Wakkanai city稚内市alternative words: Wakkanaishi city, Wakkanaishi, Wakkanai-shi, Wakkani shi, Wakkanai keywords: hokkaido , town related topics: Hokkaido prefecture , Rebun island , Rishiri island related web sites: http://www.city.wakkanai.hokkaido.jp explanation: History of Wakkanai began when Matsumae domain settled a trading post with aborigines in 1685. During Meiji period the city was prosperous with fishing of herring then a departure point to Sakhalin when Japan recuperated it after a war of 1905. After the world war II, it lost the contact with Sakhalin but it has surfaced again after a fall of communist regime in Russia. Wakkanai owns canning and freezing factories of fishes and is a tourist base for Rebun Rishiri islands. The population is 45,000. | |