Yubari Coal Mine Museum: the museum you enter through a real mine tunnel (2026 season, fees, access)

At the Yubari City Coal Mine Museum in Hokkaido you do not look at a mine through glass - you walk into one. Underground, in what the museum calls its "mock tunnel", you can put your hand on a real coal seam. The 2026 season runs 18 April to 3 November; admission is 1,200 yen for adults (junior high school and above) and 400 yen for primary schoolchildren; hours are 10:00-17:00 from April to September and 10:00-16:00 from October, with last entry 30 minutes before closing, and it closes on Tuesdays and for the winter. Figures here are as published on 18 September 2026 by the official site, run for the City of Yubari by the NPO Tanko no Kioku Suishin Jigyodan.

At a glance (2026 season)

Groups of 20 or more pay 1,000 yen per adult; there is no group rate for primary schoolchildren. Holders of a disability or rehabilitation certificate pay 1,000 yen (the holder only). Visitors who cannot enter the mine tunnel - wheelchair users, for instance - pay 800 yen, as does one carer accompanying them. There are no children's group or senior rates. Credit cards and electronic money are accepted, connection permitting.

The heart of it: the tunnel is real

The name says "mock tunnel", but it is a genuine mine working. The museum's own description is blunt about it: a thoroughly real tunnel, where underground you can touch an actual coal seam. It was driven along the seam from the great coal outcrop discovered in 1888 by Ban Ichitaro and his party, and was later converted for training, education and visits.

A short way in from the portal you meet the brick-lined section. The incline is slippery, so watch your footing. What you see inside is not a diagram of a coal mine but the structure of a working coal face.

• The upper road (uwazoe, also called the crown road) was driven along the top of the seam. It carried materials and handled exhaust ventilation.
• The coal face connects that upper road to the gate road below - the surface from which coal was actually cut. It lies at the same angle as the seam, about 20 degrees. The drum cutter shaved coal from the seam and a conveyor carried it down to the gate road. Yubari's distinctively thick seam is visible here.
• Powered supports and steel props hold up the roof at the face, and they too are set at that 20-degree tilt.
• A tunnel-driving display sits at the far end of the gate road, to the left as you come down. This is where you can touch the coal seam itself - the middle bed of the surface outcrop, known as the eight-shaku seam.
• The gate road below carried the coal out and the fresh air in.
• The pump chamber collects water seeping into the workings and lifts it to the surface.
• Past a reconstruction of prop-and-bar mining come 80 steps up - the last effort before you are back in daylight.

It costs 20,000-30,000 yen a day in electricity to keep the water out

The pump chamber is where this museum's situation becomes literal. The Kitatan Yubari mine was always a wet one, and, as the museum explains, water inflow grew worse after the Yubari New Mine open-cut the coal left above the roadways on the eve of its closure.

Today the tunnel is kept dry by pumping, at 20,000 to 30,000 yen a day in electricity. If the pumps stopped for even half a day, the tunnel would flood. Close to half the museum's entire running cost is its electricity bill.

The fact that you can walk through a coal mine here rests, every day, on somebody keeping those pumps turning.

The mini-guide

The tunnel was closed for years after a fire in 2019 and reopened after seven years. Mini-guides were due to finish in June but have continued, being popular.

• Times: on the hour, from 11:00 to 16:00
• Length: about 15 minutes, with commentary
• Meeting point: in front of the drum cutter, 30 m before the tunnel portal - be there by the hour

The guide may pause when other events are running.

The drum cutter made its last run on 6 May 2026

This is worth recording. The museum's drum cutter - a large coal-cutting machine introduced in 1964 that worked in a real mine - was the only one in Japan preserved in running order. A roadheader and a double-chain conveyor are kept in working order alongside it.

It became the main exhibit of a wing added in 1990, ten years after the museum opened, and ran there for decades. From the 2019 tunnel fire until 2024 it was demonstrated with commentary. In 2025, with the machine ageing and the reopened tunnel taking priority for staff and interpretation, demonstrations gave way to a video and the machine ran only for inspections and events.

Then a further problem: the old capacitor on its power supply may contain low-concentration PCBs. Testing and disposal are required by law to be completed by March 2027, and Yubari plans to test early, in the 2026 budget year. Testing means drilling the capacitor, which cannot then be reused, so keeping the machine running would mean buying a new one - over a million yen in the first year and tens of thousands annually after that, borne by the operator.

Yubari, still under financial reconstruction, has opted for static preservation. So over ten days of the 2026 Golden Week period - 18, 19, 25, 26 and 29 April and 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 May - the museum ran a farewell operation of the drum cutter, on the hour from 11:00 to 16:00, about 15 minutes each with commentary from former miners or museum staff.

It last ran on 6 May 2026. A video of just over ten minutes now plays in front of the machine, showing how it moved and how coal was cut. Start watching at about 45 minutes past the hour and you can go straight on to the tunnel mini-guide.

The 2026 special exhibition is free

This season's special exhibition is "The Great Coal Dictionary: knowing our coal in a shaking world", running 18 April to 3 November 2026 in the BAN HALL on the first floor of the main building. Admission to the exhibition is free.

