During our time in Japan, we have often been disappointed by the tourist
brochure representation of some of the country's so-called "attractions".
The Otaru canal is a case in point.

The effects of shogunate dictatorship, rapid adoption of Western
architecture during the Meiji restoration (late C19th-early C20th) and
American bombs during the Second World War did much to destroy the
country's traditional architecture. None of these ravages, however, was a
patch on the destructive forces of the natural world, most notably
earthquakes and fire. Why do they insist on building their houses so close
to each other?! The 1995 Kobe earthquake killed around 3,000 people;
most of the fatalities were caused not by falling masonry or people being
swallowed by the ground, but by fire. You'd have thought that they
would have learned their lesson by now!

Otaru is actually a charming port-town with many delightful
turn-of-the-century European-style buildings, reflecting its past
importance as a trading post in the newly-developing Hokkaido. Its
proudest monument, however, is a 100-metre stretch of canal, boarded
on one side by a row of disused warehouses. The fact that the other side of
the canal is houses prefabricated business hotels and that the
wareh0uses are now home to designer, Western-style bars doesn't seem
to deter the Japanese, who flock to the official photo point in droves.

Although they are vaguely nostalgic, have a look at these photos of the
Otaru canal and tell me if you don't agree with me: this, one of Hokkaido's
most important tourist spots, is not very impressive!

More impressive for me is the fact that you can almost ski into Otaru from
the slopes above it!