Bank of Japan Former Otaru Branch Financial Museum

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The Bank of Japan Otaru Branch (now the Financial Museum) located in Ironai, Otaru City was designed by Tatsuno Kingo, the designer of Tokyo Station, famous for its red bricks, and his apprentice Nagano Uheiji, and was completed in July 1912 (Meiji 45).

At the time, there were many bank branches in Otaru, and the area around Ironai Boulevard was known as the "Wall Street of the North." Among them, this building stood out as being particularly striking.

The exterior incorporates a Renaissance style, with five domes on the roof. The exterior walls are made of brick with mortar applied to the surface, giving it a stone-like finish. The building is elaborately designed throughout, with 30 clay statues of Blakiston's fish owls both inside and outside, a sales office with a large pillar-less atrium, and a sales counter made of marble from Akasaka, Gifu Prefecture.

It is currently open to the public as a financial museum that introduces the role of the Bank of Japan and financial systems.

Facility name : Bank of Japan Former Otaru Branch Financial Museum

address
1-11-16 Ironai, Otaru City, Hokkaido 047-0031

phone
0134-21-1111

Opening hours
09:30-17:00

Closed Wednesdays

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This shop, renovated from the "Old Otaru Warehouse Main Building," said to be the oldest commercial warehouse in Hokkaido in the Otaru North Canal area, develops and sells original products that convey the charm of Otaru. The shop tells the story of Otaru's prosperity during the Hokkaido pioneering era and the history of the Kitamae ships, and displays and sells processed seafood and agricultural products from ports of call and Hokkaido, as well as original products by artisans and artists with ties to Otaru.