Otaru Japan – Travels Round The World

Where in the World Are We?

We are in Otaru, in northeast Japan.

OTARU, JAPAN
FAMOUS FOR ITS GLASS PRODUCTS, MUSIC BOXES, AND ALCOHOL BEVERAGES

Otaru is a small harbor city west of Sapporo. Famous for its many hills and a nearby ski resort, the town has been an
important trade and herring fishing center since the 1800s. A wide canal that led from the port to the old town’s
warehouses, built by foreign shipping and trading companies, has been maintained for touristic purposes.

The old stone or brick-built warehouses have been beautifully converted into restaurants and boutiques.
Local artists display their crafts by the daytime, while old-fashioned gas lamps illuminate the area with a gentle glow by
night, making it a pleasant place to stroll at any time. However, the canal area is undoubtedly at its most photogenic
during the Otaru Snow Light Path festival, held each year in February, when the city is decorated with hundreds of
enchanting candle-lit snow lanterns.

After you’ve explored the canal and its surroundings, continue your time-traveling as you take a turn along Sakaimachi
Street, a well-preserved traditional merchant street, explores some of its quirky museums before heading for a well-deserved
sushi lunch. The street is lined with impressive Western-style buildings constructed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and many of the exteriors of the buildings have been carefully preserved.

Sakaimachi Street is also home to a handful of interesting museums, like the Museum of Venetian Art, opened by local
glass producer Kitaichi. It is dedicated to showcasing the arts of Venice, including Venetian glassware, clothing, furniture, and a full-scale gondola. Another highlight is the Music Box Museum, Japan’s largest music
box shop and an internationally well-known sightseeing attraction in Otaru.

OTARU MUSIC BOX MUSEUM
In the historical building of the Otaru Music Box Museum, more than 25,000 music boxes of 3,400 kinds are displayed and sold. The Otaru Music Box Museum (“Otaru Orgel Doh” in Japanese) is Japan’s largest music box store. The store is divided into five floors according to different themes, with beautifully decorated and beautifully sounding music boxes lined up. You can find your favorite from a wide range of products, from affordable to luxurious ones.

SIGHTS

Otaru Aquarium
Otaru Museum
Otaru Shukutsu Panorama Observation Deck
Tanaka Sake Brewery, Kikkogura
Sankaku Market
Old Aoyama Villa (Herring Palace)

Today’s Excursion – Highlights of Sapporo

Historical Village
Explore the history and culture of the island of Hokkaido during a visit to the Historical Village of Hokkaido, an
authentic village recreated with preserved and replicated buildings from Hokkaido’s frontier days. Located in Nopporo Forest
Park, this outdoor museum, was opened to the public in 1983 to show the buildings and the life of Sapporo’s early pioneers.

Sapporo City
Proceed to Sapporo city which is the prefectural capital of Hokkaido. The Sapporo TV Tower serves as an easily recognizable
symbol of Sapporo. The tower’s height is 483 feet, and its observation level, 296 feet, gives a 360-degree panoramic view of the entire city of Sapporo. The beautiful Odori Park stretches out directly in front of the TV tower. The park is 1.5 kilometers long and is key in major Sapporo tourist events. Completed in December 1888, the red brick Former Hokkaido Government Building is a beloved tourist site in Sapporo. The Japanese government has designated it an important cultural asset, which you can view from the comfort of the coach.

Japanese Lunch and Hitsujigaoka Hill
After a Japanese lunch, you will drive up to Hitsujigaoka Hill, which offers a beautiful view of pastureland with sheep grazing.
The hill, part of the Hokkaido Agricultural Experimental Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, was
opened to visitors in 1959. A statue of Dr. William Clark stands on the hill. Dr. Clark, dispatched from the U.S. in 1876, taught
English and botany at Sapporo Agricultural College, the forerunner of Hokkaido University. Although he was only a faculty member for nine months, he is remembered for his parting words, “Boys, be ambitious!”

Hokkaido Shrine
The last stop is the Hokkaido Shrine ( a Shinto Shrine), the largest shrine in Hokkaido, built in 1869 and completed in 1871. It was initially named Sapporo Shrine. A fire destroyed the shrine in 1974, and it was rebuilt in 1978. It is in the
Maruyama Park, which has a lot of greenery. A spiritual place abundant with nature, where the wild birds tweet inside the shrine, and Hokkaido squirrels scurry about.

TONIGHT’S SHOW – COMEDIAN TONY DARO

Tony Daro’s hilarious routines have made him one of the established stars of the New York comedy scene. Tony’s first television appearance was as a child on “Wonderama,” where he lost at Simon Says. Tony overcame this humiliating television debut and began performing in summer stock as a teenager. After high school, he won an acting scholarship at the world-renowned Dramatic Workshop.

This led to various Off-Broadway productions. When he was 19, Sylvester Stallone hired Tony as his stand-in for the film “Rocky 2”. At 20, Bob Keeshan (more famously known as “Captain Kangaroo”) hired Tony to star in a television pilot for CBS. For reasons still unknown to him to this day, he drifted into standup comedy. (Maybe it was all those.
George Carlin records he listened to as a kid?) Soon, people began asking him to write jokes for them, eventually leading to writing jobs with Jay Leno, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey. He has dozens of television appearances, has won multiple Writer’s Guild awards for comedy writing, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on “Saturday Night Live.”

Tony is the rare comedian who can be both inoffensive and gut-busting funny.

Tonight’s dinner was in The Restaurant.