Golden Kamuy's Most Notorious Destination Is a Museum Now. Leave Your Livestream at the Gate

What you're looking at

In Golden Kamuy (2018), the Meiji-era Abashiri Prison is a key location in the hunt for hidden Ainu gold. The real prison's historic buildings were moved and preserved as the Abashiri Prison Museum. Its five-wing radial cell house, open to visitors since 1985, is Japan's oldest surviving prison building and an Important Cultural Property.

There's no anime collaboration here that we could find, and the museum isn't on any official anime map. You come because the history in the story happened here.

Getting there

From Sapporo, the Limited Express Okhotsk takes about five and a half hours to Abashiri. From Abashiri Station, it's about 10 minutes by bus or 7 by taxi. There's no direct bus from Memanbetsu Airport; change at the station.

Before you go

• Photos yes, streams no. Photography is allowed except in some areas, but filming for video-sharing sites and live-streaming are banned.
• Hours: 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00; closed December 31 and January 1 (museum, 2026).
• No pets (assistance dogs are fine), and the whole site is non-smoking.
• Work in progress. Seismic retrofitting of the cultural-property buildings is under way, and some areas may be closed while it continues.

Also nearby

• The Kyokaido lecture hall, inside the museum, another Important Cultural Property.
• Abashiri Prison itself, the still-active prison about 3 km away. It's a working prison, not an attraction.
• The 2026 live-action film used drone scans of the museum's historic buildings for its effects, and the museum displayed its posters before the March 2026 release.