is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

in Shiribeshi Subprefecture,

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, Japan, northwest of

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

. The city faces

Ishikari Bay is a bay located in Hokkaido of Japan, connected to the Sea of Japan. Ishikari Bay is the area east of the straight line from Cape Shakotan on the west of Shakotan Peninsula to Cape Ofuyu. Geography Border communities ;Shiribeshi Subprefecture ...

and the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tourist destination. Because it is a 25-minute drive from Sapporo, it has recently grown as a bedroom community. As of July 31, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 115,333 and a population density of 474.37 persons per km² (1,228.6 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is . Although it is the largest city in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, the subprefecture's capital is the more centrally located Kutchan.

History

The city was an

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

habitation, and the name "Otaru" is recognised as being of Ainu origin, possibly meaning "River running through the sandy beach". The very small remaining part of the Temiya Cave contains carvings from the Zoku-Jōmon period of Ainu history, around A.D. 400. Mount Akaiwa (Northwest part of Otaru) is memorialized in the Ainu tradition in the story of

Sitonai Sitonai ( Ainu: シトナイ) is a mythical Ainu heroine, known for a legend of slaying a giant snake of Akaiwa mountain (located northwest to Otaru). Synopsis In a cave in Akaiwa mountain there lived a giant serpent (the height of the body was ...

, village chief's teenage daughter who had slain a white snake from the mountain's cave that demanded sacrifices of girls every year. The legend explains the name of a big cave on Mount Akaiwa, Hakuryu Gongen Cave (白竜権現洞窟, lit. White Dragon

Gongen A , literally "incarnation", was believed to be the manifestation of a buddha in the form of an indigenous kami, an entity who had come to guide the people to salvation, during the era of shinbutsu-shūgō in premodern Japan.Encyclopedia of Shint ...

Cave) and the reason why a shrine was built on the mountain (to protect the village from being haunted by the snake). Otaru was recognised as a village by the '' bakufu'' in 1865, and in 1880 the first railway line in Hokkaido was opened with daily service between Otaru and Sapporo. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Otaru as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. The city flourished well as the financial and business center in Hokkaido as well as the trade port with Japanese ruled southern

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

until the 1920s. Otaru was redesignated as a city on August 1, 1922. On December 26, 1924, a freight train loaded with 600 cases of dynamite exploded in Temiya Station, damaging the warehouse, the harbour facilities, and the surrounding area. Local officials stated that at least 94 were killed and 200 injured in this disaster. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Otaru housed a prison camp for

Aleuts The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

taken there following the Japanese occupation of Attu. During the closing stages of the war, Otaru was bombed by American naval aircraft in July 1945. Since the 1950s, as the coal industry around the city went into a decline, the status of the economic hub shifted from Otaru to Sapporo. File:Otaruharbour-1876.png, Otaru in 1876 File:Otaru City in Hokkaido 1909 Meiji 42.png, Otaru in 1909 File:Otaru Port in Hokkaido 1909 Meiji 42.png, Otaru port in 1909 File:130823 Bank of Japan Otaru Museum02s4.jpg, Former

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese instituti ...

Otaru Branch, now home to the Otaru Museum

Geography

Otaru is a

port town A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

on the coast of the

in northern Shiribeshi Subprefecture. The southern portion of the city is characterized by the steep slopes of various mountains (notably Tenguyama), where the altitude of the land sharply drops from the mountains to the sea. The land available between the coast and mountains has been almost completely developed, and the developed part of the city on the mountain slopes is called ''Saka-no-machi'', or "Hill town", including hills named ''Funamizaka'' (Boat-view Hill) and ''Jigokuzaka'' (Hell Hill).

Neighboring cities and towns

* Shiribeshi ** Yoichi District: Yoichi,

Akaigawa is a village located in Shiribeshi, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the village has an estimated population of 1,157. The total area is 280.11 km2. History The name derives from Ainu word "hure-pet", meaning "red river". *1899: Ak ...

Ishikari is a city located in Ishikari Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of April 30, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 58,755, with 27,434 households, and a density of 81 persons per km2. The total area is . On October 1, 2005, the vill ...

( Teine-ku, Minami-ku),

Rivers

Some of the rivers in Otaru are: Hoshioki, Kiraichi, Zenibako, Hariusu,

Asari Asari may refer to: The Asari are a caste of artisans and craftsmen who do metal working and make jewelry. They are also involved in the construction trades of carpentry and masonry. They are followers of Vishvakarman, the Hindu god of craftsmen an ...

