You can view Kunashiri Island for free through a Nikon telescope! You can see nearby birds clearly too! I couldn't make out houses, but I could see the middle and upper parts of the mountains! Even though it's close, apparently you can't go there directly from Japan now. Somehow that's frustrating. It would be nice to have exchanges that benefit both sides, like Andorra in Europe,, I was so happy to see a story that appears in Golden Kamuy presented as a manga!! The staff apparently didn't know much about the Northern Territories. It seems it would be more enjoyable if they studied a little more! They said to park at the ramen shop next door. Everything is free!

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Many valuable materials about the Northern Territories are on display. There are also many photographs of people traveling back and forth during visa-free exchanges, giving it a complicated atmosphere. The 2nd floor is an observation space, and the telescopes can also be used for free. Kunashiri Island is approximately 24km from here in a straight line. Hopefully, a day will come in the near future when Japanese people can travel back and forth freely.

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There probably isn't a parking lot, and it seems you park somewhere nearby. Materials relating to the Northern Territories are on display. You can view Kunashiri Island through a telescope on the upper floor. Hoping for their early return.

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This is a very small museum on the left when heading from Shiretoko toward Nemuro. I'll mention this first: apparently you may park at the ramen shop next door. Kunashiri Island, at the closest border to Japan, is clearly visible to the naked eye. With 80 years having passed since the war, perhaps partly because Japan's current threat comes more from China than Russia or North Korea, the Northern Territories are starting to be forgotten. In that situation, building this facility in the most prominent location in Shibecha Town is wonderful. I can also only thank Shibecha Town for not abandoning this facility in the Reiwa era, but maintaining it and keeping it free. Truly, the woman here was so kind that I was a little moved. She told me that although the heating was on, not the whole building was warm, and she even saw me off after I toured the facility. As an aside, the other day there was a display in Sapporo's underground shopping area of old and current photographs of the Northern Territories. Almost all the pictures showed places where islanders lived 80 years ago now turned into overgrown grassland. This museum shows that Kunashiri Island alone had quite a number of towns. After leaving this museum, I thought that perhaps this Hokkaido could also have been occupied 80 years ago. Thinking about that lets me imagine that things happened back then that we cannot imagine.

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There are facilities related to the Northern Territories in various places in Hokkaido, but overall this one seems to have many personal materials. A bird's-eye map of Kunashiri Island immediately after the war has many Japanese surnames written on it, giving it an interesting feel similar to today's detailed residential maps. Apparently, Kunashiri Island, 24㎞ away, can be seen from Shibetsu Town about 60％ of the time, and it was perfectly visible when I visited the facility.

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