OTARU KOURAKUEN Travel Journal

As the story goes, that poet Takuboku Ishikawa once worked here in Otaru as a newspaper reporter around 1907, and many famous people have visited here at Otaru Kourakuen. They include writer Makoto Shiina, musician Chiharu Matsuyama, TV personality and actor Hiroshi Oizumi, and Mr. Konishiki. Noriko Aota and Wakako Shimazaki also visited the inn for the interview. On the February 13, 2008 broadcast of TV Tokyo's "Ii Tabi Yume Kibun", well-known Iron Chef Takaaki Nakamura, Hiroyuki Sakai, and the late actress Naomi Kawashima tasted a dinner full of seafood.

Restaurant "Charyo Kanon"

Then, in late July 2008, that professional golfer Ryo Ishikawa stayed at the inn.
2008 was a memorable year for him, as he was 16 years old, in his second year of high school, and had just turned pro. At that time, he was staying in the inn to play in the Sun Chlorella Classic (July 31-August 3, 2008) which was held at the Otaru Country Club.
At that time, he stayed for a week with his family, who were visiting Hokkaido for the first time. Ishikawa was a humble and polite young man, just as we often see him on TV. At the time, he was such an ordinary high school student that other guests walked by him in the lobby reading his newspaper article without noticing him at all.
In fact, it was around this time that he showed signs of recovery from a slump in which he failed to qualify for five consecutive rounds, finishing tied for third at the Shigeo Nagashima INVITATIONAL Sega Sammy Cup (July 24-27, 2008, The North CC, Chitose City, Hokkaido). When he returned from a practice round, he immediately went to his room to lie down and play a game, and he loved Coke and hamburgers, especially fried half-cut chicken.
By the way, the guest room he stayed in was "Ayame-no-Ma", a guest room with an open-air bath. He was sharing the room with his exclusive caddie. He may have been soaking in the open-air guest room bath, the pride of the inn, while planning his course strategy in the room. Unfortunately, he finished tied for 41st at the Sun Chlorella Classic at Otaru CC, but soon after that, he won the Kansai Open (August 21-24, 2008/Shiga GC/Supported by Japan Golf Tour) for the first time after turning pro, and then won the Mynavi ABC Championship (October 30-11, 2008).
The following year, in 2009, he won the Sun Chlorella Classic at Otaru CC, where he kept the lead from the first day to the last day. As you know, he has become a real star player who leads not only golf but also the whole Japanese sports world.

And in the summer of 2017, the year after the renovation, a Korean male group stayed with their manager and staffs when they came for a live concert in Sapporo.
It is easy to imagine the members of the group, who are very close to each other, relaxing in the open-air guest room bath together.
Since then, they have become big artists with countless fans not only in Korea and Japan, but all over the world.

Guest room open-air bath

What comes to mind when you think of Otaru City, Hokkaido? Recently, Otaru City has been frequently featured in the mass media, so perhaps it is the stone warehouses and historical buildings that line the canal. There, you can see the remnants of Otaru, which once prospered as a commercial city backed by shipping.
Today, the area is lined with numerous souvenir stores, restaurants, and galleries, and has become a major tourist spot representing Hokkaido. Tour buses come and go, and the area is crowded with tourists in all seasons. Recently, the number of foreign visitors has been particularly noticeable.

Otaru's Canal Area and Sakai-machi Street

Comments from guests who stayed at this inn