A worthwhile stop for anyone visiting Otaru. The museum is not particularly large, but it provides an excellent overview of Otaru's history, development, and connection to the sea. After visiting, we had a much better understanding of the city and the significance of many of the places we explored later in the day. One thing I appreciated was that visitors are given a printed guide in their preferred language, making the exhibits much easier to follow. Don't worry if some displays are only in Japanese. Google Translate works well enough to fill in the gaps, and the effort is well rewarded. In hindsight, I would recommend starting your Otaru visit here before heading to the canal, museums, shopping streets, and other attractions. Having the historical context made the rest of our sightseeing far more meaningful and enjoyable. Well worth the modest admission fee and time spent. P.S. I won't be posting many photos from inside the museum. Some places are best explored and discovered for yourself. 🙂

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Otaru Museum of History and Nature is a small but enjoyable museum with a cheap entrance fee. It’s not crowded, and the animal and plant exhibits are especially nice. Most information is in Japanese.

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A small but great museum. Gives you a glimpse of the past of Hokkaido. And another hall which showcased the plant / insects and some Ainu culture. The elaboration was in Japanese but they did provide a written explanation in your language of choice. There’s also a small counter between the first and second hall that allowed you to play some traditional Japanese game. Ticket was 300 yen per person. Over all, a worthy visit. Especially if you would just like to spend 1-2 hours in a museum or have kids.

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I didn’t have much time, so I only looked around briefly, but the exhibits were quite well put together.

Another museum crossed our path, the Otaru Museum of History and Nature. Here we saw scenes and sections similar to the Hokkaido Museum from two days earlier, featuring the history of the Ainu, the colonization of Ezochi, and the first settlements in Otaru. It was touching to see a small dog named Bunkō, a dog from the Otaru fire department. There was a newspaper clipping from 1923 with his picture. He was the first to jump on the pump truck, kept onlookers away, and untangled hoses. He was an idol in Otaru and much loved by the residents. He died of old age on February 3, 1938. He received a firefighter's funeral, and the citizens gave him some of his favorite sweets as a tribute. We were able to see representations of old houses and shops. We even got to talk on a wind-up telephone across a room! This time, we were able to take a leisurely look at the nature area, which also had a beautiful display.

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