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Guidance on Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum

Welcome to the Sea Ice Museum

The Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum is a unique facility where visitors can experience and explore exhibitions about the science of drift ice. It is one of the very few museums in the world dedicated to this fascinating natural phenomenon. Inside, you’ll discover many intriguing secrets about drift ice on display.

Experience the harsh chill of winter in the Severe Cold Experience Room, where temperatures drop to -20°C and real drift ice is available for you to see and touch.

You can download the mini encyclopedia of Drift Ice here. This book provides comprehensive information about the drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk and will also enhance your understanding of it.

GIZA: The museum’s nickname comes from the Japanese word “giza-giza,” meaning “jagged,” like the shape of drift ice.

Introduction of the Exhibition Room

In the Exhibition Room, there are various interactive exhibits, such as the “Severe Cold Experiencing Room,” where the temperature is set at -20°C and you can see and touch drift ice throughout the year; the “Dome Theater,” which features highly vivid, large-scale images; and equipment that helps visitors understand the formation of drift ice, including the “Frazil Ice Generation Equipment”, “Supercooling Equipment”, and the “Schlieren Optical Instrument” (which allows you to observe the movement of salt water).

These exhibits make it possible to learn about drift ice while having fun.

Major annual events

Photo exhibitions, artwork exhibition, craftwork workshop, events held during the Spring vacation in May, Waku-Waku Science School (held in July), learning through experiences, GIZA Festival (held in each season),GIZA movie party, beach combing, Wild Treck Exhibition, Kids’ Future School, creative exhibitions(in October), science lectures, and events relevant with international symposiums, etc.

About Museum

The southern limit for drift ice

Every year, drift ice arrives along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk in Hokkaido, particularly around the Mombetsu and Abashiri areas. This region is located at 44 degrees north latitude, marking the southernmost limit for sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere. Since no sea ice exists at such a low latitude in the Southern Hemisphere, the sea ice observed here occurs at the lowest latitude anywhere in the world. (The term “sea ice” is used scientiﬁcally rather than “drift ice.”)

Establishment of Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum

Since the Sea Ice Research Laboratory of Hokkaido University was established in Mombetsu City in 1965 (operating until 2004) and drift ice radars were installed in Mombetsu and its surrounding areas, the International Symposium on Sea Ice has been held annually in Mombetsu since 1986. As a result, Mombetsu has become known as the center of sea ice research.

In 1991, the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido was established by Hokkaido Prefecture as a place where people can learn clearly about sea ice and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the only museum in the world dedicated entirely to the theme of sea ice.

Facilities of Museum

Take a look at the exciting facilities featured in the museum:

Cold Experiencing Room (-20°C): You can touch real drift ice.
Ice Aquarium: Features many fish specimens encased in ice.
Dome Theater: Experience the sensation of flying over drift ice.
Drift Ice Development Model: Demonstrates the process from frazil ice to thick ice.
Clione Tank: Watch numerous Clione, known as the “angels of the sea ice,” swim gracefully.
Diorama of the Sea of Okhotsk: Illustrates how drift ice forms and arrives in the region.

Aspect

Building: Steel-reinforced concrete construction. One floor below ground level (cold room), and three stories above ground level.

Building Area: 2700 square meters.

History

1991: Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido establishment
1st director: Seiichi Kinoshita (Hokkaido Univ. emeritus professor)
1995: Registered as “Michi no Eki” (Road Station)
2002: 2nd director: Masaaki Aota (Hokkaido Univ. emeritus professor)
2013: 3rd director: Tsuneo Nishiyama (former Tokai Univ. Sapporo school’s president)
2014: 4th director: Shuhei Takahashi (Kitami Inst. of Tech. emeritus professor)

Facilities surrounding the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum

Okhotsk Tower

In the 1970s, major companies interested in participating in the Sakhalin offshore oil field development project conducted various studies on sea ice. As part of these efforts, a drift ice observation tower was constructed offshore near the museum to measure the pressure of drift ice. However, Japanese companies ultimately did not engage in large-scale oil field development, and the drift ice observation tower was later transformed into the Okhotsk Tower—a research facility and tourist attraction where visitors can walk beneath the drift ice.

Ice Breaker Garinko

An Archimedes screw-type vehicle, equipped with two drills, was developed as a means of traveling on sea ice for the purpose of oil field development. A driving test was conducted on the sea ice. This technology later evolved into the vessel Garinko II, a drift ice sightseeing icebreaker capable of sailing out of port.
Currently, it operates alongside the next-generation vessel, Garinko III IMERU.

Crab scissors object

There is a gigantic crab scissors monument near the Sea Ice Museum whose size is 12m high, 6m wide, and which weighs 7 tons.This was produced for the Drift Ice Art Festival which was held by Mombetsu City in 1983. It used to float in the sea among the drift ice, but at present, it is placed on land. Other objects such as “Salmon parent and baby” and “Pyramid” were also produced, but some got sunk and some got deteriorated, and don’t exist anymore.

Admission fee

Groups Fee: Groups discount is applied to a group of 10 or more people.
Young Persons: Young persons (Junior high school students or younger than them) are free of charge.

[Name of facility] Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido, nickname: GIZA
Address: Motomombetsu 11, Mombetsu City, Hokkaido, 094-0023, Japan
Tel: +81-158-23-5400, URL: https://giza-ryuhyo.com
[Closed on] Mondays (open on national holidays), the following day of a national holiday,year-end and new year holiday (Dec. 29-Jan. 3)
[Open hours] 9:00- 17:00 (L.O. 16:30. Open on all days during the drift ice season)

Map of area surrounding Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum

住所

北海道紋別市元紋別１１番地

開館時間

9.00 am–5.00 pm

休館:毎週月曜日（祝日除く）
　　年末年始（12/29〜1/3）
大型連休や夏休み期間、冬の流氷シーズン(1/4～3/31)は無休です

お問合せ

TEL　(0158)23-5400
FAX　(0158)23-9844
MAIL info@giza-ryuhyo.com

当施設は「道の駅オホーツク紋別」の案内所に指定されております。
詳しくは上記サイトをご覧ください。