Otaru Guide: Canal, Glass, Music Boxes, Sushi and Japanese to Use

Why Otaru is Hokkaido's favourite day trip

Otaru grew rich in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the port through which Hokkaido's settlers, coal and herring passed. Trading houses and banks built solid stone and brick offices, and the area around Ironai became known as the Wall Street of the North. The canal, completed in 1923, let small barges carry cargo from ships anchored offshore to the warehouses on its banks.

As the port lost its importance, the canal fell into disuse, and part of it was filled in for a road. A long campaign by residents saved the rest, and the restored section, with a stone path, 63 gas lamps and warehouses turned into restaurants and shops, is now the town's symbol. A short walk away, Sakaimachi-dōri preserves the merchant district, where glass shops, sweet makers and the music box museum fill buildings from Otaru's boom years.

For a Japanese learner, Otaru mixes easy shopping language with one of the best places in the country to eat sushi. Shop signs are full of old-fashioned kanji like 硝子, glass, and the sushi counters reward anyone who can say a few polite words to the chef.

Getting there: JR from Sapporo to Minami-Otaru and Otaru

Otaru is on the JR Hakodate Main Line, west of Sapporo. Rapid trains take around 35 minutes from Sapporo Station and local trains a little longer. After Zenibako the line runs along the shore of Ishikari Bay, so sit on the right-hand side when heading to Otaru for the sea view. Some Rapid Airport trains from New Chitose Airport continue through Sapporo to Otaru, which is handy if you want to go straight there.

Two stations are useful. Minami-Otaru, one stop before the terminus for most trains, is about five to seven minutes' walk downhill to the music box museum at the end of Sakaimachi-dōri. JR Otaru Station, a rebuilt 1934 station building hung with glass lamps, is about ten minutes' walk from the canal and right beside the Sankaku Market. The easy plan is to start at Minami-Otaru, walk Sakaimachi-dōri and the canal, and leave from Otaru Station.

The canal, Sakaimachi-dōri and the music box museum

Start at the Märchen crossroads, a five-way junction at the southern end of Sakaimachi-dōri. Here stands the Otaru Music Box Museum's main building, a brick and stone merchant building from the early twentieth century, packed from floor to rafters with music boxes of every size. Outside is a tall steam clock that whistles a tune every fifteen minutes. Entry is free, and the shop sells boxes that play anything from classical music to anime themes.

Walk north along Sakaimachi-dōri and the old storefronts give way to glass shops, including the Kitaichi Glass buildings lit with oil lamps, and sweet shops selling Otaru's famous cheesecakes and soft-serve ice cream. Glassmaking here grew out of the fishing trade: workshops once made glass floats for herring nets, then turned to tableware and decorative pieces when the herring disappeared. Several workshops let you try glassblowing or decorate a piece yourself.

At the end of the street, turn towards the sea and you reach the canal. The most photographed view is from Asakusa Bridge, looking along the water past the warehouses. Walk the path beside it, then head up through the bank district of Ironai, where the Bank of Japan's former Otaru branch is now a free museum, and on to the station.

• Otaru Orugōru-dō: the music box museum and shop at the Märchen crossroads, free to enter.
• The steam clock outside the museum, which whistles every fifteen minutes.
• Sakaimachi-dōri: glass shops, sweets and old merchant buildings.
• Otaru Canal and Asakusa Bridge: the classic view, especially when the gas lamps are lit.
• Former Bank of Japan Otaru Branch: a free museum on money in a 1912 building.
• Sushiya-dōri: a street of sushi restaurants between the canal area and the town centre.
• Sankaku Market: a small seafood market by Otaru Station, good for seafood bowls.

Glass, music boxes and the words on the signs

Otaru's shop signs love old spellings. Glass is usually written in katakana, ガラス, but in Otaru you will often see the kanji 硝子, read garasu, on shop fronts to give a retro, Meiji-era feel. Music box is オルゴール, orugōru, from the Dutch word orgel, and 堂 means hall, so オルゴール堂 is a hall of music boxes.

Street names end in 通り, dōri, and the canal is 運河, unga. The table below covers the signs between the station and the waterfront.

Japanese at an Otaru sushi counter

Otaru's sushi reputation comes from the fish landed nearby: sea urchin, scallops, squid, salmon roe and crab from the waters around Hokkaido. Sushi restaurants range from conveyor-belt shops to quiet counters where the chef, the itamae, makes each piece in front of you. At a counter you can order piece by piece, choose a set, or ask the chef to choose for you, which is often the best way to taste what is freshest that day.

A few words make the meal smoother. Sabi-nuki means without wasabi, agari is the tea served at sushi shops, and o-makase means leaving the choice to the chef. Prices at some counters are market price, jika, so ask if you are unsure.

Timing, seasons and practical tips

Otaru is compact and walkable, but it gets busy, and the season changes the experience a lot.

• Come in the morning to enjoy Sakaimachi-dōri before the tour buses arrive, and stay for the canal at dusk when the gas lamps come on.
• In February, the Otaru Snow Light Path lines the canal and the old Temiya railway line with candles in snow lanterns.
• The streets are hilly and icy in winter; wear shoes with good grip, especially on the slope down from Otaru Station.
• Glass and music boxes are fragile; shops will wrap them, and many can ship larger items home.
• Canal cruises run from a pier by the canal; check this season's schedule and whether booking is needed.
• Lunch is the easiest time for sushi counters; some popular shops close between lunch and dinner.

Practise the day trip before you go

The first question of the day is which station to use, and the answer decides your route. Practise the four lines below until you can say them without reading. Listen for the number of minutes and the word arukemasu, you can walk, in the replies.

Then practise with a partner who answers back. In Unihongo, choose the Directions topic and ask your AI Sensei to play a station attendant in Otaru, or choose the Sushi Counter topic to rehearse lunch. Speaking once before the trip makes these lines come out easily on the platform and at the counter.

Official information

Event dates for the Snow Light Path, canal cruise schedules and seasonal information are published by the Hokkaido and Otaru tourism organisations. Check them before you go, especially in winter.

• HOKKAIDO LOVE! Otaru Canal (Hokkaido official tourism site)
• Otaru Tourism Association official portal (Japanese)