Otaru Canal
A canal in the port town of Otaru, lined with old stone warehouses from its years as a trading harbour. A walkway with gas lamps follows the water, and the warehouses now hold restaurants, breweries and glass shops.
- Where
- Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan
- Grade
- Local gem
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site
- Coordinates
- 43.1997, 141.0017
Get the Otaru Canal stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Otaru Canal. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Hokkaido volume with your photos and a note.
Near Otaru Canal
Sapporo Clock Tower 32 km
A white wooden building in central Sapporo, built in 1878 as the drill hall of the Sapporo Agricultural College. Its clock still strikes the hours, and it counts as the oldest clock tower in Japan.
Noboribetsu Onsen 79 km
Hokkaido's best-known hot spring town, fed by sulphur, salt and other springs that rise in Jigokudani, a steaming volcanic valley just above the inns. Boardwalks lead through the valley, and the hotels below draw its water into their baths.
Farm Tomita 118 km
A flower farm in Nakafurano best known for its lavender fields, which turn purple in early summer. Long stripes of other flowers in bands of colour run down the hillside, with the Tokachi mountains on the horizon.
Blue Pond 134 km
A man-made pond in Biei, the result of works on the Biei River after the 1988 eruption of Mount Tokachi. Colloidal aluminium hydroxide in the water is thought to give it its milky blue colour, broken by the bare trunks of dead trees standing in it.
Asahiyama Zoo 135 km
Japan's northernmost zoo, opened in 1967 on the outskirts of Asahikawa. It is known for enclosures that show animals from new angles, such as a glass tunnel through the penguin pool, and for its penguins' winter walks through the snow.
Goryokaku 157 km
A star-shaped fort in Hakodate completed in 1866, later the headquarters of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. Its moats and earthworks are now a park filled with cherry trees, and the tower beside it shows the full star from above.
Mount Hakodate 162 km
An inactive volcano at the tip of Hakodate's peninsula, 334 metres high. A ropeway climbs to the top, where the night view takes in the city's lights pinched into a narrow waist between two bays.
Hirosaki Castle 292 km
A castle built in 1611 as the seat of the Tsugaru clan, in the centre of Hirosaki. Its park of moats and thousands of cherry trees is one of the most celebrated places in Japan for spring blossom, and the small original keep still stands.
More hidden gems in Hokkaido
Questions
Where is Otaru Canal?
Otaru Canal is in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Sapporo Clock Tower (32 km), Noboribetsu Onsen (79 km), Farm Tomita (118 km).
How do I get the Otaru Canal stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Otaru Canal and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Hokkaido volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Otaru Canal before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Hokkaido volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.