Hokkaido · Otaru

Otaru: the canal, the glass street, the music boxes, sushi and the cheesecake

The port town that survived from the 19th century with stone warehouses along a canal, 40 minutes from Sapporo. A day of slow walking: glassblowers, a music box museum in an old building, the sushi street, and at night the gas lamps on the canal.

A day trip from Sapporo to Otaru, the port town where 19th-century stone warehouses survived along a canal. You start with a bus and a ropeway up Tenguyama, while the view over the bay is still clear, and come down to the Marchen intersection and the music box museum. From there it is on foot along Sakaimachi Street with its glass shops, to lunch on the sushi street, and to the canal, and you finish with a beer in a warehouse on the water as the gas lamps come on. The train from Sapporo costs ¥800 each way, and in the town itself there are two bus rides, up the mountain and back, ¥240 each.

Verified online, October 20267 stops · 09:00 to 17:30¥11,100 · ≈ $70 per personWalking between stops: 53 min · Transport: ¥480Day trip from SapporoGood with kidsFebruary: the Snow Light Path Festival

The day on a map

6 stops, in order

Stops: 6
Walking minutes: 29

Stop number on the timelineWalkingTrain, metro or busBase map: © OpenStreetMap

Open this day in Google Maps

The same stops with the same numbers, and the way from stop to stop. On a phone it opens in the app, and that is what you navigate with in Japan. Pin names on the map are in Hebrew.

Getting there: From Sapporo: the JR train to Otaru, ¥800. The rapid 'Airport' train makes the trip in 34 to 35 minutes, for example 09:10 from Sapporo and 09:45 in Otaru, and the local train takes about 50 minutes. Sit on the right side, facing the sea. The day ends on the canal, about 12 minutes on foot from Otaru Station, and you head back from there.

