Ice Breaker Garingo

Get up close and personal with the drift ice on this sightseeing boat from/to Monbetsu Port. The 1 hour cruise runs from mid-January to the end of March. Originally built for oil field development in Alaska, the Garingo II is a beautiful red-bodied icebreaker. The two special screws at the bow of the ship break […]

Memanbetsu Airport

Domestic flights to and from Tokyo (Haneda), Nagoya (Chubu), and Sapporo (New Chitose) are available. 5 – 6 flights depart each day from Tokyo (Haneda) and Sapporo (Chitose), only 1 flight per day from Nagoya (Chubu). There is another airport in the area, Monbetsu Airport, but it is about 100 km northwest of Abashiri City […]

Abashiri Prison Museum

The open-air history museum opened in 1983. Used as a prison for felons since 1880, the historical buildings of the Abashiri Prison were sequentially moved to the current location or newly reconstructed. Visitors can learn about prison life and the harsh labor of prisoners at that time, as well as the history of Hokkaido’s pioneering […]

Sakanatei Kihachi

Lake Notoro

Lake Notoro – a massive saltwater lake spanning 580,000m2 connected to the Sea of Okhotsk – is home to primeval flowers along the lakeside, famous especially for the infinite sea of red from the Salicornia europaea (also known as Sangocho) in autumn. Mid- to late-September is the best time to visit, when the deep red […]

Yojo Hormone

Abashiri Drift Ice Sightseeing & Icebreaker Ship – Aurora

Get up close and personal with this sightseeing cruise from Abashiri Port. The cruise lasts for about 1 hour and runs from the end of January to the beginning of April. All 491 tons of the ship break the ice blocks apart as it marvelously moves forward, and because of its large size there is […]