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A Brief History

The story of the Salmon Museum starts with the Toyohira River, which flows through Sapporo City. As a result of the post war population explosion the water quality of the river had deteriorated and the existing salmon runs stopped returning. Fortunately the city's wastewater management system improved and the river began to revive. It was in the mid 1970's that the "Come Back Salmon Program" was initiated. By the spring of 1979 the first salmon fry were released into the Toyohira and thereafter those same fry started coming back every fall. Not long afterwards the people of Sapporo realized the importance of Salmon Enhancement and Salmon Studies. As a result in October 1984 the Sapporo Salmon Museum was opened. In addition to Salmon Enhancement activities the Salmon Museum maintains a display of the freshwater fishes of the Toyohira River as well as providing an abundance of information about Salmon and various other topics concerning the Toyohira River.
Events & Education
The Salmon Museum not only provides displays and information about salmon but first hand experience with them. Depending on the time of year the opportunities are different.
In spring children can experience the satisfaction of releasing salmon fry.
In the summer we enter the river and using a net, collect fish and aquatic critters for observation.
Throughout the fall it's salmon viewing time. The residents of Sapporo can come and see the rewards of their work as salmon come back to the Toyohira.

Volunteers
There are about 30 volunteers who happily work together performing the tasks that are essential to the Salmon Museum. The link "Ikura", takes you to a sight, which provides you with more about the people who make us a success story. By the way, the word ikura is a Russian word that means salmon eggs and now has become part of the Japanese vocabulary referring to the salmon eggs that you often find at restaurants.