Wakkanai Kōen (稚内公園)

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A large park spreading over the grassy hills west of the town, offering some commanding views over the area. A short rope-way ascends the hill, claimed to be the shortest in the world; the two gondolas (named after Taro and Jiro, see below) leave every 10 minutes through the day and cost ¥180. There are some nice walking trails to explore, and over 4000 wild cherry trees grow in the park if you are here during Hanami (mid-May). To get an even better view you can ascend the 70 meter high Motoe Hiraku Centennial Memorial Tower (開基百年記念塔・北方記念館) Open 9:00-17:00 (Jul-Sep until 21:00) for a 360 degree panoramic view of the cape, the expansive Sarobetsu Plain, the Rishiri Volcano and even sometimes to Sakhalin in Russia. Below is the two-story Northern Memorial Hall, which has a collection of documents relating to the local area and Sakhalin. In the weird, small Ice House (ゲストハウス氷雪) you can take a footbath in ice, if that tickles your fancy.

The park also has an eclectic collection of statues and monuments - none of them are particularly pretty, but they sometimes come with interesting stories: the Statue of Nine Women (九人の乙女の碑) is a memorial to the 9 women working at a Sakhalin telegraph station who committed suicide when they learned about the fall of Karafuto (Sakhalin) to Russian troops. Less dramatic is the Ice and Snow Gate (氷雪の門), a bronze statue of a woman facing the direction of Karafuto, longing for the home she was forced to leave behind. Without the nationalistic undertones is the Monument to Taro and Jiro (南極観測樺太犬記念碑), two Siberian huskies that an Antarctic expedition was forced to leave behind. When their trainer returned with another expedition the following year to bury his beloved dogs, much to everyone's surprise he was warmly greeted by the two dogs, who had survived a whole Antarctic winter. There are some more details of their story in the Youth Science Center, and their story is detailed in the 1983 film Nankyoku Monogatari.