TOMAMAE, Hokkaido — They tower above the ocean on bluffs and farmland, spinning like otherworldly contraptions misplaced on Hokkaido's bucolic coast. But the livestock don't seem to mind.
The windmills popping up in Tomamae are a sign of things to come. In the north of the town, two town-run mills will be joined by a bigger one by December.
To the south, about 10 km away, Tomen Power Tomamae Corp., a wind power affiliate of Tomen Corp., has gone into business on a stretch of farmland owned by the town. Electric Power Development Corp., a government-sponsored group, will also soon join the game.