Former Abashiri Prison Futamigaoka Branch (Futamigaoka Farm)

Former Abashiri Prison Futamigaoka Branch (Futamigaoka Farm): Japan's Oldest Surviving Wooden Prison Architecture

Tucked into the wooded hills west of Abashiri City in eastern Hokkaido stands a remarkable cluster of timber buildings that together form the oldest surviving wooden prison complex in Japan. The Former Abashiri Prison Futamigaoka Branch, also known as the Futamigaoka Farm, was established in 1896 as a self-sufficient agricultural facility where inmates raised crops to feed the main prison. More than 125 years later, the buildings have been carefully relocated to the open-air Abashiri Prison Museum, where visitors can step inside an extraordinary chapter of Japan's modern history.

Of the original five-building complex, four structures—the kitchen (suiba), the chapel and dining hall (kyokaido oyobi shokudo), the key and chain attachment office (kensafuchakujo), and the inmate quarters (shabo)—are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, alongside the administration building. Each tells a different part of the story of how Japan's prison system evolved during the Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa eras.

Historical Background

The origins of the Futamigaoka Branch are inseparable from the broader story of Hokkaido's frontier development. In the late nineteenth century, the Meiji government turned to convict labor as a tool for opening up Japan's northernmost island, and Abashiri Prison—then known as the Kushiro Penal Settlement Abashiri Branch—became one of the largest such institutions in the country.

In 1896 (Meiji 29), the prison authorities established a satellite facility on a forested hillside about three kilometers west of the main compound. Originally called the Kussharo Outpost Work Camp, it occupied a position offering sweeping views of two lakes—Lake Abashiri and Lake Notoro—from which the name "Futamigaoka," meaning "Hill of Two Views," was eventually drawn. The site was selected for its broad, fertile land suitable for agriculture, with the goal of making the prison self-sufficient in food.

The original 1896 buildings included the administration building, the inmate quarters, and the kitchen. As the importance of the facility grew, additional structures were added: the chapel and dining hall in 1926 (Taisho 15) and the key and chain attachment office in 1930 (Showa 5). The buildings were eventually linked by covered passageways to form a unified compound of roughly 586 tsubo, or about 1,933 square meters. In 1929 (Showa 4), the camp was officially redesignated as the Futamigaoka Branch of Abashiri Prison.

For more than a century, the facility continued to operate as a working agricultural prison. In 1999 (Heisei 11), the buildings were dismantled and faithfully reconstructed at the Abashiri Prison Museum on Mount Tento, where they have been preserved for public viewing.

Why It Was Designated an Important Cultural Property

On February 9, 2016, the Japanese government designated this group of buildings as an Important Cultural Property under the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The designation recognized several distinctive qualities that set the Futamigaoka complex apart from any other surviving prison architecture in Japan.

First, the inmate quarters represent some of the oldest prison cell architecture still standing in Japan, dating to the mid-Meiji period. Their timber-frame construction, central guard post, and arrangement of cells provide an irreplaceable record of how late nineteenth-century Japanese authorities translated Western penal concepts into wooden vernacular building.

Second, the complex is one of the very few examples nationwide of a prison built around an agricultural farm. Most surviving prison architecture in Japan reflects the model of a fortified urban institution; the Futamigaoka Branch instead documents the development of "outside-the-walls" labor camps and, eventually, the open-treatment facilities that became a feature of modern Japanese corrections.

Third, the buildings collectively trace the evolution of penal philosophy over more than three decades, from the late nineteenth-century model of strict isolation to the Taisho and early Showa emphasis on rehabilitation through work, education, and religious instruction. The presence of a chapel, a dining hall, and an open-treatment compound under a single roofline is itself a rare survival.

Highlights and Things to See

Each of the four designated buildings rewards a slow, observant visit, and together they create a walking tour through more than three decades of Japanese carceral history.

Visitor Information and Access

The Futamigaoka Branch is one of the most popular sections of the Abashiri Prison Museum, an open-air museum located on Mount Tento that preserves twenty-five buildings from the original prison complex. The museum sits within the Abashiri Quasi-National Park and offers a half-day or full-day visit for those who want to explore at leisure.

Access is straightforward: the museum is about a seven-minute drive from JR Abashiri Station, or visitors can take the sightseeing bus that stops directly at the museum entrance. Free guided tours are offered, and a paid English-language audio guide is available for foreign visitors.

One of the most memorable visitor experiences is the chance to sample "kangoku-shoku," or prison-style meals, modeled on what inmates at the current Abashiri Prison eat today. The meals, served at the museum restaurant and at certain seasons in the original Futamigaoka dining hall itself, feature seven-parts-rice-to-three-parts-barley with grilled fish, miso soup, and side dishes—simple, hearty fare that rounds out the historical immersion.

Surrounding Attractions

Abashiri makes an excellent base for exploring the cultural and natural treasures of eastern Hokkaido. Within the museum grounds itself, other highlights include the cross-shaped Five-Wing Radial Single-Story Cell Block, the Chapel from the original main prison, and the Mirror Bridge that visitors cross at the entrance.

Nearby Mount Tento offers panoramic views over Lake Abashiri, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Shiretoko Peninsula. The Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum, dedicated to the drift ice that fills the sea each winter, is just a short distance away. In the city itself, visitors can explore the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples, while travelers with more time can continue eastward to the Shiretoko Peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage natural site.