Article

01214 ／わっかないし

Wakkanai City

70 columns stand against winter waves.

North Breakwater Dome

Photo by Yoppy Kawasaki (CC BY 2.0)

01 ／ Lighthouse

Its lamp kept at the old height,Wakkanai Lighthouse stands tall.

The city says Wakkanai Lighthouse was set up in 1900 on a hill about 900 m to the south of its present spot and moved to the current site in 1966. It was built so that the lamp is as high above the sea as in the old lighthouse, which made it a tall one, 42.7 m high.

Height 42.7 m
Set up in 1900
Moved to the current site, 1966

02 ／ Periglacial landforms

The gentle slopes of the Soya Hills are saidto come from repeated freezing and thawing.

The Hokkaido Heritage Council writes that, in the cold climate of the ice age that lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the ground froze and thawed again and again and soil moved slowly; the landforms this made are called periglacial landforms. The Soya Hills are used as pasture.

Hokkaido Heritage
Ice age until about 10,000 years ago
Repeated freezing and thawing

03 ／ Mizunara oak grove

Mekuma's mizunara oaks are clippedto about 2 m by the sea wind.

The city writes that mizunara oaks, which can grow 25 m tall, are clipped in Mekuma to about 2 m by the sea wind blowing straight from the Soya Strait and the strong northwest seasonal wind, and all lean toward the hills. Part of the grove is designated a city natural monument.

City natural monument
About 2 m
Trees that can reach 25 m

Wakkanai City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot August 2024)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

From Wakkanai, limited express trains run to Asahikawa and Sapporo.

about 30,000 people

The city's access page (updated March 2025) says Wakkanai, Asahikawa and Sapporo are linked by the JR Soya Main Line and the JR Hakodate Main Line, with one round trip of the Limited Express Soya and two of the Limited Express Sarobetsu. The gateway is Wakkanai Station.

People living here: 33,563people
Area: 761.42km²
Households: 16,060households
Rent (average for rentals): 35,273yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 16 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —6 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

Shape

Borders 2 municipalities.

Wakkanai City in Japan45.416°N 141.673°E

Territory of Wakkanai City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

39.7km

Toyotomi Town, Sarufutsu Village

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Wakkanai City isthis kind of town.

01The North Breakwater Dome in Wakkanai Port is a semi-arched dome built against winter waves from the northwest; 70 columns line its 427 m length, and it was completed in 1936 as a Hokkaido Heritage site
02Wakkanai Lighthouse at Cape Noshappu is 42.7 m high and was moved to its current site in 1966; the Soya Hills periglacial landforms are a Hokkaido Heritage site, and the Mekuma mizunara oak grove is a city natural monument
03Limited express trains link Wakkanai with Asahikawa and Sapporo on the Soya and Hakodate Main Lines; the gateway is Wakkanai Station

See the town as it is now.

Instagram@japan.go.wakkanai ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Wakkanai City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes