"Sapporo Salmon Museum" in Makomanai Park.
In the Toyohira River, which runs through the center of Sapporo,
the return of salmon has stopped for a long time due to the deterioration of water quality
due to the rapid increase in population after the World War II.
In 1978, the Come Back Salmon Movement was started with the mission of getting salmon to return to the river.
The following year, in the spring of 1979, the river was stocked with juvenile salmon for the first time in 30 years.
Those salmon eventually returned to Toyohira River in the fall of 1981 for spawning.
Upon seeing the salmon, local residents began to push for a place that could hatch salmon
and stock the river as well as for a place to learn more about salmon.
In response, the Sapporo Salmon Museum opened in October 1984.
Presently, in addition to hatching and stocking,
the museum also has displays on salmon and other freshwater fish found in the Toyohira River,
and provides a variety of information about the river and the salmon.
It is a facility that you can enter for free because it is operated by the tax of Sapporo citizens,
but it is definitely a place worth visiting.
The Makomanai River that flows through Makomanai Park.
Snow is almost melted in central Sapporo now,
but a little far away from the Sapporo, you can still see so much snow in March.
Sapporo Salmon Museum is located in Makomanai Park.
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Guide map
It is recommended to go around the main building, the Outdoor observation pond,
and the fish house in that order.
This building is the Sapporo Salmon Museum main building.
It's great for a free facility in the park.
The front is designed with two fry of salmon facing each other.
The exhibit hall will appear first.
Various contents are explained about salmon.
The growth of salmon and migration routes were also explained.
A full-scale model of salmon where you can experience the size and weight.
I was surprised that it was heavier than I expected!
It is also recommended spots for photos!
From the fertilized egg becomes a fry.
The salmon eggs and fry in the petri dish were not fake models...
In autumn, you may see salmon returning in the river in Sapporo!
Salmon Museum also holds events such as fish watching and c
Please join their programs if you have the opportunity!
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Aquarium Exhibit Room
Fry of salmon are displayed in water tanks by type.
In addition to Dolly Varden trout, which lives in the uppermost stream of the Toyohira River,
you can also see rare species in Japan such as Atlantic salmon, Lake trout, and cutthroat trout.
Salmon(Chum salmon)
0 years old.
The explanatory board explains how old they are and which river they can see in Sapporo.
Pink salmon
They are 0 years old too. Because of the timing, it was a fry that was mostly hatched.
Some fish came from overseas.
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3 years old, and it is a hybrid!
It is a rare fish born from Cherry salmon and Salvelinus.
The hatching room is off-limits to anyone other than those involved,
but you can see them working inside and hold a c
Underground Observation Room
The contents of the exhibition change with the season.
From now until May 5th, you can see the swarms of juvenile salmon!
It seems that adult salmons will be exhibited in the fall.
It's like a beautiful picture.
About 27,000 salmons!
When it gets a little bigger, it will be released to the Toyohira River,
so I'm looking forward to coming back to the Toyohira River someday!
The one year old salmons becomes quite big.
Various salmon are swimming and some salmon are prohibited from being released in Hokkaido.
Can you find all kinds of the salmon?
2 years old Coho salmon and 4 years old Chinook salmon are also on display.
It explains how to recognize these 2 types of fishes
but they looked so similar and it was hard to distinguish...
All the 4-year-old salmon were hiding in the shade, so this photo was the best...
There were so many salmon!
5 year old Ito!
It is the largest fish in Japanese rivers.
They are about the size of an adult's arm. (or maybe bigger)
The longest lived Ito at the Salmon Museum, was 21 years old.
Looking up to this point, there is a stair that goes up to the ground
and is connected to the Outdoor observation pond.
Salmon were divided by size(or age).
You can feed the salmon!
The food was not in this box, but was on sale at Gashapon in the main building. (Next to the shop)
This is it!
It's 100 yen, but feeding too much is not good for salmon,
so it seemed that they only sell a fixed number of foods a day.
Food for salmon
When I threw food, they gathered with great momentum!
There are Ito in this pond, but they didn't eat much food... (Maybe full?)
Let's throw away the plastic bags and capsules here!
Fish House
It is right next to the outdoor observation pond.
You can meet creatures other than salmon at here.
It is said to be a waterside creature found in the Toyohira River and Sapporo city.
Northern snakehead
It has been confirmed to live in Hokkaido,
but the release is prohibited because it preys on a wide range of small animals such as insects, rats, and even snakes.
Catfish
Catfish are now distributed almost all over Japan.
Rather than the natural distribution for Hokkaido,
it has been seen to have been discharged mixed into the icefish that was brought from Honshu.
Flounder
It seems that there are many at the end of the river where the seawater is mixed,
especially at the Ishikari River.
There are so many other creatures on display.
Please enjoy a walk in Makomanai Park, and
stop by the Sapporo Salmon Museum with World Net Rent-A-Car!
札幌市豊平川さけ科学館
Address：Makomanai-koen 2-1, Minami-ku, Sapporo
Open： 9:15～16:45
Closed：Monday (if Monday is a holiday: open Monday, closed Tuesday);
year-end through New Year’s holidays
Fee：Free admission
Parking：4/29～11/3 Free during weekdays; Saturday, Sunday and holidays ¥320
Winter(11/4~4/28) : Free
Sapporo Salmon Museum official HP
