At the end of the Edo period, Otaru's port was a busy hub for herring fishing, and became a “merchant port” in the Meiji era. The port developed further when merchant ships were allowed to pass through and Kitamae-bune entered the port. In the latter half of the Meiji period, Otaru became a foreign trading port and was described as “a merchant port second only to Kobe and Yokohama. Otaru Port became the gateway to Hokkaido and a hub supporting the Hokkaido economy.

　

　Along with the port, Otaru's development was supported by the railroad. Otaru is the birthplace of Hokkaido's railroads. When high-quality coal was discovered in the mountains of Horonai (Mikasa) during the pioneering period, construction of the Horonai Railway (later known as the Temiya Railway) began to transport the coal. After overcoming a number of difficulties, the railway started from Temiya (Otaru) in 1878, and was completed in only 11 months to Sapporo, and two years later, the entire line was completed to Horonai. Hokkaido's high-quality coal was shipped from the port of Otaru to all parts of the country via the railroad, helping to modernize Japan.

　

　Now that the line has been closed, a dynamically preserved steam locomotive continues to run in the main building of the museum, bringing the history of the birth of various railroads to the present day. In Otaru Port, the “North Breakwater,” Japan's first open-ocean breakwater, still protects the port 100 years after its construction, and in recent years, Pier No. 3 has been transformed from a logistics hub to a gathering place.