No upcoming voyage currently calls at Abashiri
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About Abashiri
The town the drift ice reaches. Ice forms off the Russian coast, comes down the Okhotsk Sea in winter and arrives here — the southern limit of sea ice in the northern hemisphere — and icebreakers take passengers out into it. The rest of the year the coast is lagoons and flower fields, and the town carries the other thing it is known for: the prison built here in 1890 to hold men who then cut the road inland.
Within reach of the port
The drift ice
It arrives in the second half of winter and is gone by spring, so a summer call sees none of it. The museum on the hill above the town keeps a room at twenty below with real ice in it, which is the year-round answer.
Abashiri City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
Abashiri Prison Museum
The Meiji buildings of the old prison, moved to the foot of Mount Tento and kept as they were; several are Important Cultural Properties. It is a serious museum about penal labour and the opening of Hokkaido, not a curiosity.
The lagoons
Lake Notoro turns red with coral grass in autumn, Lake Tofutsu carries swans in winter, and Koshimizu between them is a natural flower field along the shore. All are within half an hour of the port.
Abashiri City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
Shore excursions
NYK Cruises run their own guided excursions at each port, booked by guests themselves through My ASUKA PLANS — the booking window opens before departure and depends on your cabin class. They are conducted in Japanese. Going ashore independently is always an option.
Official sources
- Abashiri City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it