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Eat Japanese prison food at this unique cafeteria in Abashiri

Oona McGee Sep 29, 2024
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A taste of incarceration that’ll leave you with a new appreciation for the everyday.

There are many places where you can eat in Japan, but if you’re looking for a meal that’ll take you back in time and leave an indelible mark on your soul, then you might want to take a trip to Abashiri Prison Museum.

Abashiri Prison is Japan’s northernmost penal facility, and while it’s still in operation, some of its oldest sections, dating back some 120 years, were relocated to a site roughly 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) away. This site is now the Abashiri Prison Museum, and it’s Japan’s only open-air museum where a real-world penal facility is preserved and open to the public.

▼ There’s a lot to see and do here, but the highlight is a meal at the Kangoku Shokudo (“Prison Cafeteria”).

This cafeteria is famous for serving prison food that recreates the lunches of modern-day inmates, and there are two main set meals, containing either sanma (Pacific saury) or hokke (Okhotsk Atka mackerel), that come with barley rice, side dishes, and miso soup.

▼ Not bad for a prison meal.

These meals are surprisingly healthy and delicious, but likely to become boring if you were to eat them every day. With this in mind, the cafeteria decided to get a little creative by adding a new item to the menu recently — the “Released From Jail Celebration Meal”.

▼ Our reporter Saya Togashi was keen to try the meal, so she ordered it at the ticket machine, where it was priced at (1,650 yen [US$11.50]).

This meal was created after hearing opinions from inmates regarding the food they’d most like to eat once released from prison. When it was ready and Saya went to retrieve her food from the counter, it quickly became evident that this selection was world’s away from the fish-and-barley-rice set served behind bars.

So what do inmates want to eat when they get out of prison?

▼ Katsudon!

Katsudon (fried pork rice bowl) is a delicious comfort food and this one looked majestic. While it sat beautifully as the main dish on the tray, there were other treats alongside it, namely miso soup and a bottle of Coca-Cola.

Carbonated drinks like Coca-Cola can only be drunk on so-called “Sports Day” inside the prison, making it a sought-after beverage.

▼ Sweets are also rarely eaten on the inside, which makes this tub of luxury ice cream a dream.

Trying the kaysudon revealed that this too, is a dream meal, because Saya had never seen pork this thick and juicy.

With every bite, you’re reminded of where you are, with the Abashiri Prison logo carved into the bowl.

▼ The miso soup also seemed even better than the prison meal variety.

Eating the luxurious katsudon and washing it down with the Coke made Saya realise how much she takes these small pleasures for granted.

Ordinarily, she wouldn’t think twice about buying a tub of Häagen-Dazs for dessert, but after putting herself in the shoes of an inmate who’d been denied the pleasure for years, her appreciation for the sweet, and her freedom to buy it, grew tenfold.

When you finish the meal, you’ll be full from the meat, fat, and sugar, but it’ll all be worth it as the sense of satisfaction is palpable. And to add even more sweetness to your visit, you can pick up a tin of celebratory “Released From Prison” candies at the museum shop.

You can use the prison cafeteria without entering the museum, so you can just stop by for a meal without having to pay an entrance fee. As for the Released From Jail Celebration Meal, it’s only offered in limited quantities and has been regularly selling out on a daily basis since it was released in July.

It turns out this special meal is just as sought-after by the regular public as it is the prison inmates. Not only is it a delicious meal, it’s also one that’s food for thought, leaving you with a new appreciation for the everyday.

Cafeteria information

Kangoku Shokudo / 監獄食堂
Address: Hokkaido-ken, Abashiri-shi, Yobito 1-1
Open: 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (last order 2:30 p.m.)
Closed when museum is closed
Website

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