Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples: Discovering Indigenous History of the North

This museum displays fascinating artifacts relating to the northern peoples of Hokkaido, including the Ainu and the Uilta. Located in a building that used to house the Hakodate branch of the Bank of Japan, built in 1926, the Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples offers visitors a peek into the lives of the indigenous people of the North with information rarely available outside of the archipelago! When at the museum, check out the Baba and Kodama collections of Ainu artifacts and official garments from China’s Qing dynasty (1644-1912). If you are up for it, the museum also provides practical workshops, including the opportunity to try making a mukkuri, a traditional Ainu musical instrument.