.jpg/960px-20181107_Shikotsuko_7453_(48436922057).jpg)
Walk Otaru's restored canal and old harbour warehouses
Otaru Canal, Otaru
A port city half an hour from Sapporo, whose canal was saved from landfill by a citizens' campaign.
What it is
Otaru is a small harbour city about half an hour northwest of Sapporo by train. It was a major port from the early days of Hokkaido's colonisation in the late 1800s and the terminus of the island's first railway, which linked the port with Sapporo. The canal was the heart of that port in the first half of the 20th century: large ships were unloaded by smaller boats, which carried the goods to warehouses along the water. Modern docks made it obsolete, and in the 1980s a citizens' movement had part of it restored instead of filled in, with the warehouses turned into museums, shops and restaurants.
How to do it
The canal is a ten-minute walk or a two-minute bus ride down the main road from Otaru Station.
Good to know
Walk on to Sakaimachi Street in the centre, and visit one of the herring mansions, the nishin goten.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Best time
- Late afternoon into dusk, along the canal
- Booking
- Go alone or with a tour
Photo: 663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0
.jpg){kind=link}
