Day 15-- Otaru

We started the day with immigration. What a pain. Before we entered Korea or Russia we had to go through Japanese immigration to remove the entry card we received when we entered Japan. Then we had to go through Korean or Russian immigration before we left the ship. And we had to do the reverse when we came back. Japan requires you to be fingerprinted and photographed before entering. We had that done 3 times. Otaru is a very pretty city We took a cable car to the peak of Mt. Tengu overlooking the city. There is a great view from there on the whole city and the surrounding mountains. There is also a ski lift there and it’s a very popular ski area in the winter. Otaru is only about 50 miles from Sapporo where the winter Olympics were held years ago. Then we went to the preserved mansion of a local herring millionaire. The old Aoyama family villa was built in 1917, at the height of Otaru’s prosperity when it was a huge center of herring fishing and coal industry. The villa was one of the most lavish home built in Japan at that time. While we were there, we saw a traditional Japanese wedding party taking pictures in the great hall. Then we walked through the town and its famous canal district till we dropped. It is Sunday so in addition to the 2000+ people from the ship there were also a lot of locals strolling and eating in the multitude of sushi and other, mostly fish, restaurants. Back to the ship for late lunch and a rest. Then out to a nearby shopping mall.