Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan (February 2025)

We made a day trip to Otaru, a port city close to Sapporo. Otaru used to be a bustling port where many people got rich with herring. It does not have the old glory, but the pride of the citizens remains. It is now a nostalgic town attracting many tourists from around the world.

We took a bus to Otaru, but we could have taken a Japanese Rail train. We hired a local guide, namely Kumiko, who told us that the train would be quite crowded. The first place we visited was Sankaku Market. We saw a variety of seafood alive or cooked which were reasonably priced. 

The second place we visited was a sake factory, called Tanaka. After the tasting, we bought two bottles of sake.

We found the miniature dolls displayed at many stores. They represent the hierarchy of people, but point to success. The Japanese are believers in pantheism, worshipping many gods, including the Emperor and respected ancestors.  

One of Otaru's iconic structures is the Steam Clock Tower. It emits steam every 15 minutes.

The Steam Clock Tower is right outside Otaru Music Box Museum. Music boxes are called in Orugoru, which was a mispronunciation of organ, believe or not. In general, Japanese has a little amusing way of pronouncing English and other foreign languages because it has limited vowels and consonants in its alphabet. The museum was on the third floor, but the sales floor was crowded with tourists, displaying many Orugorus.

Another must-see place in Otaru is LeTAO bakery cafe. LeTAO sounds like French, but it is a little twisted version of Otaru read backward. Its cheese cake was delicious.

We also visited a glassware store, called Kitaichi Glass. The products they display and sell were wonderfully made.

It was snowy the whole day when we visited Otaru and it was just beautiful.

For lunch, we went to a seafood restaurant and ate Kaisendon or seafood donburi. All the seafood was so fresh and delicious.

Another icon of Otaru is the canal. Otaru Canal was famous for transportation in the old times. Now there are only tourist boats floating only when the weather permits. 

Different from the Sapporo Snow Festival, Otaru holds its own Snow Lights Festival. We found many lamp stands and snow vessels that hold candles at night. Unlike the Sapporo Snow Festival, Otaru is proud of its own festival focusing on spiritual experience rather than sightseeing.

There are still old warehouse buildings that reflect the old glory days of Otaru as the trading center for the region. The city converted most of these warehouse buildings into shops, restaurants, or entertainment centers.

On the way back, we also took a bus to return to our hotel in Sapporo. It was snowy and cold, and the road was slippery. But, we all enjoyed our day trip to Otaru. - Jeffrey