Sunday 6 May 2012

Photos - Day 6 - South Hokkaido


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A. Grand Park Otaru Hotel
B. Otaru City
C. Hoheikyo Dam
D. Jozankei town
E. Sapporo Park Hotel

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Otaru marinaOtaru Marina. This photo was taken from our hotel room of the Grand Park Otaru.

Otaru music boxAfter breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we drove into Otaru city, parked our car and walked along the side streets. Many quaint little shops and museums. This museum/shop was all about music boxes. The Dutch introduced music boxes to Japan in 1852.

Fashionable teenage Japanese girls go shopping in Otaru. Many historical buildings constructed from the middle of the Meigi to Tashiyo period remained on the street of Otaru Ironai.

vending machinesSuper clean vending machines are all over Japan.

Japanese restaurants usually have pictures of their dishes outside their restaurants to entice customers in.

Kubo store, Sakai-maichi Dori Avenue, OtaruThis was originally a shop for the Kubo store, selling sundries. Now a coffee shop, it maintains the elegance of the Japanese style and its one of the historic building along Sakai-maichi Dori Avenue.

Otaru branch of Hyakujusan Bank Established in 1893,the Otaru branch of Hyakujusan Bank was further south down the street but after expansion they moved to this location. The interesting aspects of this building include the tile roof,entrances at the corners and Greek inspired decorative construction. The structure is stone on wooden framing.

Otaru CanalOtaru Canal in the day.

Takasaburo Natori StoreFormer Takasaburo Natori Store. Natori Takasaburo, a metals merchant and hardware trader built this store with attached living quarters and a warehouse in 1906. the building features wing walls with open entrances designed as a fire prevention measure. This is an example of commercial architecture in Otaru in the later Meiji period.

Iwanaga Clock StoreIwanaga Clock Store. Built in 1896 by Shintaro Iwanaga, a clock wholesaler.

A fruit stall in Otaru. It was melon season.

Hoheikyo DamDriving out of Otaru, we headed off to Hoheikyo Dam. About 7 km upstream on the Toyohira River from Jozankei Spa lays the Hoheikyo Gorge. The source of the river is Hoheikyo Dam, Hokkaido's only arch dam.

Another late lunch, we had to ask help from the tourist office in Jozankei town, as most restaurants close after 2pm. The ramen at this shop was a tad salty.

Sapporo Park HotelIt was Sapporo Park Hotel for the night.

Sapporo Park Hotel twin roomOur hotel room at Sapporo Park Hotel. After checking in, we left our car at the hotel and took the subway into the city.

The Daimaru basement food area was a hectic frenzy after 7pm, as discounts were offered to customers to clear their stock.

The food area in the basement of Daimaru department store, had a huge variety of Japanese cooked food.

Wagyu BeefAfter sampling a few bites from the basement food area of Daimaru, we headed to the upper floors to a recommended wagyu beef restaurant. We cooked our marbles chunks of wagyu beef on the grill at our table. It tasted so tender and velvety to the tongue.

I sneeked in a few shots inside a Pacihnco game place. These places are popular around Japan.

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