July 2024
I have always wanted to travel to the edge of a country that looks out to the vast ocean of nothingness. It’s the same reason why we love looking at bright stars on dark nights or the glimmering sun at dawn and dusk — there is beauty in realising that the world is something much larger than ourselves and our immediate surroundings. Perhaps, I thought, that this journey may provide me with some unfound realisation that I had been longing for in this moment of life.
And so I decided to travel to Wakkanai to do some soul searching, which is the northernmost city of Japan with a population of 30,000.
Why? You may ask.
Well, simply put, Wakkanai (which can be translated into “I don’t know”).
Yes, that’s right — that was a play on words! Hah, I got you :]
But seriously, Wakkanai Wakkanai (which translates into “I don’t know why I’m going to Wakkanai but I have a feeling that this is all going to work out just fine”).
And thus, I began my journey of self-discovery at 7:30 in the morning on the five-hour train ride from Sapporo to Wakkanai.
Interesting facts were announced as we passed through the different train stations. One in particular, at Wassamu Station, had left me at a loss of words. On 28 February 1909, a rear passenger car became separated from its coupling and started to reverse in direction. At that moment, one of the passengers, Nagano Masao (長野政雄), a Japan Railway employee, sacrificed himself under the train’s wheels in an attempt to save the other passengers, saving the lives of everyone.
A note was discovered in his pocket, which read: “I am grateful for all joys and sorrows, life and death”. He was only 30 years old.
A monument was set up in his memory which is commemorated every year.
Arriving at Wakkanai Station, there were only four buses each day to Cape Soya, the northernmost point of Japan. With my decent Japanese language skills, I managed to take the last bus from the Cape and back. It’s hard to describe it into words, but there was a sense of feeling of finality upon arriving there. That there was nothing beyond here. That you’ve reached the physical boundaries one could have reached in Japan. Is this it?
*A fun fact is that Russia could be observed from here on a clear day, only 43km away. But as you might have known already, I’ve travelled closer as I recount my time in Ukraine during the war.
I’m sure all of us have had this feeling one way or another. The realisation that the accomplishment is the finality. Though, we later also realise as we go through life that the finality are not our accomplishments, in the sense that it is rather what we do with our accomplishments.
At night, I went to Cape Koetoi, one of the three capes in the North. Unlike the other two famous ones, it was smaller, harder to get to, and it lacked tourist infrastructure which meant that there weren’t any visitors. However, what was special about Cape Koetoi was that you could actually walk into the ocean (like at a beach) because there were no barricades – which made the experience even more inducing as it felt like I had broken the physical boundary of nothingness to ’possibilities’ – where going forward must be out of my own will.
My Concluding Thoughts
I don’t think one can ever address life’s questions without seeking for solutions. However, I don’t think the answers are contained within the search.
In my case, I don’t think I’ve found the answer to the question I was after. Perhaps I won’t ever. Which is okay. But it does give me great comfort in knowing that I’ve addressed a similar question, one that will hopefully resolve some of the Angest I have about life.
Other notable mentions during my time in Wakkanai include Cape Noshappu, Wakkanai Park, and Soya Fureai Park looking over Lake Onuma.
And wait, how could I have forgotten Wakkanai Miso Ramen?
