29 August 2023
After a long drive from Akan Mashu National Park with stopovers at Obihiro and Hill of the Buddha, we arrived at Otaru in the evening.
Otaru is a port city that lies just 30 minutes north of Sapporo and is one of the most well-known sightseeing spots in Hokkaido. Being a port city, Otaru serves some of the freshest seafood in Hokkaido. In addition, Otaru is famous for its glass products, music boxes, fancy desserts and alcohol beverages (beer, wine and Nikka whiskey).
Most tourists visit Otaru as a day trip from Sapporo. We chose to stay two nights in Otaru. We would be using Otaru as a base to explore the Shakotan Peninsula by car on one day, visit the Nikka whiskey distillery at nearby Yochi on another day and some time in the afternoon of both days to explore Otaru itself.
We spent our first evening in Otaru exploring the famous Otaru Canal area and also had dinner at the Otaru Denuki Koji.
Otaru Denuki-Koji
We chose this place since it is located just across from the famous Otaru Canal at the Asakusa Bridge intersection. Our plan was to explore the canal and the surrounding area after dinner.
Otaru Denuki Koji is a quaint alleyway lined with restaurants & food bars that are modeled around the image of colonial Hokkaido. At night time, the glowing lanterns make for a nostalgic atmosphere.
My original plan for dinner at Otaru was beef cutlet at Wagyu Kurosawa. There are several outlets all over Otaru. But rules are made to be broken and plans are made to be changed!
After checking out the menu of the restaurants within Denuki-Koji, we picked a small tempura bar called 天ぷら藏谷 (Google map location here). There are seats for only about 6 to 7 persons at the counter and another couple was already enjoying their dinner when we entered.
The tempura bar is manned by a sole chef who takes order, prepares the tempura and serves it to us on the counter. The dishes available were posted on the walls and also on a piece of laminated card.
Menu at the tempura bar in Otaru Denuki Koji.
To make things simple, we ordered the Kaisen ten-don tempura set and beer.
The ingredients were freshly prepared. After placing our order of the Kaisen ten-don, we sipped our beer and watched our meal being prepared. 
The seafood is carefully dried with paper towels before coating with the tempura flour and batter.
The chef deep frying the tempura while preparing other elements for our meal.
The finished product. Kaisen Tendon with scallop, prawn, crab claw, salmon, fish with white fresh, enoki mushroom and brown mushroom. The meal came with a bowl of miso soup with pieces of bean curd and mushroom.
The tempura was delicious and highly recommended. The tempura is best eaten with Hokkaido beer (400 yen per glass). We also added a side dish of the famous Hokkaido white corn that is known to be extra sweet. This 400 yen dish came with two tiny pieces of corn. Delicious but not value for money I think.
After dinner, we climbed up to an observation deck located inside Otaru Denuki Koji. This used to be a fire watchtower. Entry is free and the spiral staircase is narrow. From the top of the tower, we got a nice view of the Otaru Canal across the road junction.
View of Otaru Canal from the observation deck.
View of the Observation Deck inside Otaru Denuki Koji.
Otaru Canal at night
You cannot come to Otaru and not see the famous Otaru Canal. The canal was used as a maritime transport route for the city in the old days. Warehouses lined the sides of the waterway. After the canal fell into disuse, the whole area was repurposed as a tourist spot. Old Meiji Era stone warehouses that bordered the canal were transformed into cafes and restaurants.
One of the stone warehouses at the side road parallel to the canal.
It is best to visit the canal at night. The gas lanterns line the canal walkway and are lit at dusk, creating a romantic atmosphere unique to Otaru.
Otaru Canal at night.
The Canal Boat Ride is quite popular with visitors, with long queues. We did not take the boat ride.
It was almost full moon on this night but the clouds shrouded the moon.
Otaru Beer Warehouse No. 1
Inside of the Otaru Beer Warehouse No. 1
One of the warehouses along the canal has been repurposed into a beer restaurant. It features a German-style brew hall with educational tours & tastings, plus dishes like schnitzel & sausages. It sells its homemade beer, of course.
There was a queue to get a seat at the beer restaurant, so we just browse the exhibits on the second floor.
Naruto Fried Chicken and the old Temiya Railway Line
I have read that one of the “must try” food in Otaru is the fried chicken from Naruto. We decided to go buy some takeaway fried chicken from the Naruto Main Shop (Google Map location here) for our supper back in the hotel.
On the way, we chanced upon the now disused Temiya line of the former Japanese National Railways that is now transformed into a park. The Temiya line was the first railway in Hokkaido, built in 1880, to transport coal and goods inland from the port. The rails are still intact and this is a great spot (Google Map location here) for taking photos.
Naruto Fried Chicken for supper.
The Naturo Main shop is a restaurant serving a wide range of food for lunch and dinner. We bought their signature half fried chicken for 990 yen.
It was quite a long walk back to our hotel via Miyako dori Shopping Street. This is a covered shopping street which sells everything from food, clothes to groceries. By this time, all the shops were closed and the shopping street was deserted. We are in Japan, so we knew the street is safe at night.
Although we did not eat the chicken right away, the skin was perfectly crispy and the meat had the most wonderful flavour. Highly recommended for the first try, but I will not go out of my way again to eat this chicken.
Where we stayed in Otaru.
Our hotel in Otaru was the Otaru Authent Hotel. It is located in the central part of Otaru and within walking distance to key attractions and also the JR train station.
Otaru Authent Hotel.
The Triple Room is quite spacious by Japanese standard and we had quite a nice stay in this hotel.
Parking is not free at this hotel. It costs 1000 yen per night which is reasonable for a hotel located in Otaru’s city center. The car is stored in an automated storage and retrieval system.
Automated storage and retrieval system for car at the Authent Hotel.
This is the way to retrieve the car. Due to lack of space, a turntable system is used to rotate the car to face the main road after retrieval.
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