Described as ‘romantic’ Otaru in the Lonely Planet as well as it being a bit of a foodie town, we thought it was worth a stop. It is almost entirely missable. Otaru was an affluent old port with 'Asia's Wall Street' as proof of their success. A large number of successful Japanese banks developed in the town due to the growing trade, however these have slowly been turned into mediocre hotels and cafes, losing any remaining charm they might have had. The (small amount of) historic brick warehouses attract very large swathes of tourists, however it's hard to fathom what exactly they're taking photos of. We had an absolute dinner fail - turns out that pretty much everywhere in Hokkaido closes at around 8pm. Not a single restaurant was still open on 'sushi street'. The famous canal view is nice but takes around five minutes to see. But to give them some credit, they do a good double cheesecake (for anyone interested, baked cheesecake on the bottom half, fresh cheesecake on the top).
The day has arrived, the Trump inauguration day. Sitting on a train to Hakodate, watching the sun set over the craggy mountains and feel genuinely sad at the state of the world. Maybe we should all move to Japan, they seem to be getting it right. Although the person sitting next to me just peeled an egg, so then again… Comments are closed.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |