The Museum Shop -- a great place to find some unique souvenirs!

Buy souvenirs at the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples

Museum’s souvenirs are a well-kept secret. Take a look in the museum shop of the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples in Abashiri.
Words by Miyuki Shibata
Photographs by Yukitaka Ida
Translation by Xene Inc.

Leather pen-case with Russian Koryak bead embroidery (7,600 yen), wallet (3,400 yen), etc. The bead embroidery is the work of Tatyana, a Koryak. The leather is an original product made in Japan. *All prices are inclusive of tax

The Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples researches and exhibits materials related to ethnic minorities that live between 40- and 45-degrees north latitude: many of which live in Russia and China like the Uilta, Nanai and Nivkh, or the Northwest Coast Indians of the North American continent, the Sami of Scandinavia, and the Ainu – not just in Hokkaido but including those in Sakhalin, too.

The traditional tools they use in their lives are decorated with intricately carved patterns and embroidery, which have become esteemed as works of art.

Uilta

Popular goods such as a tray (3,000 yen) and a shopping bag (3,500 yen) made by a Uilta embroidery circle.

The appealing products sold in the shop at the Museum of Northern People include the handicrafts and designs of such minority peoples. In particular, goods that have been jointly produced by the museum and the people of the respective regions are only available here.

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The criteria for stocking products in the museum shop is that they must show respect for the peoples in question. Every effort is made to ensure that the originality, created by the peoples over a long period of time, is conveyed in the correct form; that is the role the museum shop hopes to fulfil. Searching in the museum for souvenirs rooted in that land can be fun.

Irumi Sasakura, curator of the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples

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Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples

309-1 Shiomi, Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan
Tel.: 0152-45-3888
Website(Japanese)

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