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01203 ／おたるし

Otaru City

Hokkaido's first railway is now a walking path.

Former Temiya Line, walking path

Photo by Wmoon22 (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Temiya Cave

A carving a stonemason found in a walldates to the Epi-Jomon period.

Temiya Cave was found in 1866 (Keio 2) by a stonemason from Odawara who had come to build a herring lodge and noticed patterns on the rock wall while looking for stone. The carvings date from roughly 1,600 years ago, in the Epi-Jomon period, and the cave is a national historic site. The preservation center keeps the intaglio carvings in a capsule.

National historic site
Roughly 1,600 years old, Epi-Jomon period
Found by a stonemason in 1866

02 ／ Former Nippon Yusen Kaisha Otaru Branch

Outer walls of local soft stone,a Meiji-era stone branch office.

The Former Nippon Yusen Kaisha Otaru Branch is a two-storey stone building begun in 1904 (Meiji 37) and completed in 1906, and it is an Important Cultural Property. Its outer walls use soft stone from Otaru Tengu-yama and Okusawa, and the base and eaves use medium-hard stone from Noboribetsu. The city names its designer, and says a local master carpenter built it.

Important Cultural Property
Outer walls of soft stone from Tengu-yama and Okusawa
The Temiya Line ran behind it when it was completed

03 ／ Oshoro Stone Circle

The standing stones are known to have beencarried from Cape Shiripa, about 9 km away.

The Oshoro Stone Circle is a Late Jomon stone circle (about 3,500 years old) on a small river terrace, and a national historic site. Large and small standing stones are set in an oval of 33 m north-south and 22 m east-west, and large wooden posts once stood around it.

National historic site
33 m north-south, 22 m east-west
Late Jomon period (about 3,500 years ago)

Otaru City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot May–June 2025)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

From Otaru Station, 13 minutes on foot to City Hall.

about 110,000 people

The city's "Access to City Hall" page (updated 28 December 2023) directs visitors from JR Otaru Station, the nearest station: turn right onto National Route 5 in front of the station, go straight about 700 m, turn right at the City Hall intersection, and walk about 300 m. It takes about 13 minutes on foot, or about 5 minutes by car.

People living here: 111,299people
Area: 243.87km²
Households: 52,817households
Rent (average for rentals): 41,360yen
Healthcare: 15 hospitals ／ 76 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —22 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities.

Otaru City in Japan43.191°N 140.994°E

Territory of Otaru City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

20.2km

Sapporo City, Akaigawa Village, Yoichi Town, Ishikari City

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Otaru City isthis kind of town.

01The Former Temiya Line was the first section opened of the state-run Horonai Railway, described as Hokkaido's first railway; it closed in 1985 and is now a walking path that keeps railway facilities
02Temiya Cave is a national historic site with Epi-Jomon intaglio carvings, and the Former Nippon Yusen Kaisha Otaru Branch, an Important Cultural Property, has outer walls of soft stone from Tengu-yama and Okusawa
03The Oshoro Stone Circle is a Late Jomon national historic site whose standing stones are known to have come from Cape Shiripa about 9 km away; City Hall is about 13 minutes on foot from Otaru Station

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Otaru City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes