1/23/2007

Otaru (小樽市; Otaru-shi) is a city by the sea about half an hour northwest of Sapporo, Hokkaido. Basically, Otaro a fishing village where the herring industry was the predominant industy before its fall starting of 1950’s. It has a beautiful canal area that reminds you of Venice and a Herring Mansion, which makes Otaro a very pleasant detour destination from the main city of Sapporo for those who wants to take a little trip into history off their other plans.

How to get there?
You can take the train from Sapporo using the JR Hakodate Main Line. The journey takes 30 minutes by rapid train (kaisoku) and 45 minutes by local train (futsu). The one way fare is 620 Yen.

OR

You can take the ferry at Niigata, Honshu which connects to the Otaru Port (18 hours, 6000 Yen in the 2nd class) and Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture (20 hours, 9000 Yen in the 2nd class). The ferry terminal is a 10 minute bus ride from Otaru-Chikko Station or a 30 minute bus ride or 10 minute taxi ride from Otaru Station.

The main attractions to look out for when you’re at Otaro is the Herring Mansion, Otaru City Museum, Otaru Canal, and Otaru Glass.

Apparently, one of Otaru’s sister city is Dunedin, New Zealand. That’s where my alma maters is….:) If Otaro is like Dunedin, then you should expect a quaint little town with a character of its own.

Source: Japan Guide, Wikipedia