Otaru: Sankaku Market, Otaru Canal, Sakaimachi Street, North Wall Street

[Introduction]

I visited Otaru and Sapporo to see winter festivals – “Otaru Snow Light Path Festival (Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi)” and “Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri)”.

It was a four-day three-night trip and in this article, I write about the first day.

[Itinerary]
* Day 1: Otaru (Sankaku Market – Otaru Canal – Sakaimachi Street – North Wall Street – Otaru Snow Light Path Festival)
* Day 2: Otaru (North Canal – Otaru City Museum) – Sapporo (Sapporo Snow Festival)
* Day 3: Sapporo (Former Hokkaido Government Office Building – Sapporo Clock Tower – Maruyama Zoo – Hokkaido Shrine – Shiroi Koibito Park)
* Day 4: Sapporo (Sapporo Central Wholesale Market – Sapporo Snow Festival – JR Tower Observatory – Sapporo Beer Museum – Sapporo Factory)

[Travel Date]
2015.02.08 – 11

[Main Part]

I arrived at Otaru Station. It took about 1.5 hours from New Chitose Airport by train.

The Otaru Snow Light Path Festival was held at night, so I walked around Otaru area during the day.

First, I visited “Sankaku Market”, a local fish market.

Lunch.

Then, I moved to Otaru Canal, which should be one of the highlights in Otaru sightseeing. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy.

I saw many foreign tourists around there.

View from Asakusa Bridge (Asakusa Bashi) – a famous photo spot

After I left Otaru Canal, I walked around “Sakaimachi Street”, a shopping district. There were a variety of shops in this street, such as Cafe and souvenir shops. As specialty products in Otaru, there were several shops that sell glassware and music box (Orugoru).

“Otaru Taisho Glass Place” – they sell glassware products.

“Otaru Candle Studio” – they sell candle products.

“Kita Ichi Hall” – Cafe

“Otaru Orgel Doh” – they sell music box (orgel or orugoru).

At an intersection, called “Meruhen Intersection”.

Then, I walked around North Wall Street. There were lots of historical buildings that were build around 1900 in this area.

The most famous building is “the former Otaru branch of Bank of Japan”.

Now the building is used as a museum.

Dinner time.

After having dinner, I returned to Otaru Canal again to see evening view and night view there.

Then, I visited the Otaru Snow Light Path Festival and will write about it in the next article.

To be continued.

［Related Link］
Otaru Tourism Association (English)
Otaru Taisho Glass Place (Japanese)
Otaru Candle Studio (Japanese)
Otaru Orgel Doh (English)