We get out of town today taking a train for a day visit to Otaru.
"The city was an Ainu habitation, and the name "Otaru" is recognised as being of Ainu origin, possibly meaning 'River running through the sandy beach'. The very small remaining part of Temiya Cave contains carvings from the Zoku-Jōmon period of Ainu history, around A.D. 400. Otaru was recognised as a village in 1865, and in 1880 the first railway line in Hokkaido was opened with daily service between Otaru and Sapporo.
An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Otaru as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. The city flourished as the financial and business center in Hokkaido as well as the trade port with Japanese-ruled southern Sakhalin until the 1920s. Otaru was redesignated as a city on August 1, 1922. Since the 1950s, as the coal industry around the city went into a decline, the economic hub of Hokkaido fully shifted from Otaru to Sapporo."
"The city was an Ainu habitation, and the name "Otaru" is recognised as being of Ainu origin, possibly meaning 'River running through the sandy beach'. The very small remaining part of Temiya Cave contains carvings from the Zoku-Jōmon period of Ainu history, around A.D. 400. Otaru was recognised as a village in 1865, and in 1880 the first railway line in Hokkaido was opened with daily service between Otaru and Sapporo.
An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Otaru as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. The city flourished as the financial and business center in Hokkaido as well as the trade port with Japanese-ruled southern Sakhalin until the 1920s. Otaru was redesignated as a city on August 1, 1922. Since the 1950s, as the coal industry around the city went into a decline, the economic hub of Hokkaido fully shifted from Otaru to Sapporo."
 |  We're here in time for the steam chime of the quarter-hour 'announcement'. |  |
 |  Gerri scores a spicy dried squid snack - very much tasty and fresher than what can actually be found back home. And another place gives us free chocolate samples (the pyramid looking dollop). |
That would be a lotta beer to drink...
A Venetian museum (don't know why it's here, and didn't partake) boasted of having this gondola that Princess Diana rode in Venice, along with some bloke.
At a fruit stand on the main street are found some pricey (and especially tasty, we're told) melons - the pair at the upper left go for $94 ($47 each). Gerri's friend May in New York City saw some there on July 23rd at $180 each - maybe we should have tried one, it woulda been $133 dollars cheaper here in Otaru.
| We need some food in our bellies - sushi will hafta do.  |  |
Now down on the canal, it's live music...
(see below photo)
Kishin in a Google review reports: "This is the place I stopped by when I came to see the night view of Otaru. It's ruins, but it's kind of picturesque! It was such a strange place. I was curious, so I did some research and found out that this place was built in 1924 as a cannery to process salmon and trout caught off the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its role has ended, and there was once talk of demolition, but the danger has been avoided and now it seems that Otaru City and others are managing it in order to leave a historical legacy...I hope it will continue to attract attention as a new tourist spot in Otaru."
(at night they illuminate it, giving it a look somewhat like ruins in Rome)
Some of the fishing fleet carries on...
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Remember that off-venue beer garden serving German-style in Sapporo - here's the actual Otaru Brewery:
And we tried a Saki place providing samples and came away with a selection:
Now back at the train station, we head back to Sapporo...
Our boarding passes for reserved seating safely tucked away, we await the engineer's actions to proceed.
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