Hakodate Museum of Northern Peoples, Hakodate

This was a much bigger and more thorough museum than I had expected. It went into lots of aspects about the lives of northern peoples, from clothing to language to daily life. I was glad to see that the museum acknowledged that the encounters between these peoples and the Japanese was often explicitly colonial in nature, and that some of the Japanese sources that are left behind and that are relied on to tell us about the people thus have to be handled carefully. There was information in English pretty much everywhere even if some of the translations were sometimes a bit off. There were 2 videos as well, both very informative, although one of them didn't have English subtitles. The captions, which are written by the director, are some of the funniest and cutest I've ever read in a museum. It was a bit weird to have the director cracking jokes in the captions but I found it quite endearing too! Overall, really great museum :) There is an entrance fee but you can couple it with some of the other attractions in the area and save money. I got a student discount too which made my visit to 3 places about 300 yen, and I reckon that's a bargain.

Very cold in January🥶 Apparently, "Ezo" is the original Ainu name for Hokkaido. You can learn a lot about Hokkaido's history and the native Ainu people here. Each plaque has an English translation of the museum director's comments. They seem like a very playful and enthusiastic person😂 You can get Ainu merchandise too, but I recommend the Ainu souvenir shop Kamuiikoro カムイイコロ nearby if it's open.