Otaru
Our first stop in Hokkaido was Otaru, it was a natural starting place since it was where the ferry dropped us off.
Before arriving we knew that Otaru was famous for two things – glass and a canal. From our inspection, that’s really it. We had two nights to spend there (one full-day in-between) and it ended up being really relaxing. A nice slow place to start our nice slow vacation.
Otaru sort of fancies itself as the “Venice of the East.” But, so far as I can tell, it has very little in common. Sure, it has a canal, one single canal that is no more than a few kilometers in length. It is a pretty canal, it is a fine place to spend and evening strolling, but nothing to warrant the self-given title.
This is the backside of the brewery where we ate lunch. It was a german-style brewhaus and it was pretty funny seeing all these little Japanese women wearing traditional German garb.
At night, the canal was lit with all these old gas-lanterns. It really did make a very nice atmosphere in the evening and the canal was lined with couples out for a romantic stroll.