Cape Sōya

Cape Sōya is the northernmost point of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is situated in Wakkanai, Sōya Subprefecture. The Monument of the Northernmost Point of Japan is at the cape, although the true northernmost point under Japanese control is the small deserted island of Benten-jima, northwest. Since the cape is just away across La Perouse Strait from Cape Crillon, Sakhalin Island, it is possible to see the island of Sakhalin from Cape Sōya on a clear day.
There are more than ten monuments at Cape Sōya, including the Monument of the Northernmost Point of Japan, the Tower of Prayer, a statue of Mamiya Rinzō, the Monument of Peace. Sōya Misaki settlement, east of the cape, has many facilities known to be "the northernmost in Japan", including the northernmost lighthouse, the northernmost filling station, and the northernmost elementary school.

Etymology

Cape Soya is called notetu in the Ainu language, where not means chin or cape, and etu means nose.
The name Soya is theorised to come from so ya in Ainu, meaning "Rocky shore".

Monument of Peace

On the site of Cape Sōya stands the Monument of Peace, a memorial to the, sunk with 80 men aboard on October 11, 1943, as well as 5 Japanese merchant ships sunk with 690 people, attacked by Wahoo. The inscription on the memorial reads in part:
The exact position of Wahoo was confirmed by a dive team from the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd in July 2006.

Tower of Prayer

Cape Sōya is the location of another memorial, the Tower of Prayer. The monument, which is 19.83 metres tall and constructed from granite, stands in remembrance of the 269 people that were killed during Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on 1 September 1983. In the incident, the aircraft operating the flight was shot down by a Soviet Air Forces Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor near Moneron Island, roughly 98 kilometres to the north of the cape.