Otaru, Hokkaido

One morning last week, I had a visit to Otaru, Hokkaido.

There was much snow - the cab driver told me that this much snow was quite unusual even for Otaru.

This is right in front of the famous cheese cake store - Le Tao.

I learned that Otaru is famous for ice cream. Girls love it - they eat it out in the cold.

Otaru is also famous for glass art.

Otaru train station as I was leaving for the airport.

Here's a sign for a support to extending Shinkansen High Speed Rail to Hokkaido (currently, only to Aomori). The sign says the 360 km/h speed train will make the time from Sapporo/Otaru to Tokyo 3 hours and 57 min.

I need to return there with more time to enjoy the beautiful city.