I arrived at Wakkanai, whose name originated from Ainu word Yam Wakka Nay (ﾔﾑﾜｯｶﾅｲ), which means cold river water. To the Japanese, Wakkanai is a faraway place. In fact, it is the northernmost city in Japan. To us Wakkanai is indeed very far as it took me more than 9 hours of travel time from Hakodate in south Hokkaido with JR train. In a way to Wakkanai, the express stopped at Horonobe. I saw a very interesting guide board. Horonobe is; the middle of the Northern Hemisphere, town at 45 degrees north latitude, village of reindeer, in addition, cattle seems. Reindeer in Japan, I didn’t know that. So the landscape from Horonobe to Wakkanai looked somehow in Asahikawa two years ago. The train arrived at Wakkanai around 1PM. It took 9 hours from Hakodate. Hokkaido is big!. Wakkanai Station is the northernmost station in Japan. It’s located at 45 degrees 25 minutes 3 seconds north latitude. Wakkanai Station is northernmost station in Japan. Soyahonsen which has Wakkanai Station as the end of the station is the railway northernmost in Japan. Scallops are caught in large quantities in Wakkanai area. Scallop shell has been piled like as a mountain near the harbor. Russian fishing boat had been anchored at Wakkanai Port. The distance from Wakkanai to Sakhalin in Russia is only 42km. Sakhalin can be seen from Wakkanai on sunny day.
Soya Cape
Cape Soya where is the northernmost point of Japan, is about 20 minutes by car from Wakkanai.city. Terrain around the cape is gentle hills. Cattle had been grazing. Snow still remained in some places even in May of year. Northern Hokkaido is cold. The windmill on cape Soya was impressive. A lot of wind turbines have been installed on the hills of Soya. The development of renewable energy is desired more instead of depending on nuclear power generation. I visited a monument at the tip of Cape Soya. The cape was spacious. Mr. Hitoshi Shirota, who is a friend of mine gave me a tour of Sarufutsu village. The village is located to the south of Wakkanai. Sarufutsu is the largest village in Hokkaido. The main industries of Sarufutsu village are fishing and dairy. Many dairy farmers are dotted in the spread land. Sarufutsu has become as the representing place of scallop fishery in Hokkaido since the system of management fishery was introduced. Total fish catch is 50,000 tons per year. Of these, 30,000 tons are raised by releasing the juvenile scallop. Mr. Shirota gave me an explanation of the management scallop fishery. Scallop fishing areas are located offshore of Sarufutsu village and divided into five areas. The fishing place of the year is determined from one of five areas every year. Fishermen cannot go fishing to other areas in the same year. Juvenile scallops are released into the fishing place after the fishing period. Then fishermen have to wait five years to go fishing to that area. Scallops can grow during five year, fine scallops are fished again after five years. There are a lot of Itou (Japanese huchen) in the Sarufutsu river. Itou is called one of phantom fish but there are still many there. Anglers have come from far away. Sarufutsu village is managing also such natural resources. They are making effort to coexist with nature.
Wakkanai Giant Crab
Wakkanai is known primarily for crab, and its abundance of other fresh seafood throughout the year - the cold climate means it has access to stocks that would otherwise be out of season elsewhere. The main tourist complex is visible even from the station, is painted bright orange, and has a giant rusty crab on its sign. You can't miss it. The ground floor is a "market" for visitors, while the two floors above are taken by a food court or restaurant respectively. It's clearly designed to handle group tours though, at that time, I was the only one there. I ordered their signature lunch option, the tri-colour donburi (rice bowl) - sea urchin, ikura (salmon roe) and raw scallops on top of a bed of sushi rice. The miso soup has, quite characteristically, a crab claw thrown in for good measure. Likewise - scallop, ikura and especially sea urchin are some of the most expensive sushi ingredients available; only in a place like Wakkanai would all three be served so casually - almost recklessly - together on a lunch rice bowl.
The Wakkanai National Park
In the late 1990's Wakkanai was, in fact, a popular tourist spot, but in recent years it has ceded visitors to the zoo-bearing (and more central) Asahikawa, as well as the recently-appointed World Heritage site, Shiretoko. Nevertheless the tourist areas are still there, and I was off to see the first of them, the nearby Wakkanai Park. As much as I just loooove walking up steep mountain slopes (that's sarcasm, by the way, in case you need the hint) the view it offers of the town - and Sea of Okhotsk beyond - is stunning, and makes it totally worth it. Even from here, though, the view is spectacular. Basked in warm sunlight with a gentle sea breeze, the area was calm and serene, almost happy. It was actually really, really nice. Wakkanai Park itself has a bit of a colourful, if sad, history. Up until the year 2000 it was host to an amusement park and, until 2006, an aerial tramway and ski area. With the gradual decline in visitors the municipal government eventually decided to take down both, leaving behind only the park's imposing stone memorials and wind turbines - ironic reminders of a more glorious past. It is, in a way, a rather sorry reflection of Japan's own decline over the past two decades. Just one word of warning. Wakkanai Park is vast and wide, and clearly designed with cars in mind; those of you walking, like yours truly, might find yourself getting just a little bit more of a workout than you might have intended.
Noshappu Point
Having made it back down the mountain, I now headed to one of the other main tourist spots in Wakkanai, Noshappu Point. There's a bus which travels from the city centre to Noshappu, but it runs only infrequently and being young and reckless, I had decided to walk. The road from the city centre to Noshappu Point is flanked one side by the sea, and by warehouses and docks stand on the other. Fishing boats and nets line the road, in some cases blocking the path entirely. A dolphin clock and lighthouse mark Noshappu Point. There's also an onsen facility a little further down the road, and a small makeshift aquarium. It's clearly an area for couples, though the view really was quite pretty regardless. More importantly, though... it was getting dark, and I had an hour's worth of walking back to do. t was pouring down by the time I was back in the city which, of course, meant it was time for my final (and favourite) task of the day: dinner.
I can't really make up my mind about Wakkanai. It's beautiful, but only in that common, quiet way that is a little hard to recommend to a visiting tourist. On the other hand... the seafood here really is sublime, and the isobeyaki - which remains a localised dish - quite possibly may have been my favourite of the trip. All in all... come here for the food if you're willing to travel a bit to try it, but know what you're getting into.
