Main Gate

The Main Gate of Abashiri Prison is called 'the redbrick gate'. This massive, imposing gate attests to how stately Abashiri Prison was when people talked about it as a forbidding place and called it 'the prison in the farthest land'. There is one room on either side of the Main Gate. One was used by a prison guard as a reception office, and the other was used by visiting families of inmates for necessary procedures and waiting.

The glossy bricks accentuating red bricks were fired at temperatures of 1,160 ℃ or higher. The kiln contained salt, which decomposes at high temperatures. Bricks fired in this way are a blackish brown, look as if they are glazed, and are 20-30% smaller than ordinary bricks. Because it's not possible to use this firing technique today, the reconstructed Main Gate is significant for learning about the history of brick buildings.