For day 2 we took the train to Otaru from Sapporo. We got off at Minami-Otaru, because we wanted to get another stamp from a shrine. This time the shrine was Otaru Sumiyoshi Shrine. This place was a few minutes walk from the station, and worth going to because of the very pretty shrine stamp, covered with flowers, and derived from the shrines temizuya, washing bowl.
After that we took the next train to Otaru. Walked a few minutes to the shrine there, called Ryugu Shrine and got a fantastic stamp to commemorate the Olympics. This is a pleasant place, next to the train tracks and near the fish markets by the station.
After that we walked down to the sea, where the canal is located. This is a famous tourist spot, or should I say trap, as you can take a very slow boat along the rive for a pretty steep price, which takes about 40 minutes and you are able to see some warehouses and restaurants there. Not particularly interesting. We walked it afterwards and I thought it was better. This is one for the girls I think.
The walk down to the sea, and along the road by the sea is nice.
After this, we took the boat from Otaru harbour for the Aquarium a little up the coast. You can get a one way ticket plus entrance fee for the aquarium a little cheaper together from the harbour building.
Japanese people are loath to feed birds or look after wild animals, but on boats, they love feeding the gulls. So every boat here was swarming with them.
It was a nice little journey of about 30 minutes to the stop we wanted.
The aquarium was not the cruelist I've seen in Japan, the fish had some space to swim in, in general, and it was a showcase for the fish which inhabit the waters around Hokkaido, so, I thought it was pretty interesting.
After the aquarium, we took the bus back to the station and went to the next town along, Yoichi. Otaru is the end of the decent train service from Sapporo. The trains after Otaru are less regular and much smaller and diesel. We went to Yoichi for another shrine stamp, which we just had time to get, and to see the Nikka Whiskey Distillery, shut due to COVID.
Then we got the train back to Otaru, transferred and then went back to Sapporo. We went back to the hotel, where we got drunk in the hotel room again, due to everything being closed by 8PM.
This day was great. Id love to go back to Otaru someday, as there was a lot more to see around that town. Its a historic area and the seafood, the local goods and the beer is worth seeking out.