About this location: Otaru
Otaru Canal and its stone warehouses embody the nostalgic port town. Gas-lit canal views at night, snow-capped warehouses, and streets lined with glasscraft shops make for cinematic frames. Just 40 minutes by train from Sapporo.
Key features
- Otaru Canal — 1,140 m completed in 1923, with 63 gas lamps and stone warehouses, a sacred ground for blue-hour and nightscapes
- Marchen Crossing — the steam clock, Kitaichi Glass, and the Music Box Museum cluster at the tourism center; in winter snow, otherworldly
- Mt. Tengu Ropeway — 532 m elevation, with the night view of Otaru and Ishikari Bay rivaling Japan's New Three Great Night Views
- Sakaimachi Street — former banks of the «Wall Street of the North,» plus sushi, seafood, and glasswork; magical to walk in falling snow
- Shukutsu Peninsula — the Nishin Goten herring mansion, the Blue Cave tour, lighthouses, and dramatic coastlines
