Explore Otaru on Foot, Otaru, Japan

Beautiful snowy Hokkaido canal scenery makes for an enticing photo. But, ugh, snow. And so I went to the city of this famous canal on the most un-winter-y season of all: summer.

This canal is called Otaru Canal and is in—surprise!—Otaru City, just a little over 30 kilometers west of Sapporo. (To get to Otaru from Sapporo Station, take the JR Hakodate Main Line to Otaru. The journey takes 50 minutes and costs 640 yen.)

Summers in Hokkaido are supposed to be mild, with temperatures from low to mid 20s Celcius. For one who endures summers that border into hellish temperatures, the summer Hokkaido temperatures made for a good, comfortable 600-meter walk from Otaru Station to Otaru Canal.

On one side of the canal are old warehouses, and on the opposite side a cobblestone walking path with old gas lamps where one can admire these warehouses from across the water and where, while strolling, one might come across a local artist selling his wares.

The canal is just a kilometer long, and most people just bother with the southern 250-meter end of it, where the warehouses are. Maybe I was too early or maybe it was the low tourist season—there weren't too many tourists to crowd my camera's viewfinder. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).