Day Trip to Otaru

Last Wednesday Ruben and Phil took a train to Otaru, a port city on the Sea of Japan northwest of Sapporo. Although Buzz and Yukari briefed us well on directions and survival Japanese sentences the night before, we were on our own to get around and see what we planned to see. (Check out Ruben's post on "asking questions in Japanese.") We spent a lot of time asking for directions to glass-blowing factories and found, disappointingly, they were all closed for maintenance. However, we had ample opportunity to use Japanese to communicate.

Among the highlights was biking around town for two hours, during which time Ruben kept us on track with his good sense of direction. We biked through a park, along the wharf area, and through the narrow streets. We were careful to stay on the left side of the street or on the left sidewalk to conform with Japanese law. (It's allowable, we were informed, to bike on either the sidewalk or in the street.)

On the way to the bike rental shop we ran into a familiar "friend."

One of the main attractions of Otaru is the canal district. Ruben purchased a rubber band gun from a creatively talented craftsman. It fires off five bands in succession.

The Ferris wheel is 200 feet off the ground. Its slow revolution gave us a great view of the surrounding mountains and the bay and the horizon.