Cape Soya

Aerial view of Cape Soya, 1977

Cape Sōya ( Japanese 宗谷岬 Sōya-misaki ) is, apart from the small island of Benten-jima ( 45 ° 31 ′ 33 ″ N , 141 ° 55 ′ 10 ″ E ) 1 km off its coast, Japan's northernmost point. The cape is located on the island of Hokkaidō in Wakkanai in the sub-prefecture of Soya and protrudes into La Pérouse Street . On a clear day you can see as far as Sakhalin in Russia , which is 43 km away. 45.525833333333 141.91944444444

There are several monuments at Cape Soya:

The "monument to the northernmost point of Japan" ( 日本最北端の地の碑 , Nihon saihokutan no chi no hi ) has the shape of a tetrahedron , which is supposed to stand for the North Star as a symbol of the north, with an "N" in the middle, which also stands for the north. The circular base in turn stands for peace and cooperation.
The "Statue of Mamiya Rinzō " ( 間宮林蔵の立像 , Mamiya Rinzō no ritsuzō ) was erected in July 1980 for the 200th birthday of the explorer Mamiya Rinzō, who mapped Sakhalin and the region around the Tatar Sound.
The "Tower of Prayer" ( 祈りの塔 , Inori no tō ) was opened on September 1, 1985 and commemorates the shooting down of Korean Airlines flight 007 and the victims by the Soviet air defense exactly two years earlier.
The "Cape Sōya Musical Monument" ( 宗谷岬音楽碑 , Sōya-misaki ongakuhi ) is a sculpture that plays the melody of the song Sōya-misaki , which made the Cape famous across the country. Part is a stone slab with the notes and text to sing along to. It was erected in November 1980.
The "Friedensdenkmal" ( 平和の碑 , Heiwa no hi ) commemorates the crew of the submarine USS Wahoo , sunk in October 1943 , as well as the 690 victims of the five Japanese merchant ships torpedoed by it. The memorial was erected in September 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war and was the first joint US-Japanese memorial.

Around the cape there are many “northernmost” facilities such as the northernmost lighthouse, the northernmost gas station and the northernmost elementary school. The northernmost station of Japan Railways , however, is 33 km away in Wakkanai .