Abashiri (網走市, Abashiri-shi) is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
Abashiri is known as the site of the Abashiri Prison, a Meiji-era facility used for the incarceration of political prisoners. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the city's new maximum-security prison is still in use.
As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 40,333 and a density of 85.6 persons per km2 (222 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is 470.94 km2 (181.83 sq mi).
Being a fishing port, the thing to eat here is fresh seafood, particularly crab. There's a morning market (網走感動朝市) with great selection.
Abashiri is the closest thing in northern Hokkaido to a transport hub.
Abashiri is fairly spread out. A network of buses radiates out from JR Abashiri Station.
Abashiri is the capital city of Okhotsk Subprefecture. Once unimaginably far in the back of beyond, the name Abashiri used to strike terror into the hearts of suspected lawbreakers: it was the site of Japan's first maximum-security prison, built in 1890 when the enlightened Meiji era leaders decided to copy Western ways instead of simply executing convicted criminals. Enlightenment in this case, however, translated into backbreaking hard labor (mostly road construction) and, for difficult cases like political prisoners, unheated cells in a region where winter temperatures often fall below -20 ° (-4 °F). The prison was finally closed in 1984, though a newly constructed prison continues the tradition.
Today's Abashiri is an unattractive modern town filled with the implements and smells of its largest industry, fishing.
