2 Best Sights in Hokkaido, Japan

Hokkaido is the southermost point of the northern community of the Ainu. This museum's delightful exhibits link the polar indigenous people, such as the Ainu, Inuits, and Sami (or Lapps) in a way that shows surprising similarities over wide spaces. Displays compare and contrast the kitchen implements, clothing, and hunting tools of various cultures from northern Japan, the neighboring Russian island of Sakhalin, and the northern parts of America and Eurasia. English-language pamphlets are available. Of particular interest are videos depicting life in the frozen north, such as building igloos. The museum is 5 km (3 miles) from JR Abashiri Station inside Okhotsk Park.

From woolly mammoth molars to bulky 1950s home electronics, the history of Hokkaido is meticulously exhibited here in glass-topped cases—it's all a tad dry compared to the vivid history lesson at the nearby Hokkaido Historical Village, but much more thorough. The building houses an overview of Hokkaido's natural history, how Meiji-era Japan realized that this northern island had coal, fish, and agricultural opportunities ripe for the picking, and also portrays Hokkaido's story in modern times in a newly renovated building. Basic audio guides are available in English.