Otaru Canal Museum & Information Center

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Otaru City General Museum Canal Museum has an extensive collection that introduces the history of Otaru City including information on the natural environment. The exhibition includes 20,000 objects and materials in its collection. The museum is located by Otaru Canal and can be found in the 'former Otaru warehouse'. Read More ....

Tokai Lavender Fields

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On the Tokai Sapporo School campus the grounds really comes alive with lavender. It is said that the south district of Sapporo, where the campus is located, is known as the birthplace of lavender cultivation in Japan. Read More ....

Urahoro Shrine

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During the Meiji Era, as the town of Urahoro (on the south east coast of Hokkaido) was being developed, the pioneers called for the construction of a shrine to serve as a spiritual centre. On August 15, 1896, a small shrine was erected, enshrining Amaterasu (goddess of the sun and the universe). Read More ....

Onnenai Visitor Center

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The Kushiro Shitsugen National Park, also known as the Kushiro Marshland is a sprawling national park to the north of Kushiro. There are half a dozen observation decks, museums, and walking paths that surround the park. The Onnenai Visitor Center is one of these museums and can be found on the western side of the marshland. Read More ....

Kushiro Shitsugen National Park

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The Kushiro Shitsugen National park (better known as the Kushiro Marshland) is a national park, located to the north of Kushiro on the eastern side of Hokkaido. The park is known for its wetlands ecosystems. 'Shitsugen' translates to wetlands in English. It was designated as a national park on 31 July 1987. The massive park covers an area of 268.61 square kilometres on the Kushiro plain and is well known for its wildlife and vegetation. Read More ....

Kushiro Marsh Observatory

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Perched at the top of a large hill, overlooking Kushiro Marsh, you can find the Kushiro Marsh Observatory. This is one of the most interesting buildings in Hokkaido. The exterior, and especially the interior, has a strange and unique design and is reminiscent of a cool sci-fi movie. The central hall of the museum is definitely a place to get some photos. Read More ....

Obihiro Shrine

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In 1881, a man named Benzo Yoda and others from Shizuoka Prefecture organized a pioneer group called the "Bansei-sha". This group and settled inShimo-Obihiro Village and started pioneering. During this time, they started holding festivals and later built a small shrine, though the connection with the current Obihiro Shrine is still not well known. Read More ....

Kushiro City Museum

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The history of the Kushiro City Museum dates far back to 1936. Originally, an exhibition room was set up as the "Kushiro City Folk Museum" on the second floor of the Kushiro City Hall Waterworks Construction Office. Over the decades, the location changed and finally on November 3rd, 1983, the "Kushiro City Museum" was born. Read More ....

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Old Fukuhara Herring House

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Admission	￥300 Adults ￥100 Children
Opening Hours	9:00 - 16:30
Closed	Mondays Winter (November to mid April)
Contact	0135-22-5600
Notes	Parking available
Location / Getting There	Located on main road in Yoichi region. 1 hour 30 minute drive from Sapporo. 150−1 Hamanakachō, Yoichi-chō, Yoichi-gun, Hokkaidō 046-0021

During the Edo period, the coastal waters off Hokkaido in the Sea of Japan once flourished with herring. It was here in Yoichi that the fishing buildings were built. The fishing buildings and grounds were repaired and restored by the Fukuhara family until 1868. Now, you can take a step back in time and get a real sense of what life was like one hundred and fifty years ago. This valuable historic site can be accessed by car and is a must see while in the town of Yoichi.

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Inside the old treasury

The very reasonable price of admission will get you into the large grounds where you will find around half a dozen large buildings. Four of these you may enter. The largest building at the center of the grounds, is the first building that is noticeable from the road as you are driving along. This three story building used to serve as a secure treasury building for the local towns money and gold, hence the fortified windows around the building. Now it serves as a museum for artifacts over the last century. It overlooks the old grounds that were used for cutting and processing the herring.

Living quarters

The other buildings that may be entered include the fishing storage, that contains dozens of paintings, dioramas, and a fishing boat. It is a great building to stop by to study the history and folklore. The other, and equally fascinating building is also an old style home, that upon entering, shoes must be taken off. This house gives an interesting insight into living conditions in the past. They have tea rooms, old household items, and photographs of life One of the rooms has an antique hairdesser’s chair that was handled by some barber, now long gone.

: Antique barbers chair

: Fishing museum

: Plenty of artifacts

So, for a nice (and cheap) day out, the Old Fukuhara Herring House is a great spot to visit. Not only, is the road out a nice drive, or ride, along the coast, but the Herring House is a place steeped in history. To get there, follow the Yoichi National Highway (route 5), which is a turn off to the right, after you pass through the small city of Otaru.