Tangible Cultural Property of Hokkaido:Ota Tondenheioku

Built in 1890 by the prisoners of the Shibecha Shujikan (a predecessor to modern prisons), these buildings housed the tondenhei, groups of people who traveled from Honshu in order to cultivate the land and keep surveillance on the North Pacific Ocean. This building, unmoved from its original location, gives us a valuable look into the lives of the tondenhei.