, Katsunai, Shioya, Myoken, Irifune.

Climate

In the summer the weather, like all of western Hokkaido, is very warm and balmy, with a maximum temperature of around and high humidity – not as hot as southern Japan. In the winter, however, Otaru is very snowy, receiving as much as of snow from November to March, when it snows almost constantly and sunshine levels are extremely low. The average maximum snow cover is . Extreme temperatures have ranged from on July 28, 2021, to on January 24, 1954, in which month the highest snowfall of occurred. Monthly precipitation totals in a record dating back to 1943 have ranged from in August 1962 to in June 2007.

List of mayors (from 1923 to present)

Transportation

* JR Hokkaido Station ** Hakodate Main Line : Ranshima – Shioya – Otaru – Minami-Otaru – Otaru-Chikkō –

– Zenibako * Otaru Port Ferry Terminal(A Shin Nihonkai Ferry operates two ferries daily)

Education

Universities

National

Otaru University of Commerce is a national university in Japan. The main campus of the university is in Otaru, Hokkaido, with a satellite campus in Chūō-ku, Sapporo. Overview The university is often called "Taru-shō" or "Shō-dai". The graduate university has a MBA p ...

Colleges

Otaru Junior College was a private junior college in Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan. It was established in 1967 for women, became coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a ...

High schools

Public

Hokkaido Otaru Choryo High School Hokkaido Otaru Choryo High School (北海道小樽潮陵高等学校, ''Hokkaidō Otaru Chōryō Kōtō Gakkō'') is a high school in Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan, founded in 1902. Hokkaido Otaru Choryo High School is one of high schools administrated ...

* Hokkaido Otaru Ouyou High School * Hokkaido Otaru Fisheries High School * Hokkaido Otaru Create Futures High School

=Former

= * Hokkaido Otaru Commercial High School * Hokkaido Otaru Technical High School

Private

* Futaba Gakuen High School * Hokusho High School * Otaru Meihou High School

Notable attractions

A canal adorned with Victorian-style street lamps runs through Otaru. The city attracts a large number of Japanese tourists as well as Russian visitors. A popular attraction on the west side of the city is Nishin Goten (

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

mansion). This large wooden building was built in 1897 and was once the house of Fukumatsu Tanaka, a magnate of the fishing industry. It was originally built in nearby Tomari village and moved in 1958. Visitors can clearly see the difference between the squalid conditions of the first floor sleeping quarters of 120 workers and the ground floor luxury of the magnate's rooms. Another notable building is the Sakaushi residence, constructed by

Yoshiya Tanoue Yoshiya Tanoue (Japanese: 田上義也, Tanoue Yoshiya) is Japanese architect. He was a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed the Sakaushi residence in Otaru, Hokkaido, which was constructed in 1927. It is a blend of Japanese and western arch ...

, a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Tomioka Catholic church is also a popular spot. Many of the buildings have been designated as landmark architecture. Otaru is well known for its beer, and Otaru Beer, next to the canal, is a popular restaurant with a medieval theme. Otaru is also known for its freshness sushi. Another food attraction unique to Otaru is the rainbow tower ice cream. The town also has substantial shopping arcades and bazaars, but fewer than nearby

. Otaru's prominent industries are

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

, such as

studio glass Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Though usage varies, the term is properly res ...

and

musical box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae'') ...

es. Of the latter, it maintains the

Otaru Music Box Museum is a music museum in the Otaru Orgel-do II building in Otaru, Japan. It includes various examples of music boxes as well as CDs that have music box-esque versions of various songs. Chris Bamforth of ''The Japan Times'' wrote that it had an "absolu ...

Tenguyama

Otaru is an important port for Sapporo, and part of this hilly city is on the lower slopes of Tenguyama, a good place for skiing and other winter sports and one that is accessible via Otaru Tenguyama Ropeway.

Sister cities

Nakhodka Nakhodka ( rus, Нахо́дка, p=nɐˈxotkə) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. Po ...

, Russia *

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand *

Gangseo District, Seoul Gangseo District (Gangseo-gu) (Hangul: 강서구, Hanja: 江西區, ) is one of the 25 wards (''gu'') of Seoul, South Korea. It is located on the south side of the Han River. Gimpo Airport is in Gonghang-dong, where many flights fly to ci ...

