Otaru Canal 小樽運河
The canal, completed in 1923, was meant to disappear in 1966: a civic battle saved it.
Dug so that ships could unload goods directly into the warehouses of the port of Otaru, the canal was completed in 1923. With the decline of port traffic it lost its purpose, and after the war the municipality planned to fill it in to make a main road: the 1966 proposal met opposition from residents, and the dispute was settled only in 1986 with the current solution, a compromise between the two halves.
Hokkaido
Otaru
