insights from frontier Japan

A strong cold front entered the skies above Hokkaido on October 17, bringing the first snow of the season to Wakkanai, Asahikawa and Abashiri. This was the season’s first snowfall on the plains, in the whole of Japan. As of 11:00 p.m., the coldest temperatures of this season were recorded at 141 of the 173 observation points in Hokkaido.

The multirole transport "Lavender Train" was newly constructed this year, and on September 22 in the Northern Hokkaido city of Wakkanai, it operated in public for the first time on the JR Soya Line as an express train. After operating until October 29, it will be replaced by the pink exterior "Hamanasu Train" in November. In autumn amidst the trees changing colors, the Soya Line will feature alluringly colored trains.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, cycling tourism has been growing in popularity as a leisure activity that does not incorporate "crowded, closed spaces". And in the Northern Hokkaido city of Wakkanai as well, tourism organizations and community associations are expanding into tourism services that utilize bicycles. Travel packages that combine cycling at the "northernmost tip of Japan" and the grand, scenic panoramas of Mt. Rishiri with promotions for using the Soya railway line are being offered in an attempt to expand usage.

A Russian folk art exhibit and market started on August 23 at the Japan-Russia Friendship Hall in Northern Hokkaido's Wakkanai City. The folk art items were imported via a cargo charter ship connecting Wakkanai to Sakhalin, on its first run this year in July. A bounty of items including unique nesting "matryoshka" dolls and traditional crafts painted in the colorful and traditional "khokhloma" style is expected to attract many visitors.

The first voyage of this year’s Wakkanai-Russia-Sakhalin cargo ship charter project being undertaken by the ‘Wakkanai-Korsakov Regular Route Usage Promotion Council’ made up of local governments and economic organizations in northern Hokkaido, has arrived at the port of Wakkanai.

Heart Land Ferry (Sapporo), which operates the Wakkanai-Rishiri/Rebun route, has been added to the ‘voyage stamp-rally project’ in which shipping companies throughout Japan participate. The company has begun selling ‘voyage stamp cards’ – based on the image of ‘worship stamps’ available to visitors to temples and shrines – at the kiosk inside the Wakkanai Port Ferry Terminal.

On June 18, Fujita Masaki (36) of Fuji Construction Co., Ltd. in Wakkanai, was tentatively selected to represent Japan in the cycling event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Fujita is an experienced athlete who up to and including the previous Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, competed in three consecutive Games, winning 5 medals. Family and friends expressed their joy at the announcement, saying they hope he brings home a gold medal.

Runway encroachment issues are causing bird control headaches at Wakkanai Airport in Northern Hokkaido. Encroachment has greatly increased since 2019, and at the peak from summer to autumn, several hundred birds can often be seen resting their wings on the runway in scenes reminiscent of a “bird paradise”. In the latest bird-strike count of 2019, which records the frequency of cases in which birds collide with planes, the rate had risen to approximately 10 times that of New Chitose Airport.

Monitor tours exploring the potential for Northern Hokkaido tourism promotion using Northern Hokkaido's Wakkanai Airport started on March 23.