The building, and the place it stands in

The City of Yubari built the museum in 1980. The site covers 5,336 m², the building 1,378 m², with a total floor area of 3,573 m². Exhibition space is in three parts - the permanent display on the second floor, the basement gallery and the mine tunnel - and the collection runs to about 15,000 items. The first floor holds the entrance hall, a special exhibition room and a multipurpose hall; the second has a meeting room.

The museum's history page tells the rest in photographs. In 1960 the slopes around the site were packed solid with miners' housing. A 1969 Kitatan company magazine left the line: if Hakodate has a million-dollar night view, Yubari has a million-ton one. Construction of the Coal History Village began in the late 1970s and the museum opened in 1980; by about 1987 the village was busy. Then, in 2006, Yubari announced it was entering financial reconstruction.

The city's own figures now put the population at 5,631 - 2,639 men and 2,992 women, in 3,509 households, as of 31 August 2026. That is what became of the town whose hillsides were once covered in company houses.

Getting there - and a warning about satnav

• From central Sapporo: 66 km, about 100 minutes by car (Hokkaido Route 3)
• From New Chitose Airport: 55 km, about 70 minutes on ordinary roads
• From Iwamizawa Station: 40 km, about 60 minutes (Hokkaido Route 38, closed in winter)

The official site flags a real problem: searching for the Yubari City Coal Mine Museum on Google Maps or some car navigation systems can route you onto a road that is closed. The museum's advice is to navigate to Yubari Shrine instead, and take the approach road to the museum from the crossroads in front of the shrine. If you are driving there for the first time, this is the thing to know before you set off.

Directions by public transport are published as a PDF on the official site.

Guides and group visits

• Guided tour (standard), 11,000 yen - 60 minutes, advance booking required, up to 40 people, one group at a time. Normally covers the main building and basement gallery. Admission for each person is charged on top of the guide fee.
• Guided tour (special), 22,000 yen - 90 minutes, advance booking, up to 40 people; the director's or chairman's version can be arranged depending on the theme requested.
• Official/study visits, 10,000 yen - within 90 minutes, advance booking, up to 5 people (1,500 yen per person beyond 5). A guided tour can be combined with a classroom session.

Staff accompanying school groups - teachers, nurses, tour conductors, photographers and coach crew - are admitted free. Group contracts through travel agents and outside guides are handled by Visit Yubari G.K. (Hokkaido Governor registered travel service arranger no. 261).

Elsewhere in Hokkaido

Also in Hokkaido: the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, the port city festival at Hakodate Port Festival 2026, and in winter the Otaru Snow Light Path 2027.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the Yubari Coal Mine Museum cost? 1,200 yen for adults (junior high school age and above) and 400 yen for primary schoolchildren; preschool children are free. Groups of 20 or more pay 1,000 yen per adult, with no group rate for primary schoolchildren. Holders of a disability or rehabilitation certificate pay 1,000 yen. Visitors unable to enter the mine tunnel, for example wheelchair users, pay 800 yen, as does one accompanying carer. A season pass for adults is 2,000 yen.

What are the 2026 season dates and opening hours? The season runs from 18 April 2026 to 3 November 2026. Hours are 10:00-17:00 from April to September and 10:00-16:00 from October, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. It closes on Tuesdays and through the winter, from early November to late April; in 2026 it opens on the Tuesdays that fall on public holidays - 5 May, 11 August, 22 September and 3 November.

Is the mine tunnel a real one? Yes. It was driven along the coal seam from the great outcrop discovered by Ban Ichitaro and his party in 1888, and later converted for training, education and visits. Underground you can touch an actual coal seam. It was closed after a fire in 2019 and reopened after seven years; mini-guides of about 15 minutes start on the hour from 11:00 to 16:00. There are 80 steps to climb on the way out.

Can I still see the drum cutter running? No. It last ran on 6 May 2026. The old capacitor in its power supply may contain low-concentration PCBs, and testing and disposal must be completed by March 2027 under Japanese law. Testing requires drilling the capacitor, which then cannot be reused, and Yubari - still under financial reconstruction - has chosen static preservation. A video of just over ten minutes now plays in front of the machine; start it around 45 minutes past the hour and you can continue straight into the tunnel mini-guide.

Is there anything to watch out for when driving there? Yes. The official site warns that Google Maps and some car navigation systems, asked for the Yubari City Coal Mine Museum, may route you onto a closed road. Navigate to Yubari Shrine instead and take the museum approach road from the crossroads in front of the shrine. For distances: 66 km and about 100 minutes from central Sapporo, 55 km and about 70 minutes from New Chitose Airport, and 40 km and about 60 minutes from Iwamizawa Station, though Hokkaido Route 38 closes in winter.

When and how this was checked

This page was compiled on 18 September 2026 from the official Yubari City Coal Mine Museum site, operated for the city by the NPO Tanko no Kioku Suishin Jigyodan - its overview, season and fees, mine tunnel, access and history pages - together with the City of Yubari official site. All details are as of 18 September 2026. Season dates, fees, exhibition runs and the availability of the mini-guide can change; check the official site before you travel.

Update log: published 2026-09-18, covering the 2026 season dates and fees, the free special exhibition (to 3 November 2026), the continuing tunnel mini-guide, and the end of drum cutter operation on 6 May 2026.