John Stupart.com

So after a week of teaching ridiculously studious students in ‘Engrish’ and trying like hell to get them shouting “WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!” in order to get a sense of intonation, I was honestly looking forward to a nice long weekend of slowing things down and chilling out a bit. Instead of the vastly superior Eastern JET party occurring somewhere 8 hours’ drive away, I opted instead to sleep in, drive to Wakkanai and explore the surrounding countryside with Heather. While there weren’t nearly as many opportunities for typhoon-chasing camping, it was inspirational in a completely different sense.

Wakkanai from a big hill. Ferry boats leave several times a day for the local island and volcano.

 Perhaps a little background of northern Hokkaido’s most populous city. It’s essentially a large fishing town, 6 hour’s ferry ride from Russia. The result is an odd mix of depressingly compressed residential areas and a wonderfully fractious assortment of Japanese fisherman, bureaucrats and military personnel, Chinese factory workers and the Russian boat crews, in dock for the pre-Winter fishing season. Although the Japanese are largely far too polite to say it, they consider the Russians as generally no-good louts. In Sarufutsu I’m used to being treated as ‘different’, but in a good way. In Wakkanai, however, this is not usually a good thing, as being ‘different’ means being ‘Russian’ and thus guilty of petty theft, alcoholism and general undesirable behaviour.

 Case in point, upon meeting up with Heather at the local general store/mall (A monolithic mall called ‘Saijo’), we headed for the nearest food outlet like true westerners in search of breakfast that wasn’t fish, pork or a mixture thereof. After being handed a Russian menu and a generally perplexed response, the lady behind the counter was most surprised both that we weren’t dirty Bolsheviks and that we were able to say as much in Japanese. Funny in an isolated sense, but a little disturbing. I guess  a pale and blue-eyed John next to an equally Caucasian and green-eyed Heather didn’t help pass us off as visiting Lebanese tourists, or something…

 The Russians are conveniently contained in a small portion of Wakkanai unsurprisingly near the port. Within this section are a plethora of stores catering primarily to our soviet clientele. What’s notable, however, is how differently the shopkeepers treat you. Whereas in a normal Japanese shop of any sort and size one is greeted with a hello and acknowledgment in Japanese of your potential patronage, the Japs in the Russian sector closely shadow your movements to make sure you don’t steal anything, with nary an acknowledgement of your legitimate mercantilist aims. In South Africa this is normal, as often someone is indeed out to steal something, but in Japan it was tantamount to being doused with icy cold water.

 Wakkanai as a city is really quite fascinating, with an interesting mix of people, shops and sights. Anything from communications stations listening in on the Vladistovok Naval Base radio transmissions through to dirty Hokkaido bikers camping underneath the mammoth concrete break-wall. It’s an interesting mix. Of course it’s hardly a Newtown-esque bohemian melting pot of different colours, cultures and arts and crafts, but rather a fragmented, kaleidoscopic crushing of many demographics into one port-town. It ultimately lends itself to a terrific experience when driving safely by.

Shinto Shrine! One of many in the city. A plus was receiving a crash course in Buddhist and Shinto theology courtesy of Heather. Definitely a big eye-opener!

The surrounding countryside is much like the rest of Northern Hokkaido, with small country roads, giant power-generating windmills and miles and miles of lush green pasture-land, rivers and circling birds of prey. This is not limited to the outskirts of the city either, as even a short drive down some Wakkanai side roads revealed the curious mortal combat between fox and feline. Truly a sight only to be seen in Japan!

Wakkanai is always a pleasant drive to and from, so it was a genuine pleasure to just kick back and take a slow tour through the city and its surrounds. The rest of the weekend was completely relaxing, and for the first time since Tokyo I actually felt like my mind had caught up to the reality. It was great!

This little guy was rummaging in the backyard of a nearby house for some dinner. You can see the glinting eyes of the resident cat-guards on duty behind the tank.

Japanese Behemoth cat fights off the fox. The sound of fox vs cat combat was quite a shock!

Next weekend (another long one. God bless Japanese public holidays!) I’m headed to Sapporo for a much-needed winter-clothing expedition. Stay tuned!