Iyoboya Kaikan

Japan’s first salmon museum is located in Murakami City, where salmon fishing has long been practiced and the community has deep ties to salmon. It sits beside the Tane River, a branch of the Miomote River that has long been the stage for salmon fishing, within Salmon Park, a relaxing area with plenty of seasonal flowers, trees, and playground equipment. “Iyoboya” is the Murakami dialect word for salmon.

Inside the three above-ground floors and one basement level, you’ll find a variety of exhibits, videos, and games introducing the history of salmon fishing on the Miomote River, salmon ecology, and everyday life in Murakami. At the mini hatchery, you can watch salmon hatch from eggs, and in the ecology observation room, you can see juvenile and adult salmon up close. In the basement, the 50-meter-long “Miomote River Salmon Observation Natural Museum,” with 10 underwater viewing windows set into the Tane River, is a must-see. You can observe river creatures such as ayu and Japanese dace in their natural environment, and in fall, watch salmon swimming upstream—if you’re lucky, you may even catch a spawning scene.

At the pond in Salmon Park and the plaza in front of the museum, you can enjoy feeding carp and rainbow trout.