Kokopo War and Cultural Museum is one of the best places around Rabaul to make sense of the Second World War remains scattered across East New Britain. Its collection includes aircraft parts, weapons, photographs, and other relics tied to the Japanese occupation and the Allied campaigns around Rabaul.
The museum is modest and sometimes rough around the edges, but that directness is part of its value. Pair it with the tunnels, wreck sites, and volcanic landscape around Rabaul and Kokopo: together they explain why this quiet-looking coast was once one of the Pacific War's most heavily fought-over places.