It was a cold, cloudy, dreary day, but we pressed on anyway. Crystal Serenity docked in the city of Otaru at 8:00 am, and we had a shore excursion scheduled at 9:15. We are now on Hokkaido, the northernmost and least developed of Japan’s four major islands. Just for comparison, we’re at 43º north latitude, about the same distance from the equator as Rochester, New York and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The title of our excursion, “Two-City Sightseeing: Otaru & Sapporo” perfectly described our experience. Length of the tour was set at 3½ hours, including about 1½ hours driving time to and from Sapporo. These days, Otaru is primarily the port for Sapporo. At one time Otaru was the more important of the two cities, but Sapporo has grown rapidly in the past 50 years and now has a population approaching 2 million (latest official census listed it as 1,904,319. It’s Japan’s largest city north of Tokyo.
Back in the early 20th century, a long wharf was built in Otaru to handle international shipping (primarily for the fishing industry). A that time, herring fish were the prime catches. The Bank of Japan opened a large bank here, and other financial institutions followed, along with a frenzied growth in population. Otaru grew to be the region’s banking center and was dubbed the “Wall Street of the North.” There are a lot of stone buildings in the “Wall Street” section of town remaining from the glory days.
Eventually the herring industry faltered, and population decreased. At its peak, Otaru had a population of 200,000, and today there are about 130,000. Many of these residents are now actually working in Sapporo, and commute there every day. Our guide, Tash, is a resident in downtown Sapporo, and he said that it’s now unusual to see many people walking around in Otaru other than tourists (mostly Japanese) visiting the Canal area (more on that later).
The excursion began with a drive through downtown Otaru and uphill to a panoramic observation point for a view of the Sea of Japan and the Takashima Cape. Skies were hazy today, so the view wasn’t that great. In the photo below, you can see the former home of a herring industry executive, along with a scenic lighthouse.
Sapporo: It’s about a 25-mile drive to Sapporo from Otaru, but the terrain is mountainous, which slowed us down, even though we were riding on a highway. In fact, a semicircle of mountains curves around the city of Sapporo. We did see some snow along the side of the road during the ride to Sapporo. Even though it’s mid-April, it’s still wintertime here on Hokkaido.
Sapporo is probably most famous for two things – Sapporo beer and the Winter Olympic Games, which were held in Sapporo in February 1972. It was the first Winter Olympics held outside Europe and North America. Our guide, Tash, did tell us that, although most of the events were staged in the immediate vicinity of Sapporo, some were actually closer to Otaru. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit any of these (now historic) sites today. He did tell us that he was a coach in the Long Jump for the Japanese Olympic Team. There are now more than a dozen ski areas less than two hours from Sapporo.
Upon arriving in the city, our first stop was at the old Sapporo Brewery location, which was modeled after an American brewery, constructed of red bricks, including a tall brick smokestack. Rain had already started at this point, but we scurried into the old brewery’s gift shop to look around. Actually this brewery site is now closed, as a newer, bigger facility had been built outside of town. We were told that the old brewery now includes a popular restaurant (called Sapporo Beer Garden) and a museum. The museum was closed for renovation. There’s also a big shopping mall now attached to the old building.
Tash then led us on a driving tour of his home town. In the suburbs, we didn’t see any new, modern skyscraper apartment buildings that we’re now used to seeing in Asian cities. Instead, there were a lot of what we’d call mid-rise cement buildings. Once we reached downtown there were a lot of newer taller high-rises. One of the first we saw was the building in which Tash lives – on the 19th floor – adjacent to the campus of Hokkaido University, a school of which he is quite proud. There are 17,000 students here, but he boasted that it has the largest college campus (by size) in Japan.
We slowed down to admire Japan Railway’s Sapporo Station – the biggest train station on Hokkaido, with 19,000 passengers per day. There were two large, modern department stores attached to the station. Next was an historic building (1888) called the Red Brick Building (the former Hokkaido prefecture Hall) and the Sapporo Clock Tower, built in 1878.
One of the most impressive sights in Sapporo is Odori Park, a ¾-mile long green space that runs east-west straight through downtown Sapporo. Jim remembered this park, because he visited the Snow Festival here about 45 years ago. There were giant snow and ice sculptures along almost the entire length of Odori Park. We understand that this festival is still one of the highlights of the winter season in Japan and attracts millions of visitors to Sapporo over a 7-day period in February every year.
Last on our driving tour was the Susukino area, Sapporo’s largest entertainment districts with lots of restaurants, clubs, bars, and karaoke venues.
Otaru: We then drove back to Otaru, making one restroom stop along the way. Due to the rain, Tash had decided to substitute a stop at the old Sapporo brewery gift shop (indoors) for the planned stroll along the canal in Otaru at the end of the excursion. He made a good decision, based on the weather, but it would have been nice to see the canal, which has been described as “Otaru’s most iconic masterpiece.”
The canal was completed in the 1920’s to enable loading and unloading of cargo ships, which arrived at Otaru’s port. Smaller barges would haul cargo between downtown and the port, as the larger international ships couldn’t reach downtown. However, as local fishing enterprises went into decline, ships slowly began to call less frequently, and the canals were abandoned. The city has restored and re-routed some of the canals. Now there’s a one-mile long waterway, flanked by a walking promenade with restored warehouses containing shops, restaurants, and souvenir opportunities. We drove by the location, and there were many Japanese tourists here, all of whom were carrying umbrellas.
We enjoyed this visit to Otaru and Sapporo. With our four port stops in Japan, we covered the nation from south to north and got a great feel for the diversity of this country.
Now the ship continues north with two visits to Russia – Korsakov on Monday (April 18) and Petropavlosk (April 20).
Jim & Ginny
The canal was completed in the 1920’s to enable loading and unloading of cargo ships, which arrived at Otaru’s port. Smaller barges would haul cargo between downtown and the port, as the larger international ships couldn’t reach downtown. However, as local fishing enterprises went into decline, ships slowly began to call less frequently, and the canals were abandoned. The city has restored and re-routed some of the canals. Now there’s a one-mile long waterway, flanked by a walking promenade with restored warehouses containing shops, restaurants, and souvenir opportunities. We drove by the location, and there were many Japanese tourists here, all of whom were carrying umbrellas.
We enjoyed this visit to Otaru and Sapporo. With our four port stops in Japan, we covered the nation from south to north and got a great feel for the diversity of this country.
Now the ship continues north with two visits to Russia – Korsakov on Monday (April 18) and Petropavlosk (April 20).
Jim & Ginny
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