = Yoshida | first = Tōgo | script-title=ja:大日本地名辞書 |trans-title=Dictionary of Japanese Place Names | edition = Annotated | volume = 8, 北海道・樺太・琉球・台湾 | year = 1969–1971 | publisher = Fuzanbō | location = Tokyo | language = ja | isbn = 9784572000279 | oclc = 123313133}}

"Ishikari" is written in the Japanese language using ateji, or kanji characters used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words. The first, {{linktext|石}}, means to "stone", and the second, {{linktext|狩}}, means "to hunt". The meaning of the written form of Ishikari has no relationship to the meaning of word in the Ainu language.

Geography

=Municipalities=

class="wikitable sortable" ! colspan="2" \|Name ! rowspan="2" \|Area (km²) ! rowspan="2" \|Population ! rowspan="2" \|District ! rowspan="2" \|Type ! rowspan="2" \|Map
Rōmaji !Kanji
File:Flag of Chitose, Hokkaido.svg Chitose \|千歳市 \|594.5 \|98,047 \| rowspan="6" \|no district \| rowspan="6" \|City \|File:Chitose in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Ebetsu, Hokkaido.svg Ebetsu \|江別市 \|187.38 \|118,764 \|File:Ebetsu in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Eniwa, Hokkaido.svg Eniwa \|恵庭市 \|294.65 \|70,278 \|File:Eniwa in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Ishikari, Hokkaido.svg Ishikari \|石狩市 \|722.42 \|57,764 \|File:Ishikari in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido.svg Kitahiroshima \|北広島市 \|119.05 \|57,019 \|File:Kitahiroshima in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Sapporo, Hokkaido.svg Sapporo (prefectural and subprefectural capital) \|札幌市 \|1,121.26 \|1,959,750 \|File:Sapporo in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Shinshinotsu, Hokkaido.svg Shinshinotsu \|新篠津村 \|78.04 \|2,833 \| rowspan="2" \|Ishikari District \|Village \|File:Shinshinotsu in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg
File:Flag of Tobetsu, Hokkaido.svg Tōbetsu \|当別町 \|422.86 \|15,347 \|Town \|File:Tobetsu in Hokkaido Prefecture Ja.svg

class="wikitable sortable"

! colspan="2" |Name

! rowspan="2" |Area (km²)

! rowspan="2" |Population

! rowspan="2" |District

! rowspan="2" |Type

! rowspan="2" |Map

Rōmaji

!Kanji

File:Flag of Chitose, Hokkaido.svg Chitose

|千歳市

|594.5