Botanical Garden & Museum

The Botanical Garden & Museum at Hokkaidô University is the oldest museum in Hokkaidô, and the third oldest museum in Japan. Its main exhibition hall is the oldest museum building in the country.

The museum was originally established by the Hokkaidô Development Commission (Kaitakushi) in 1877 as the Provisional Sapporo Museum; its 1882 exhibition hall, the oldest museum building in the country, is still standing today. The museum was sold to Hokkaidô University in 1884.

The museum originally collected Ainu artifacts, and today owns some 2,600 Ainu objects, collected in the 1870s-1930s. Since then, the museum has shifted its attention to zoological and archaeological materials, and today has some 60,000 such materials in the collection.

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References

Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center Gallery, Feb 2013.[1]