Tsukigata Kabato Museum, Prison museum in Tsukigata, Japan

Tsukigata Kabato Museum is a municipal museum in Tsukigata, Hokkaido, made up of the former main office building of the Kabato Prison and a two-storey main hall built around 1996. The wooden office building, completed in 1886, later served as the town office, and the site stands within the grounds of the Tsukigata town office.

The Kabato Prison opened on 3 September 1881, with Tsukigata Kiyoshi as its first director, and held political and ordinary criminal prisoners. Its main office building, completed in 1886, became the Tsukigata village office after the prison closed in January 1919. In 1972 the office moved out and the building became the Hokkaido Penal Museum, renamed Tsukigata Kabato Museum in 1996.

The exhibitions show how prisoners contributed to regional development through their labor under military supervision during the 1800s. This work shaped the early settlement and growth of Hokkaido.

The museum stands on the grounds of the Tsukigata town office, where parking is available. It is open from 9:30 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:30, and closes in winter from December to mid-March. The nearest station, JR Ishikari-Tsukigata on the Gakuen-Toshi line, was closed in May 2020, so check the town website for bus information.

The former main office building of the Kabato prison was used as the Tsukigata town hall until 1972, the year before it became a museum. In 2019 the building was included in the Japan Heritage designation "Tetsutetsukō" for its role in road construction and coal mining labor.