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Take a Tour (and Learn!) in 3 Hokkaido Museums

(Clockwise from top left）Abashiri Prison Museum, Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum, Sapporo Olympic Museum, Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum’s salted caramel ice cream

Hokkaido, a popular tourist area in Japan, has many unique museums that both children and adults will enjoy. It also has several ski resorts and hot springs for tourists to explore. In this article, we introduce museums you can visit without worrying about terrible weather like rain and snow, and experience various things that can only be found in Hokkaido.

※In Japan, elementary school students are approximately 6-12 years old, junior high school students are 12-15 years old, high school students are 15-18 years old, and university students are 18-22 years old.

(1) Take a history lesson at a century-old prison!
Abashiri Prison Museum

The Abashiri Prison was built more than 120 years ago and is now a tourist attraction.

Abashiri, which is well known for drift ice, has a unique and extremely famous museum. Abashiri Prison, the only prison museum in Japan, is located on the Lake Abashiri side of the scenic Mt. Tento. This site preserves and exhibits the 25 historical buildings of Abashiri Prison, which were built more than 120 years ago and were actually used in the past.

Of all the structures that were relocated and restored from the prison, eight of the buildings are registered as National Important Cultural Properties and six are registered as Tangible Cultural Properties. The highlights of the prison are the wooden prison’s hut chambers and central watch-house, and a physical experience theater, where a video titled 'Forests Where Inmates in a Red Prison Uniform Worked' (with audio support available for five languages: Japanese, Chinese [Mandarin／Cantonese], English, Korean) shows with powerful images how Hokkaido has been cultivated.

Get a picture of yourself as a prisoner in the Abashiri Prison, then try prison food (barley rice, grilled fish, small side dishes, medium-size side dishes, miso soup), which is the actual lunch served at the new Abashiri Prison today. There’s also a cafe in the Administration Building of the prison where you can grab a bite.

What a usual lunch for prisoners in the new Abashiri Prison looks like.

Abashiri Prison Museum

Location：1-1 Aza Yobito, Abashiri-shi, Hokkaido
Access：About 7 minutes by car from JR Abashiri Station
Operating hours:
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Admission fee：
【Adult】 ¥1,500
【Senior high school】 ¥1,000
【Elementary/junior high school student; elderly and disabled】 ¥750
*Discounts are available for Abashiri residents, groups, and tickets purchased online.

(2) Experience drift ice in the summer at the Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum

Clione (or sea slugs, left) and drift ice (right) are available all year round at the Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum.

Drift ice refers to the frozen seawater drifting at sea. It can be seen around Monbetsu, Abashiri, Shiretoko, and other places from the end of January each year. But as it floats on the sea surface, good luck trying to catch it. However, at the Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum, you can see real drift ice anytime!

We recommend the Drift Ice Experience Terrace (World of Drift Ice Experience Room). In a room with a temperature of -15℃, you can touch real drift ice and freeze a wet towel with it in the Shibare Experiment corner. In addition, rare creatures such as several kinds of clione (small floating sea slugs), like the Namedango and Fusennou Clione that live in the Sea of Okhotsk and can only be seen on drift ice, are exhibited. At the on-site cafe, be sure to try the salted caramel-flavored ice cream made using sea salt from the Sea of Okhotsk! Plus, there are lots of areas that even families with children can enjoy, such as the Observation Terrace, where you can appreciate a 360-degree view of the Shiretoko Mountain Range and the Akan Mountains.

Various activities await visitors of the museum.

Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum

Location: 244-3 Tentozan, Abashiri, Hokkaido
Access：About 10 minutes by car from JR Abashiri Station
Operating hours：
【May-October】8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.（Last admission 5:30 p.m.）
【November-April】9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.（Last admission 4 p.m.）
【29th December -5th January】 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.（Last admission 2:30 p.m.）
Admission fee:
【Adult】 ¥770
【Senior high school student】 ¥660
【Elementary/Junior high school student】 ¥550

(3) Feel the excitement of winter sports at an actual Olympic site!
Sapporo Olympic Museum

Winter sports simulations at Sapporo Olympic Museum allow you to experience competing from an athlete’s perspective.

Sapporo Olympic Museum is a museum located at the foot of the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium, which is a well-known observation spot with a vast view of Sapporo City. It’s where materials related to the 1972 Winter Olympic Games held here, as well as the actual equipment used by athletes in the competition, are exhibited.

Also, there are simulators for speed skating, ice hockey, bobsledding, and other sports that allow you to experience the Winter Olympic Games from the perspective of an athlete. Among the simulators, the most popular is the ski jumper. Standing in front of a giant screen, you can try a simulated ski jump from take-off to landing, then see the distance you jumped and your score displayed on the monitor. It’s so much fun, even small kids can do it. After all that excitement, get on the lift to the observation lounge at the summit of Mt. Okura. Enjoy the night in Sapporo with a panoramic view of the city and Ishikari Bay!

Actual equipment of Olympic Winter Games athletes are exhibited in the museum.

Sapporo Olympic Museum

Location: 1274 Miyanomori, Chuo-ku, Sapporo (Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium)
Access：About 10 minutes by car from Maruyama Park Station
Operating hours:
【May 1 - October 31】: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
【November 1 - April 30】9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
(Last admission: 30 minutes before closing)
Admission fee：
【Adult】¥600
【High school students and younger】Free
【Groups of 15 or more】¥540
【65 years old and over】¥450

※Please show proof of your age when entering.
*Groups of 15 or more can avail of group discounts.

Click here for more information on the facilities mentioned in this article.

https://www.japan.travel/en/destinations/hokkaido/hokkaido/
https://en.visit-hokkaido.jp/

Visit all the popular sites in Hokkaido! Convenient for all - The Hokkaido Rail Pass
https://www.japan.travel/en/my/enjoy-smart-trip-travel-passes/all-popular-sites-hokkaido-convenient-all-hokkaido-rail-pass/

Abashiri Prison Museum
https://www.kangoku.jp/multilingual_english/
http://en.visit-eastern-hokkaido.jp/things_to_do/8856/

Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum
https://www.ryuhyokan.com/guide/en/index.html
https://www.abakanko.jp/en/seen/facility/ryuhyokan.html

Sapporo Olympic Museum
http://sapporo-olympicmuseum.jp/english/
https://www.sapporo.travel/find/sports/winter_sports_museum/?lang=en

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