Nosappu, Nemuro City, Hokkaido 087-0165
The drive on the Nemuro Peninsula is pleasant with an open view! It has views of flat farmland. There are red and white arrows on both sides of the road. In winter, the snow piles up high and drivers don't know where the road is so they need these arrows.
The Aurora Tower at Cape Nosappu can be seen in the back on the right.
It was so beautiful that I often stopped the car and took pictures. The scenery is like a postcard.
I arrived at the Aurora Tower, which stood out from afar.
Oh no! It looks like a ruin. The roof of the adjoining restaurant has fallen (because of the weight of the snow in winter?). The outer wall of the Aurora Tower itself is in tatters, and of course it is closed. According to the information on the internet, it seems that it has been closed since around 2020 when the Corona pandemic started. I wanted to see the view from the observatory.
There is a monument called Bridge of Four Islands, designed to connect the four northern islands. Seems like the square box is originally lit with a flame called the fire of prayer. Some places have been graffitied and ruined.
The four island bridge monuments and this donation box are both very rusty. It may be weathering along with the message itself, "Return the islands!" I don't feel like putting money in a donation box which is full of rust like this.
Generations who haven't experienced the aftermath of World War II probably don't have much emotion on this issue. For me, since I was born, the Northern Territories have been inhabited by Russians for decades, so I have zero thoughts of being "stolen."
When generations continue to change, and almost all Japanese people do not feel the resentment of being “stolen,” will there be a rational compromise and a solution? The Japanese people started living in Hokkaido in the Edo period (or even Meiji period), so historically it is recent. Before that, it was the land where the Ainu people lived.
The Japanese government considers the Ainu people to be an indigenous people of Japan. To add my own side note, the Ainu are the indigenous people of the land that the Japanese government named Ezo (Hokkaido).
It seems that some people make a leaping claim that "Because the Ainu people are (one of) the ancestors of the Japanese people, so Hokkaido was originally a Japanese territory." However, I think the focus should not be on the DNA, but on whether the people who lived there lived under the Japanese government, obeying the law, and living according to Japanese culture. In that respect, I don't think the Ainu people who lived in Hokkaido before the Japanese started living there have anything to do with the Japanese. The culture and language are completely different.
I don't know how the Ainu people felt about the fact that the Japanese immigrated and decided that it's a Japanese territory. The Russian government did not object to the Japanese government's decision to make Ezo (Hokkaido) a territory of Japan.
Until the Edo period, the vast land where almost no Japanese lived is now called Hokkaido and is part of Japanese territory. Even without looking into it, you can imagine that there must have been various sacrifices and unreasonableness in the process.
I am grateful that Hokkaido is now a territory of Japan and that I am receiving its benefits.
This is just my personal opinion, so please take it as such.
The view from the place where there is a monument called "Return the Northern Territories - Cape Nosappu". You can see the Cape Nosappu Lighthouse. It is the easternmost point of Japan.
As the first place in Japan to see the first sunrise of the year, an event on New Year's Day is held.
Nearby are facilities where you can learn about the Northern Territories for free, such as the Nemuro City Northern Territory Museum and Hoppokan. It doesn't take long to browse through, so it might be a good idea to stop by.
Please visit my glass jewelry shop from the link below.