Japan Heritage story
Otaru, the heart of Hokkaido: a merchant city saved by its people
北海道の『心臓』と呼ばれたまち・小樽
The writer Kobayashi Takiji called Otaru the heart of Hokkaido. Railways, a busy port and banks made it northern Japan's leading city, and when it faded, its citizens fought to save the canal and warehouses that make it one of Japan's best-loved tourist towns today.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Festivals and rituals
- Era
- Meiji, Taishō
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Official name in Japanese
- 北海道の『心臓』と呼ばれたまち・小樽
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～「民の力」で創られ蘇った北の商都～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 小樽市
The story
Otaru started as a herring fishing ground. Hokkaido's first railway was built to carry coal from inland mines to its port, and as settlers poured into Hokkaido, Otaru became their supply base, with stone warehouses lining the shore. After the Russo-Japanese War it was the gateway to southern Sakhalin, and up to 25 banks gathered along the Iro-nai bank street, designed by Japan's leading architects, including Tatsuno Kingo for the Bank of Japan.
When coal gave way to oil, trade collapsed and the Otaru Canal filled with mud and sunken boats. The city planned to fill it in for a road. Citizens fought back for ten years: young people held the Port Festival in Otaru, which drew 60,000 people, and gathered 97,000 signatures in two months. Part of the canal was saved as a promenade, and the movement became a model for townscape protection across Japan.
What to see
- Otaru Canal: the saved canal and its stone warehouses, now a promenade.Google Maps 小樽運河 (opens in a new tab)
- Former Bank of Japan Otaru Branch: the grand 1912 bank on Iro-nai street.Google Maps 日本銀行旧小樽支店金融資料館 (opens in a new tab)
- Former Temiya railway facilities: the start of Hokkaido's first railway.Google Maps 小樽市総合博物館 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Hokkaido guide and see more history. For Otaru's coal and port links with Muroran and Sorachi, see this story.
Good to know
- Visit in winter for the Otaru Snow Light Path, a citizen-run festival of lights in the snow.
- Walk Iro-nai street to see Meiji and Taisho-era bank buildings, many now used as cultural spaces.
- See the former Temiya railway facilities, where Hokkaido's first railway began.
Questions travellers ask
Why was Otaru called the heart of Hokkaido?
Its port, railway and banks pumped goods and money around Hokkaido, much like a heart.
How was Otaru Canal saved?
A 10-year citizens' movement opposed filling it in for a road. Part of it was kept and turned into a promenade.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Coal, steel and port: Hokkaido's northern industrial revolution
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Masuda: a medieval masterpiece of Japan
- Sacred land of salmon: 10,000 years on the Nemuro Strait
- Takaoka: the castle town that became a merchant town
- The Kamikawa Ainu: living with the kamuy of Daisetsuzan
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.