Poronaisk
This city is known by a big fishery company "Druzhba ('friendship')". People catch fish with a large scale fixed net. There is a good mink farm in this city and you can buy high quality fur coats in reasonable prices. Before the WWII this city was within the Japanese territory and was called "Sisuka". This name came from Ainu word "Sikka" or "Siska" they say but I myself haven't heard how they called precisely in older times. Today this city is called "Poronaisk" came from Ainu words "poro nai" which means big river . Nivkh people called this city Ty i which means "low ground + river)
The city emblem of Poronaisk is "fishery ship on the sea".
The Regional Historical Museum of Poronaisk.
Poronaisk regional museum is established after the war and has little but beautiful collection of materials of northern peoples' cultures. I visit this city once or twice every year from 2003 and work in the museum learning nivkh people's language and culture.
The central street of the city. You can buy there anything you need.
Nearby the urban area there is a beach.
In September it is already cold. Children are playing outside in warm clothes.
Though this city is not a small town natural environment is very good. I love to breathe deeply there.
Everything is white in winter but black smoke of central heating system is a serious problem.
As in other city in Sakhalin, you can see japanese automobiles everywhere.
Apartments were built in 1950's and already old today.
Though buildings are old, life in Poronaisk is not so bad with new technologies. This is an antena for satelite TV.
The lake Nevskii (former lake Taraika).
There lived Ainu people in the lakefront in old times. Until 19C they were
independent of Japan and Russia and called themselves
"Taraika-people". Almost the same time a group of nivkh called
"Keny-vyng" appeared in this region. They came from the
upstream of Tym river. Today there are no villages near the lake.
There are few fishery houses in the Poronai riverside. They were built in 1990's with the special financing for northern peoples by the federation.