, South Korea

Notable people

* Seiji Aochi, ski jumper and Olympic medalist (

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

) * Yōko Asagami,

Japanese voice actress Voice acting in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including anime, video games, audio dramas, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In Japan, and a ...

(''

Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, ...

'' and '' City Hunter'') *

Gennosuke Fuse was a Japanese anatomist of the Meiji period. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University medical school. Then he studied abroad in Switzerland. He was assistant of the University of Zurich from 1907 to 1911 and from 1914 to 1916 and worked wit ...

, anatomist of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Sei Itō , born , was a Japanese Literary modernism, Modernist writer of poetry, prose and essays, and a translator. Life Sei Itō was born in Matsumae, Hokkaido, Matsumae, Hokkaidō, under the name of Hitoshi Itō. After graduating from Otaru Higher Co ...

Japanese poet Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in th ...

, novelist, and translator *

Chiaki Kawamata is a Japanese science fiction writer and critic. Chiaki Kawamata has won both the Seiun Award and the Nihon SF Taisho Award. Chiaki Kawamata is also noted for writing the story of the manga ''Emblem of Roto''. Awards * 1981: Seiun Award Japanese ...

, Japanese

science fiction writer This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) *Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) *Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Abne ...

and critic (''

Emblem of Roto previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project ( Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo ( Koichi Sugiyama) to its pub ...

'') *

Yukie Kawamura is a Japanese gravure idol, tarento, and actress signed to Japan Art. Biography Born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, Kawamura grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa and later in Abiko, Chiba. She made her debut in 2003 as a gravure idol. In 2006 she started her ca ...

, Japanese gravure idol,

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

, and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

* Hinako Kitano, actress and model (ex- Nogizaka46) * Masaki Kobayashi,

Japanese film director This article is a list of Japanese film directors. __NOTOC__ A * Yutaka Abe * Masao Adachi * Kyōko Aizome * Masatoshi Akihara * Keita Amemiya * Tetsurō Amino * Hiroshi Ando * Hideaki Anno * Shinji Aoyama * Tarō Araki * Genjiro Arato * Mar ...

(''

The Human Condition ''The Human Condition'', first published in 1958, is Hannah Arendt's account of how "human activities" should be and have been understood throughout Western history. Arendt is interested in the ''vita activa'' (active life) as contrasted with t ...

'', ''

Harakiri , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese Kanji#Readings, kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their Bushido, code of honour but was also practised b ...

'', ''

Samurai Rebellion is a 1967 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The film is based on ''Hairyozuma shimatsu'', a short story by Yasuhiko Takiguchi. Film historian Donald Richie suggests an approximate translation for its original Japanese title, ...

'' and '' Kwaidan'') * Takiji Kobayashi,

Japanese author This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names, family name followed by given name to ensure consistency although some ...

proletarian literature Proletarian literature refers here to the literature created by left-wing writers mainly for the class-conscious proletariat. Though the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that because it "is essentially an intended device of revolution", it is ...

* Masaru Konuma,

(''

Roman Porno in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...

'') *

Kōtetsuyama Toyoya (July 9, 1942 – April 14, 1996), born , was a sumo wrestler from Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan. His highest rank was ''sekiwake''. After his retirement he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and the head coach of Onaruto stable. Ca ...

sumo wrestler A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official ...

(Real Name: Kōnoshin Suga, Nihongo: 菅孝之進, ''Suga Kōnoshin'') *

Natsuhiko Kyogoku is a Japanese mystery writer, who is a member of Ōsawa Office. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. Three of his novels have been turned into feature films; ''Mōryō no Hako'', which w ...

, Japanese

mystery writer Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

, member of the

Mystery Writers of Japan is an organization for mystery writers in Japan. The organization was founded on 21 June 1947 by Edogawa Rampo. It is currently chaired by Bin Konno and claims about 600 members. It presents the Mystery Writers of Japan Award to writers every yea ...

and the

Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan is a Japan-based organization for mystery writers who write ''honkaku'' (i.e. authentic, orthodox) mystery. The organization was founded on 3 November 2000 by Yukito Ayatsuji, Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Hiroko Minagawa, Kaoru Kitamura, Tetsuya Ayukawa ...

