Abashiri: What to Do at the Prison Museum, the Drift Ice Museum and Cape Notoro

This guide covers what visitors can do in Abashiri, with the walking times, opening hours, fees and the way in from the airport.

Quick Facts

The table below lists the figures that shape a visit: the airport bus time, the adult admission at the prison museum and the drift-ice museum, and the cruise period.

Item	Detail
Airport bus from Memanbetsu Airport to Abashiri Station	26 minutes
Adult admission to the Museum Abashiri Prison	1,500 yen
Adult admission to the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum	990 yen
Operating period of the drift-ice cruise	January 20 to March 31

Museum Abashiri Prison and Its Prison Meals

The table below lists the opening hours, fees and the way from the station for the Museum Abashiri Prison, followed by the prison-meal sets served at its restaurant.

Item	Detail
Museum Abashiri Prison opening hours	9:00 to 17:00, with admission accepted until 16:00
Museum Abashiri Prison closed days	December 31 and January 1
Museum Abashiri Prison admission for adults	1,500 yen
Museum Abashiri Prison admission for high school students	1,000 yen, and a student ID is needed
Museum Abashiri Prison admission for elementary and junior high school students	750 yen
From JR Abashiri Station to the Museum Abashiri Prison	About 40 minutes on foot, or about 7 minutes by car
Prison-meal set A at the prison restaurant	1,100 yen
Prison-meal set B at the prison restaurant	1,200 yen
Prison-meal serving times at the prison restaurant	11:00 to 15:00, with last order at 14:30

Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum and the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples

The Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples stands near the summit of Mount Tento, a small hill in Abashiri.

The table below lists the opening hours by season and the fees of the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum.

Item	Detail
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum opening hours from May to October	8:30 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:30
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum opening hours from November to April	9:00 to 16:30, with last admission at 16:00
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum opening hours from December 29 to January 5	10:00 to 15:00, with last admission at 14:30
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum last admission	30 minutes before closing time
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum admission for adults	990 yen
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum admission for high school students	880 yen
Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum admission for elementary and junior high school students	770 yen

The next table lists the opening hours, fees, collection and travel times for the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples.

Item	Detail
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples opening hours from October to June	9:30 to 16:30
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples opening hours from July to September	9:00 to 17:00
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples closed days	Mondays, or the next weekday if Monday is a public holiday, plus temporary closures and December 29 to January 3, with no closed days in February and from July to September
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples admission for adults	550 yen
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples admission for high school and university students	200 yen
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples admission for elementary and junior high school students and people aged 65 and over	Free
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples collection	About 900 items collected from around the world, arranged by themes such as clothing, food and housing, and livelihoods
Distance from JR Abashiri Station to the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples	About 5 km
Abashiri Bus sightseeing loop from JR Abashiri Station to the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples	About 15 minutes
Taxi from the front of Abashiri Station to the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples	About 10 minutes
Bus fare from Abashiri Station to the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples	420 yen
Bus fare from Abashiri Bus Terminal to the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples	480 yen
Drive from Memanbetsu Airport to the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples	17 km, within 30 minutes

Drift-Ice Cruise on the Icebreaker Aurora

The table below lists the operating period of the cruise, the cruise times of the large and small Aurora vessels and the airport bus ride to the Aurora Terminal.

Item	Detail
Operating period of the Abashiri drift-ice sightseeing icebreaker	January 20 to March 31
Cruise time of the large vessel Aurora	About 1 hour, which may vary depending on the drift-ice conditions
Cruise time of the small vessel Aurora	About 2 hours, which may vary depending on the drift-ice conditions
Airport bus from Memanbetsu Airport to the Aurora Terminal	40 minutes

Visitors who would rather not piece the cruise and the museums together themselves can browse tours around Abashiri.

Cape Notoro, the Glasswort Colony, the Bird-Watching Trail and the Moyoro Shell Mound Museum

At Notoro Lake, the glasswort colony has a wooden boardwalk that lets visitors walk to the middle of the red landscape. The Yobito bird-watching trail circles the Yobito Peninsula in Abashiri.

The table below lists the lighthouse figures, the travel times to each place, and the opening hours and fees of the Moyoro Shell Mound Museum.

Item	Detail
Cape Notoro lighthouse height and light	21 m above the ground and 57 m above sea level, flashing once every 8 seconds, with the light reaching about 36 kilometers
Year the Cape Notoro lighthouse was first lit	1917
By car from the central urban area of Abashiri to Cape Notoro	About 20 minutes
By car from JR Abashiri Station to the Notoro Lake glasswort colony	About 16 minutes
By bus from Abashiri Station to the stop for the Notoro Lake glasswort colony	20 minutes
Total length of the Yobito bird-watching trail	7.0 kilometers
By car from Abashiri Station to the Yobito bird-watching trail	About 10 minutes, 7.8 km
By car from Memanbetsu Airport to the Yobito bird-watching trail	About 15 minutes, 12.4 km
Moyoro Shell Mound Museum opening hours	9:00 to 17:00, and until 16:00 from November to April
Moyoro Shell Mound Museum closed days	No closed days from July to September; from October to June, Mondays, public holidays and December 29 to January 3
Moyoro Shell Mound Museum admission for adults	300 yen
Moyoro Shell Mound Museum admission for high school and university students	200 yen
Moyoro Shell Mound Museum admission for elementary and junior high school students	100 yen
Walk from JR Abashiri Station to the Moyoro Shell Mound Museum	About 25 minutes
Walk from the Moyoro-iriguchi bus stop to the Moyoro Shell Mound Museum	5 minutes

Ice-Floe Soft Serve and Fish Cakes

The Otani kamaboko shop makes its fish cakes from pollock surimi caught in the waters off Hokkaido.

The table below lists the prices and opening hours of the cafe inside the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum.

Item	Detail
Ice-floe soft serve at the cafe in the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum	500 yen
Coffee, hot or iced, at the cafe	300 yen
Assorted soft drinks at the cafe	200 yen each
Cafe opening hours from May to October	8:30 to 18:00
Cafe opening hours from November to April	9:00 to 16:30

Getting to Abashiri from Memanbetsu Airport and Beyond

The list below gives the airport bus times to the stops in Abashiri.

1. From Memanbetsu Airport, the airport bus takes 26 minutes to Abashiri Station.
2. From Memanbetsu Airport, the airport bus takes 35 minutes to Abashiri Bus Terminal.

Item	Detail
Airport bus departure from Memanbetsu Airport	About 10 minutes after the arriving flight
Airport bus departure from Abashiri Bus Terminal	About 70 minutes before the aircraft departure time
Drive from Memanbetsu Airport to the Abashiri city area	About 30 minutes
Taxi from the front of Abashiri Station to Memanbetsu Airport	About 6,800 yen
Flight from Tokyo (Haneda) to Memanbetsu Airport	About 1 hour 50 minutes
Flight from Sapporo (New Chitose) to Memanbetsu Airport	About 50 minutes