The area around JR Minami Otaru Station was the business center of Otaru in the early 20th century.
There are many relics reminding of those flourishing days in this area. One of the examples is the storehouse made of stone. You can see many old storehouses here in Wakamatsu, Nobuka, Irifune areas. I am going to introduce the images of those storehouses in the near future.
The image is a typical old-time merchant house in Wakamatsu. The part of the brown wooden sliding doors must have been a shop. I have no idea what business this shop did, but it is quite interesting to see the building like this still remaining even long after they closed the business.
The comparison of this house with the brand-new convenience store on the same street just across an alley is also interesting.
Otaru is the city where the old and the new coexist with intriguing balance.
The slight bend of the building is not due to my poor photography, it is just like this.
There is a fine Buddhist temple near by, too.
