Lemme tell you, folks....Otaru did NOT disappoint. With an entire street dedicated to sushi restaurants, or "Sushi-ya-dori", I  ended up stuffing myself silly for 3 consecutive days and nights. Being a cheapo backpacker, I'll have to give a big thumbs  up to my ol' cheap sushi stand-by; Kai-ten Sushi, or sushi on a conveyor belt. The kai-ten sushi in Otaru is pure backpacker  gold. Cheap enough to eat all you want, but good enough to not want to stop eating. Dang that was some good eats.

 Hiking in Otaru is of a high quality. Took a bus out past the aquarium and walked up the big hill till I saw something that  looked like a trail head. (you'll find it, no worries). Walked down a trail that peered down on some of the best lookin' cliffs that  side of Newfoundland. Beautiful stuff. Eventually you'll see another trail which takes you down to the beach where you can  walk for miles without seeing or hearing a soul and watch the ferries drift off from the port on their way to Sakhalin Island  (Mother RRRRussia) and other Asian ports of call. Great stuff. Bring a camera.

 Stayed at an awesome little guesthouse about a 10 minute walk up the hill from Otaru Station. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED  that you stay there. It's called "Mori No Ki" and is a house owned by a really, really nice Japanese gentleman who also  teaches Japanese to local foreigners. He has two little dogs who you'll get along with just fine and it's an awesome  atmosphere. Best guesthouse in Japan and I'm not even bothering to exaggerate. Forgot to mention, the guesthouse has  the most amazing collection of Japanese comics....you'll never leave.

 Mori No Ki Guesthouse website