Fodor's Expert Review Museum of Maritime Science

This museum houses an impressive collection of models and displays on the history of Japanese shipbuilding and navigation. Built in the shape of an ocean liner, the museum is huge; if you're interested in ships, plan at least a couple of hours here to do it justice. There are no English-language explanations at the museum. Anchored alongside the museum are the ferries: Yotei-maru, which for some 30 years plied the narrow straits between Aomori and Hokkaido, and the icebreaker Soya-maru, the first Japanese ship to cross the Arctic Circle.