Among the warehouses lined up along the Otaru Canal, there was a warehouse of Shibusawa Warehouse founded by Eiichi Shibusawa

Warehouse of Shibusawa Warehouse built along Otaru Canal — Warehouse of Shibusawa Warehouse

After leaving Otaru Sumiyoshi Jinja Shrine and admiring the steel fire watchtower, which was 100 years old, I simply walked around the residential area of Otaru. There were supermarkets and convenience stores, and I thought the townscape, which I thought was not so different from Tokyo, started to change when I came to the former Uese Tomokichi Store.

The former Uese Tomokichi Store is a historic building built in 1921, and its three-story stone exterior creates a stately atmosphere that I had not seen in the area I had been walking through until then. It looks as if it had been profitable 100 years ago. Looking around, there is another brick building across the intersection that is used as a music box specialty store. There are many people walking around. I had come to a tourist spot in Otaru.

The main sightseeing area of Otaru is from the intersection with the embarrassing name of “Fairy tale Intersection" to the area where the canal flows. The canal, lined with wooden and stone warehouses, is the main sightseeing area. The warehouses that symbolize the former prosperity of the area are no longer used as warehouses, as the Asakusabashi area has been converted into museums and stores. The same is true of the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse and the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse in Hakodate. Among these warehouses, there is one that has a door with the name of an existing warehouse company written on it, but it seems to be used as a restaurant inside.

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