Otaru Off The Beaten Path

On the Otamoi cruise, you can buy bread and throw at the swooping gulls. It's a real delight especially if you share the ferry with young children who are so excited to feed the gulls.

On my trip, there was a funny bloke who stretched out to catch the gulls and actually succeeded in grabbing the wings of one of them. The gulls are very bold and will actually eat out of your hands.

The best scene is when a huge flock of them 'chase' after the ferry and when the ferry turns into port, they will all simultaneously take off in a parallel line - eliciting screams of "Sugoi" (excellent) from the locals. It's really amazing to witness the scene.

Cruise out of Otaru to Syukutsu. Along the way, you'd see beautiful cliffs and the wonderful sea.

Syukutsu's a port town and the main highlight is a preserved historical building of a seaman or blacksmith??

Otaru Canalside Glass Factory. I put this here because I usually avoid such activities as too touristy but I really enjoyed the time I spent here. It was off-the-beaten path for me. The Glass Factory has about four floors, there’s the basement where you can blow glass, the next couple of floors houses merchandise, and the upper floor is the workshop. The staff can help you make just about anything your heart desires. The top floor has an observatory. Make sure to take a look at the beautiful glass traditonal tea set (which looks amazingly similar to the traditional ceramic sets)!! 0134-29-1112

Visit the Mottainai (What a Waste!) Museum (tel 27-4100). This is a tiny museum tucked away in Suminoe 1-7-25. If you catch a bus from the station to Sumiyoshi Shrine, it's very near here. Stand in front of the shrine (Route 5) and look towards the sea. Cross the road and head straight towards the sea. Take the first left and walk just over half way down. It should be on your right. This family display a lot of items from days of old, and show how they recycled a lot of unwanted things. They will also serve you a cup of maccha (green tea) and a sweet cake. And for foreigners with ID it's free entry!!! They are closed over winter however, from November through to April, and they are closed on Sundays. 10.00am - 17.00pm other days. Try to find the hidden lock...

This caldera lake is almost 43km in circumference.

Of course you can find fhe nice spa around here.

Noboribetsu spa is one of the best spa in Japan.

This mountain erupt 4times in 100year.
Last eruption happend in 2000.

May be the first eruption was in 17 century.

Now you can reach the mid of mountain by ropeway.