09:0009:45
TrainMust
Otaru Station: the train to Otaru along the sea
You start with the train itself: from Zenibako onward it hugs the coast, 20 minutes of the Sea of Japan. At Otaru Station, Kitaichi's glass lamps hang in the windows. Do not go down into town yet: first you go up the mountain, while the air is still clear.
¥800 · ≈ $5Open in Maps
Up to Tenguyama
- Bus · 25 min · ¥240Chuo Bus line 9 from stand 4 at the terminal across from the station to the end of the line, Tenguyama Ropeway, 20 minutes. In the morning it leaves at 09:10, 09:40 and 10:10, and after that at 10 and 40 past the hour, every day. A combined ticket for the round-trip bus and the ropeway is sold at the terminal: ¥2,250 in summer and ¥2,450 in winter, ¥30 less than buying each separately.
10:3011:30
Stop 1ViewpointIf there is time
Tenguyama Ropeway: the town and the bay from above
A ropeway of about 5 minutes up a 532-meter mountain, with a view over Otaru, the bay and Sapporo in the background. Go up in the morning, before the clouds gather on the mountain. ¥1,800 round trip in summer and ¥2,000 in winter. The 2026 summer season: 25 April to 3 November, 09:00 to 21:00. The winter season: 28 November 2026 to 28 March 2027, last ride up at 19:48, and then it is a small ski area. Between the seasons the ropeway does not run, and you go straight from the station to the Marchen intersection. In summer there is a slide on the grounds.
¥1,800 · ≈ $11Open in Maps
Down to the Marchen intersection
- Bus · 45 min · ¥240Ride the ropeway down, and from the stop at the bottom take line 9 to Otaru Station, 17 minutes. It leaves at 07 and 37 past the hour, so if you come down at 11:30 you catch the 11:37. From the station it is about 22 minutes on foot southeast to the Marchen intersection.
- or: Train · 40 min · ¥450The same line 9 to Otaru Station, ¥240, and from there the JR train to Minami-Otaru, one station, 4 minutes, ¥210, plus about 7 minutes on foot downhill to the intersection.
12:2012:55
Stop 2MuseumRecommended
Otaru Music Box Museum and the steam clock
At the Marchen intersection, at the southern end of Sakaimachi Street: a brick building from 1912 with 25,000 music boxes. Entry is free, open 09:00 to 18:00 all year, and there is a workshop where you assemble a box of your own, from ¥2,000. At the entrance a steam clock sounds every 15 minutes. Children especially love the shop. Next door, at the intersection, is LeTAO and its double cheesecake, which melts in your mouth: ¥300 a slice, ¥2,000 for a whole cake.
¥800 · ≈ $5Open in Maps
Up to Sakaimachi
- Walk · 3 minNorthwest along Sakaimachi Street to Kitaichi's third building. About 200 meters.
13:0013:35
Stop 3StreetMust
Sakaimachi Street: Kitaichi glass and the bank buildings
The street where the banks sat when Otaru was the 'Wall Street of the North'. Today it has blown-glass shops, Kitaichi in three buildings, from cheap pieces to art, and also chocolate and souvenir shops. In Kitaichi's Building 3 is Kitaichi Cafe, a stone hall with 167 lit oil lamps: coffee for ¥700, and it is worth going in even without a drink. Open 09:00 to 17:30, orders until 17:00. From there you walk northwest along the street, shop to shop, toward lunch.
¥700 · ≈ $4Open in Maps
On to the sushi street
- Walk · 12 minNorthwest along Sakaimachi Street, then left onto the sushi street, which climbs from the canal toward the station. About a kilometer.
13:5014:50
Stop 4LunchMust
Lunch break on the sushi street
Otaru is one of Japan's sushi capitals thanks to the port, and the sushi street has about 20 restaurants on two streets. A set of 10 pieces costs ¥3,000 to ¥5,000, and less at lunch. The last lunch order is at 14:30, so do not linger on Sakaimachi. Any restaurant on the street with a menu outside is also of a high standard, and for children there is rice with ikura. The options:
- Masazushi, the main branch¥2,920 to ¥6,820
  The famous one on the street, so there is a line, and organized groups come here. 260 seats. Nigiri set ¥4,180 or ¥6,820, seafood chirashi ¥2,920. Lunch 11:00 to 15:00, last order 14:30. Closed on Wednesdays. Reserve ahead on the website.
- Masazushi Zen-an¥2,920 to ¥6,820
  A smaller branch of the same restaurant, 80 seats, about 7 minutes on foot toward the canal. The same menu and the same hours, and closed on Thursdays, so it is the alternative when the main branch is closed on Wednesday.
- Isezushi¥8,500
  A family sushi restaurant from 1967, about 10 minutes on foot north, past the station. 15 pieces and soup for ¥8,500. Lunch 11:30 to 15:00, last order 14:30. Closed on Wednesdays and on the first three Tuesdays of the month. Reserve ahead, and tourists can book on the website.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥4,000 · ≈ $25Reserve ahead for Masazushi.Open in Maps
Down to the canal
- Walk · 8 minDown the sushi street toward the port, to the canal, and right to Asakusa Bridge. About 600 meters.
15:0016:15
Stop 5CanalMust
Otaru Canal: the stone warehouses and the gas lamps
The canal dates from 1923, with stone warehouses and a promenade with 63 gas lamps. The familiar photo is from Asakusa Bridge, at the southern end, where you are standing now. From there go down to the promenade and walk along the water. A 40-minute boat cruise with commentary leaves from Chuo Bridge: ¥1,800 by day and ¥2,000 in the evening, and it is worth it in winter when there is snow on the warehouses. In February there is the 'Snow Light Path' festival, with candles in ice, and it is worth sleeping in Otaru that night.
¥1,800 · ≈ $11Open in Maps
On to the brewery
- Walk · 6 minOn the promenade north along the canal, to the Otaru Beer warehouse. About 450 meters.
16:2017:30
Stop 6NightRecommended
Otaru Soko No.1 brewery: German beer in a warehouse
You finish at a German-style microbrewery inside a warehouse on the canal, with copper kettles, and wheat beer and pilsner for ¥600. For children, juice and fried potatoes. Open 11:00 to 22:00, and you can wander around the brewery on your own, for free. Closed for renovation from 1 January to 11 April 2027. The tables face the canal, and outside the gas lamps come on as darkness falls: in winter that happens at 16:30, and the lamps glow over the snow, and that is the picture of Otaru. In summer it gets dark only after 19:00, and if you want the lamps, stay for dinner. From there it is about 12 minutes on foot to Otaru Station, and the train to Sapporo for dinner, 35 to 37 minutes on the rapid train, ¥800. Or a second sushi, because you can.
¥1,200 · ≈ $8Open in Maps

Otaru: the canal, the glass street, the music boxes, sushi and the cheesecake

6 stops, in order

Otaru Station: the train to Otaru along the sea

Tenguyama Ropeway: the town and the bay from above

Otaru Music Box Museum and the steam clock

Sakaimachi Street: Kitaichi glass and the bank buildings

Lunch break on the sushi street

Otaru Canal: the stone warehouses and the gas lamps

Otaru Soko No.1 brewery: German beer in a warehouse

Hakodate: live squid at the morning market, the church slopes, the star-shaped fort and the night view

Sapporo Teine: a ski day on the 1972 Olympic runs, without leaving your hotel in Sapporo

Niseko: a ski day in Hirafu powder, apres-ski in a fridge, and an onsen in the snow

Sapporo: a crab bowl in the morning, Odori Park, the Beer Museum, and lamb on the grill