3 Current situation and issues of Niseko town 3: 1~ 3

Niseko Town is located 140 ° 48 minutes east longitude, 42 ° 52 minutes north latitude, at the western foot of Mt. The terrain forms a wavy hill basin surrounded by mountains, covering an area of 197.13 square kilometers, 20 kilometers east to west, and 19 kilometers north to south.
72.0% of the total area, 142.03 km is the forest wilderness, the arable land is 15.5%, 30.51 kilometers, the paddy field is 7.01 km, the field 23.50 km.
Weather conditions are generally mild and moderate, but Niseko Annupuri (1,308 m) rises to the north of Mt. Yotei (1,898 m) to the east, 160 cm with average snowfall in winter and 160 cm in many years It is a heavy snow area reaching centimeters.
In addition, Honmachi is blessed with natural conditions and forms part of Shikotsu Toya National Park and Niseko Shakotan Otaru Coast National Park, where tourists visit through the four seasons, especially Niseko mountains.

Road No. 66 (Roadway Iwanai Toya Line) intersects with National Highway No. 5, which crosses the central part of Niseko Town from east to west, and the JR Hakodate Main Line runs along the Shiribetsu River. However, due to the abolition of JR express and express trains and delays in the development of the expressway network, traffic conditions are not always good. Access by road with the neighborhood is located about 20 minutes in Kutchan Town, 1 hour 30 minutes in Otaru City, 2 hours in Sapporo City, 2 hours in Chitose City, 2 hours 10 minutes in Muroran City, etc. Trunk traffic is increasing year by year. In winter, vehicles may not be accessible due to snow in some areas.
The core industry is agriculture, cultivated crops such as field crops mainly composed of potatoes, paddy rice, vegetables and so on are diversified, and there are also many livestock and complex management such as dairy farming and pig raising. Management farming area is medium size, with an average of 11.6 hectares per house. In recent years, the number of farm households declined remarkably due to the outflow to other industries due to poor location conditions, conservation and revitalization of the idle farmland has become a big issue.
Regionally Shikotsu Toya National Park 1,447 hectares, Niseko Shakotan Otaru Coast National Park With a park area of ​​1,280 hectares, equipped with ski resorts, golf courses, hot springs, hotels, pensions, etc., large-scale tourism development by private capital etc. It has been advanced and has been developing rapidly since the Showa 50s. For this reason, we have changed from an agricultural-centered industrial structure to a two-pronged structure of agriculture and tourism.