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
is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The subprefecture's capital is Kutchan. As of July 31, 2004, the estimated population was 256,184 and the area was 4,305.65 km2.
Geography Municipalities
Mergers
History
*18 ...
,
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
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
.
As of July 31, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 115,333 and a population density of 474.37 persons per km
2 (1,228.6 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is . Although it is the largest city in
Shiribeshi Subprefecture
is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The subprefecture's capital is Kutchan. As of July 31, 2004, the estimated population was 256,184 and the area was 4,305.65 km2.
Geography Municipalities
Mergers
History
*18 ...
, the subprefecture's capital is the more centrally located
Kutchan
is a town located in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Kutchan lies slightly north of the volcano Mount Yōtei, and is approximately 50 kilometers west of Sapporo. The subprefecture government offices are located in this town, making it ...
.
History
The city was an
Ainu 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
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
'' 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
The Japanese occupation of Attu was the result of an invasion of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska during World War II. Imperial Japanese Army troops landed on 7 June 1942 the day after the invasion of Kiska. The invasions on Attu Island and Kiska ...
. 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
![Tengu mountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Tengu_mountain.jpg)
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
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 ...
in northern
Shiribeshi Subprefecture
is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The subprefecture's capital is Kutchan. As of July 31, 2004, the estimated population was 256,184 and the area was 4,305.65 km2.
Geography Municipalities
Mergers
History
*18 ...
. 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
*
Ishikari
**
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 ...
(
Teine-ku,
Minami-ku),
Ishikari
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
The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...
Station
**
Hakodate Main Line
The is a railway line connecting the cities of Hakodate and Asahikawa via Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. It is one of the trunk lines operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The Sawara Line, a 35 km loop line from Ōnuma to Mo ...
:
Ranshima –
Shioya –
Otaru
is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tou ...
–
Minami-Otaru –
Otaru-Chikkō –
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 ...
–
Zenibako
* Otaru Port Ferry Terminal(A
Shin Nihonkai Ferry
is a marine transportation company based in Japan.
Ships and Routes
Highspeed Ferries
Conventional Ferries
Terminals
Shin Nihonkai Ferry operates from six terminals.
;Maizuru ferry terminal
:Located in Maizuru, Kyoto ()
; Tsuruga fe ...
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
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
![Otaru_Canal03bs3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Otaru_Canal03bs3.jpg)
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, 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
is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...
. 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
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 ...
.
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.
Tenguyama
![Otaru Tengu-yama ski resort View](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Otaru_Tengu-yama_ski_resort_View.JPG)
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 The is Japanese aerial lift line in Otaru, Hokkaidō, operated by . The company also operates bus terminals, Sapporo Municipal Subway kiosks, and ski resorts. Opened in 1979, the line climbs with the panoramic view of the city. There also is , whi ...
.
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
(June 21, 1942 – August 14, 2008) was a Japanese ski jumper who competed in the early 1970s. His best finish was a bronze medal in the Individual normal hill event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.
Aochi attended Meiji University
...
,
ski jumper
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
and
Olympic medalist
This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad.
Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports
Winter Olympic sports
A. Including military patrol e ...
(
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
is a Japanese voice actress who is represented by Aksent. She is most known for the roles of Yuki Mori (''Space Battleship Yamato'') and Saeko Nogami (''City Hunter''). Her married name is .
Asagmi was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō. In 1992, she b ...
,
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
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 ''tankōbon'' volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted int ...
'')
*
Gennosuke Fuse, 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, 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 ...
, Japanese
gravure idol
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...
,
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
is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto, created as the of the group AKB48. They are the first group from the Sakamichi Series, which also includes sister groups Sakurazaka46 (formerly Keyakizaka46), Yoshimotozaka46, and ...
)
*
Masaki Kobayashi
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic (genre), epic trilogy ''The Human Condition (film series), The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri (1962 film), Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Reb ...
,
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
is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".
Overall meaning and usage
In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refers ...
'')
*
Takiji Kobayashi
was a Japanese writer of proletarian literature.
He is best known for his short novel '' Kanikōsen'', or ''Crab Cannery Ship'', published in 1929. It tells the story of the hard life of cannery workers, fishermen and seamen on board a cannery ...
,
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 ...
of
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
is a Japanese film director known for his '' Roman Porno'' films for Nikkatsu during the 1970s.
Life and career
Early life
Masaru Konuma was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, on December 30, 1937. Konuma retains no memories of his father who was a te ...
,
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 ...
(''
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
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic languages, Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyu ...
: 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, 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
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
*
Nobuko Miyamoto
is a Japanese actress. She was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, and raised in Nagoya. She was married to director Juzo Itami from 1969 until his death in 1997, and regularly starred in his films.
She has been nominated for eight Best Actress Japanese ...
,
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
is a Japanese video game designer, producer, and businessman. Along with ex-Sega developers he is the one of the co-founders of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega as a producer in their Sega AM3 'arcade m ...
,
video game designer
Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...
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 ...
,
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 ...
, 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
was a Japanese actor who specialized in playing villains and tough guys. In 1957, he signed a contract with Toei Studio and appeared in over 1000 films. He won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Yokohama Film Festival for his role in ''Shin ...
,
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,
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 and
idol singer
* Sarah Midori Perry, musician (
Kero Kero Bonito
Kero Kero Bonito (KKB) are a British indie pop band formed in South London in 2011. The band consists of vocalist Sarah Midori Perry and producers and multi-instrumentalists Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled.
Their musical style consists of indie po ...
)
*
Yoko Takahashi
is a Japanese singer, who is best known for her work throughout the 1990s, most particularly for her singles which were performed for and featured in anime, most notably the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise.
Career
Takahashi began her ...
,
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
was a Japanese-American singer and actress.Bernstein, Adam ''The Washington Post''. 5 September 2007. Umeki was a Tony Award- and Golden Globe-nominated actress and the first East Asian-American woman to win an Academy Award for acting.
Life
Bo ...
,
Academy Award-winning 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 ...
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 ...
,
ski jumper
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
*
Akiko Yamanaka,
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
are a Japanese alternative rock band formed in 1989. The group has released 22 studio albums, several Extended play, EPs and compilations, and over 40 singles. Outside Japan, they are best known as the group responsible for the soundtrack to the ...
, musician (
The Pillows
are a Japanese alternative rock band formed in 1989. The group has released 22 studio albums, several Extended play, EPs and compilations, and over 40 singles. Outside Japan, they are best known as the group responsible for the soundtrack to the ...
)
*
Kazumi Yamashita,
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 ...
(''
The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa'')
See also
*
Otaru Station
is a railway station in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). It is numbered "S15".
Lines
Otaru Station is served by the Hakodate Main Line.
Station layout
The station consists of two island platform ...
*
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 ...
*
Rising Sun Rock Festival
Rising Sun Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan. The two-day event is organized by WESS. It chiefly features Japanese rock and indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
...
*
taru Amato
References
External links
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otaru, Hokkaido
Cities in Hokkaido
Port settlements in Japan
Populated coastal places in Japan