shiraoi ainu musuem and village

我对这个地方感到很失望。记得,当我们问一个日本工作人员是否可以和我们合照时,她立马回答说“不行,我很忙”。5分钟过后,她却答应和我们合照了。但却是一副不情愿的表情。哎,实在让人失望!总之,鉴于这里提供了北海道虾夷人的历史信息,我可能会推荐这里给你。但提醒你,不要对它有所期望。

This village is small seems like it's built for the tourists to learn about the Ainu culture. There are about 5 house there and has the Ainu performance (I'm not sure that 10 a.m. or not). This place near the lake, I went there in winter so the lake is frozen. The Ainu Speaker is very clever and funny. He can talk in many language; Japanese (absolutely), Chinese and Thai. He try to entertain everyone who come to see the show.In this place, there are the black bear that you can feed them (100 yen per little bag of biscuite). And if you're a dog lover, this place has the Ainu dog, they're so cute!For me, it's a good place to go for inform yourself about the Ainu culture but it's not wow.

Our tour stop here was very good. Only significant problem is that during the presentation, the horrendous amount of translation in multiple languages is a detractor. I wish Japanese guides would use state of the art equipment for translation such as head sets (like they use in Europe) Our guide was across room and we could not hear her. We visited in summer so the bears and dogs were in the shade of their cages.

The museum and shows were a great display of Ainu culture. I love learning about indigenous cultures, and there's a fine line between respectful and exploitative. This place did a good job at sharing the Ainu culture without making it feel like a human zoo. The only downfall was the way they kept their animals. The museum talks about how the Ainu revered the bear, and then you see them cooped up in tiny little cages. They were atrocious! They just kept frantically pacing back and forth. It made me very sad to see them that way, and I hope people can put enough pressure on this place to give the animals a better enclosure.

I share the sentiment of many reviewers when it comes to this attraction:Yes, it is a good place to learn about Ainu culture.But to have caged animals on display - especially in such bad condition - is a BIG NO NO!!!For anybody who finds it upsetting, saddening or just plain wrong for the museum to cage the animals as it does now, I strongly urge that you voice it out to the museum folks directly!!!The museum has a website with multiple language options. It doesn't contain an email address but it does display a fax number. The museum also has Facebook & Twitter pages.So please, help the animals!!!

Go early for the shows; it can get very crowded; narration only in Japanese so it’ll help to read guide books in advance. A great place EXCEPT, I agree with earlier reviewers – I didn’t enjoy the caged bears and dogs.

As much as i like the cultural experience it was all over shadowed by the cruel and poor conditions in which the bears are kept. For me it is in-acceptable to keep animals under such conditions, the only word I have is horrendous and its so overwhelming that I can hardly remember the rest of the place. It is so sad ....

It's a short train ride from Noboribetsu, a 10 minute walk from Shiraoi station. The station staff was very helpful and gave me clear directions and a discount voucher to the museum. The museum is located right next to a lake and it was almost entirely frozen, making a great photo opportunity. You will see many Ainu houses, each has a different display. Some of them were closed because it was winter, but I did manage to see the interior of 2 of the houses and it was nice. The best experience was the 30 minute live performance by the museum staff, and it was amazing to see so many dried fish hanging from the roof of the house. There's a fixed time for the performance, so make sure you check the timing. The main museum was rather spooky and dark, and there was no one, not even a staff member. It was absolutely terrible to see large brown bears kept in tiny cages. There was no really reason to have these bears in the museum and to be caged up. There were Akita dogs in cages too, and they were not happy dogs. I would have rated it a good attraction if not for the cruelty to animals.There's a nice cafe right in front of Shiraoi station where you can have lunch or dessert.

I made a day trip to the museum/village from Sapporo, while also visiting Noboribetsu.I agree with other reviews on this site. The museum sections was interesting, as was the replica of an ainu village, however, nothing i saw there could make up for the sadness i experienced seeing 4 wild brown bears in some of the worst conditions i think i have ever seen bears kept in. These bears are in substandard conditions that is unthinkable. They can do nothing except barely turn around and sleep in these what i best describe as prison cells. Do not pay money to enter this place and support this cause. I actually read previous reviews and went to this place anyway, thinking "how bad can it be?" - well i found out. Sadly, this experience completely put me off visiting the Noboribetsu Bear park at the nearby town.

The area is a bit small compared to the one in Sapporo. Not much to see here. There are few bears and and wolf/dog. There are some schedule show but in japanese.

Upon entering the Ainu Village, you can see black bears kept in unspeakable conditions in cages barely big enough to turn around in. I was extremely disappointed and heartsick to see wild animals kept this way. Even if this was once the custom of the Ainu peoples, they were only kept in cages temporarily until being killed for food or ceremony. These animals are clearly suffering.The cultural show with traditional song and dance, etc was good, but couldn't make up for the horrible sight of those bears.

My friend and I stopped at Shiraoi Ainu Museum for a couple hours. It's a small replica village of a culture that had almost been forgotten. The museum is a great introduction into the life of the Ainu people. The indoor dance show is a must see! I really thought the dried fish hanging up in the huts were really cool! Guess what? They're real fish and they sell the fish meat in the shops! There's also a bizarre musical instrument (which you can buy) that makes cool sounds! They have real bears and dogs that are really cool to see!Warning, the description of how the bears were killed is quite sad, but not unique to this culture.Also, I read IwanttogotoJapan's review, and I feel sorry for his/her experience. We had no problem taking photos with the staff.

It shows the origin of Hokkaido tribesmen way of living. Interesting that they could live peacefully with Samurai from Tokyo. Great shows that the performer could speak many languages. Delicious soft ice cream too!

We got to Shiraoi by express train from Sapporo in an hour. It cost around 5,000yen per person round-trip with reserved seats. The train ride was smooth and the train interior is clean. It was a 10 to 15-minute walk from Shiraoi station to Porotokotan Ainu village. From the train station, turn left at the traffic light and go straight for some time. Turn left again when you see the supermarket (I think the name is "Seria") on the left corner. Cross the train track and you turn right at the next corner and you will see the entrance to the Ainu village. The entrance ticket is 750yen per person. We saw the Ainu dogs which are so cute. The village also has 3 brown bears in captivity. I feel bad for the bears because they are kept in small enclosures and I think they just spend their days sleeping and eating. They looked really sluggish and lazy. I hope something will be done about this because it looked like the bears are living in substandard conditions and aren't happy. Aside from the plight of the bears, everything else was enjoyable. We did a workshop where we made the Mukkuri mouth harp and got to practice playing it. We also watched the Ainu show and they provide explanations in Japanese only. We also had some snacks in the Ainu cafe. We enjoyed the Salmon Soup. It was delicious and perfectly hot for a winter day. We also enjoyed browsing in the museum. the exhibits are in good condition and very interesting. We also had a fun time browsing in the gift shop. I got a small bandanna with embroidered patterns made by Ainu women. Outside the entrance gate there were a few shops that claim to sell Ainu goods. We found some of the shop clerks too pushy and aggressive, very un-Japanese.

learn alot about the aborigines of hokkaido. Learnt about the history. the show is very interesting as the host is engaging. Can even speak hokkien and chinese. superb!