Motosaburo Masuyama was a Japanese statistician who championed the ideas of R.A. Fisher and went on to influence the fields of quality control and biometrics. Life Born Otaru, Hokkaidō, Masuyama graduated in physics from the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1937 and ...

, Japanese statistician *

Hideharu Miyahira (born 21 December 1973) is a Japanese former ski jumper. Career Miyahira won four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with three silver (individual and team large hills in 1999, team large hill in 2003) and one bronze (individual ...

, ski jumper * Nobuko Miyamoto,

Japanese actress The following is a list of Japanese actresses in surname alphabetical order. Names are displayed given name first, per Wikipedia manual of style. To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing that they are Japanese ...

* Tetsuya Mizuguchi, video game designer and co-founder of

Q Entertainment was a Japanese video game developer. The studio created, produced, and published digital entertainment content across multiple game consoles, PC broadband and mobile units. It was founded on October 10, 2003 by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, formerly of S ...

Takiko Mizunoe , born , was a Japanese actress, film producer, and radio and TV presenter. She was born in Otaru, Hokkaido, and began her career by acting in Shochiku's musical theatre troupe. Later she became one of Japan’s first female film producers, workin ...

, film producer, radio personality and TV presenter *

Maki Murakami is a Japanese manga artist most famous for the boys love manga ''Gravitation'', which, in addition to the ''Gravitation'' novel, is published in the U.S. by Tokyopop. Biography History She began working as an assistant to the older sister of on ...

, Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

(''

Gravitation In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stron ...

'') * Hideo Murota, Japanese actor (''

Shinde mo ii is a 1992 film directed by Japanese director Takashi Ishii. Based on a novel by Bo Nishimura, the film is about an extramarital affair between the wife of an estate agent and a 22-year-old man. The main cast members are Shinobu Otake (Nami Ts ...

'') *

Nobuo Nakamura was a Japanese actor, who made notable appearances in the films of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps his most famous roles in the West were those of the callous deputy mayor in Kurosawa's ''Ikiru'' (1952), and the h ...

, Japanese actor (''

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. Th ...

'' and ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogniti ...

'') *

Tetsuya Okabe is a Japanese former alpine skier who competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics, and 1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 Feb ...

, Alpine ski racer *

Hibiki Ōtsuki is a Japanese AV actress and an idol singer. Active since 2008, Otsuki became one of the AV industry's most well-known and prolific performers with more than 2100 credited AV appearances. Currently represented by the AV agency T-Powers, she i ...

, Japanese

AV actress An or is a type of pornographic film actress in Japan. It is a sub-category of the idol culture in Japanese pop entertainment. AV idols work in the pornographic business, often both as an actress as well as a model as the video performance ...

and idol singer * Sarah Midori Perry, musician ( Kero Kero Bonito) * Yoko Takahashi, Japanese female mixed martial arts fighter,

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and former boxer and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

* Miyoshi Umeki, Academy Award-winning

and standards singer *

Hirokazu Yagi (born 26 December 1959) is a Japanese former ski jumper. Career His best-known finish was a Silver Medal in the Individual Normal Hill at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, (Tied with Manfred Deckert of East Germany East G ...

, ski jumper *

Akiko Yamanaka thumb is a Special Ambassador for Peacebuilding of Japan. She was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Otaru, Hokkaido and graduate ...

Japanese politician Politics of Japan are conducted in a framework of a dominant-party bicameral parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which the Emperor is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which d ...

Ichiro Yamaguchi , is a Japanese musician. He is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the Hokkaido rock band Sakanaction. Biography Ichiro Yamaguchi was born in Otaru, Hokkaido in 1980. He grew up listening to a wide variety of music, as his father ran a ...

, musician (

Sakanaction , stylised as sakanaction, are a Japanese rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaido. Their music is a fusion of alternative rock, electronic, pop, and new wave styles. The band consists of five members: Ichiro Yamaguchi, Motoharu Iwadera, Ami Kusakari, ...

) * Sawao Yamanaka, musician ( The Pillows) * Kazumi Yamashita,

(''

The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'')

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otaru, Hokkaido Cities in Hokkaido Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan

History

Geography

Neighboring cities and towns

Rivers

Climate

List of mayors (from 1923 to present)

Transportation

Education

Universities

National

Colleges

High schools

Public

=Former

Private

Notable attractions

Tenguyama

Sister cities

Notable people

See also

References

External links