Sights in Yuzhno Sakhalinsk
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A
Regional Museum
Home to the Karafuto administration before the USSR seized the island from the Japanese in 1945, the pagoda-roofed Regional Museum is the city's best museum. On the 1st floor are photos of the island's (and the Kurils') natural features and Chekhov-era prisons, plus 19th century seal-hide tunics worn by the Ainu (some of the island's indigenous population). The wildlife room - a taxidermy-rama - features a seal exhibit complete with a model of a bird dung-splattered cliff.
Upstairs highlights the Soviet days - best is the photo of the 1931 komsomol group with a mix of races sitting sides by side. A small Korean exhibit has recently been added. It's all in Cyrillic (except…
reviewed
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Sakhalin Regional Museum
The pagoda-roofed Sakhalin Regional Museum has a 21st-century exhibit exploring the Japanese/Soviet overlap of the city’s history, typified by the building itself, which served as the home of the Karafuto administration before the Soviets seized the island from the Japanese in 1945. The 1st floor is full of much older exhibits, including realised dreams of taxidermy and some fascinating Aino artifacts and photos from back before the original south Sakhalin inhabits fled to Japan. The front gardens are a popular sitting area for locals, as are the armoured vehicles next to a jet fighter at the old Officers’ Club (Dom Ofitserov), a block east.
reviewed
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B
Gagarin Park
Scrappy but loved, the 220-acre Gagarin Park, at the city's east side, is Yuzhno's greenest hang-out spot, with loads of rides, shaded walkways and free concerts on Sunday afternoons in summer. Nearby, from the east end of Kommunistichesky pr, is a trail you can climb for a view of town (and the smokestacks), which is near the Gorny Vozdukh ski area in winter. Head south at ul Gorkogo, then follow the trail to the east.
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Museum of Sakhalin Island: A Book by Ap Chekhov
A few blocks northwest, the (brace yourself for the name) Museum of Sakhalin Island: A Book by AP Chekhov is a simple two-floor showing of Chekhov’s few months in Sakhalin, including a picnic photo with visiting Japanese dignitaries (looking rather like the bearded Bob Dylan on the New Morning album cover). A couple of signs are in English.
reviewed
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C
Art Museum
A couple of blocks west, the upstairs permanent collection (pre-Soviet Russian oils, Korean and Japanese textiles) at the Art Museum usually beats the changing exhibits of local artists downstairs; best is getting inside the unique building, a former Japanese bank built in 1935.
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D
AP Chekhov Book Museum
Devoted to Chekhov's 1890 visit to Sakhalin, the AP Chekhov Book Museum was closed for renovation at last pass. It's supposedly going to expand from its small collection of photos and artwork.
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