Otaru Denuki Koji and Otaru Canal in the evening

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.

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.

There is a Wagyu Kurosawa restaurant located in Denuki-Koji.

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. Expertly preparing the seafood elements using a sharp knife. These includes salmon, crab claw and scallop.

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. 

Nice photo spot at the disused Temiya line of the former Japanese National Railways.

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.

On the way back to our hotel with the takeaway chicken in hand.

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.

Car parking system at the Otaru 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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Our Breakfast at the Sankaku Market in Otaru

29 and 30 August 2023

On both mornings of my stay in Otaru, we had breakfast at the Sankaku Market (三角市場).

Why?

Sankaku Market is one of the few places in Otaru that opens early for breakfast. There are not many options for breakfast unless you fancy fast food joints like MOS Burger, Burger King, McDonald’s or Sukiya, the local fast food restaurant chain.

Sankaku Market is a great place to get a hearty breakfast of Hokkaido’s fresh seafood. Fresh as in the sea critters, such as the live king crabs, are still alive and kicking in the tanks or plastic tubs  And live king crab is one of the things we wanted to try while in Hokkaido.

Posing with a large live King Crab in the Sankaku Market, Otaru

It is also conveniently located next to the Otaru JR train station and within walking distance from our hotel.

The market is actually not very big. The name “Sankaku”, which means “triangle”, came from the shape of the roof and also the land that the market sits on. There are about 16 shops lined up on both sides of a narrow 200-meter-long, 2-meter-wide lane. These shops sell sea food such as crabs, sea urchins, scallops and fish, as well as vegetables, fruits, and daily necessities. 

Browsing at the menu and products on offer in the Sankaku Market. Note the relatively “empty” market in the early morning.

The market is a “must visit” for visitors to Otaru or even Sapporo. Hence it will get very crowded when day trippers from Sapporo arrives by train. It is good that we went early on both mornings.

Kawashima Fresh Fish Store and Restaurant

On our first visit to Sankaku Market, we were not pressed for time. So, we could have a leisurely feast of live crabs for breakfast.

After a quick browse through the market, we decided on Kawashima Fresh Fish Store, partly because of their impressive display of live crabs and partly because of the charisma of the seller in the shop we spoke to.

This store has an impressive display of many varieties of crab, including the King Crab, Hairy Crab and the seasonal Hanasaki Crab.

The largest of the crabs are the gigantic King crab that can grow up to a few kilograms in size. The King crab is the most expensive. The larger the crab, the higher the price per kg.

The slightly smaller hairy crab with fine hairs on the shell and legs. It is well known for the “kani-miso” which is the creamy and salty, paste-like crab innards. (Season: Year-round)

The Hansaki Crabs with lots of thorns on the hard shell. (Season: May-August). In Japan, Hanasaki crab can only be caught off the coast of Nemuro in Hokkaido.

We ordered a “small” 1.8 kg King Crab at 15000 Yen per kg and a 700 g Hanasaki Crab at 9000 Yen per kg. The staff at the shop suggested that the King Crab be cooked two ways (half of the crab to be grilled and the other half boiled) while the entire Hanasaki crab is boiled.

When boiled, the Hanasaki Crab turns bright red like a flower ("hana" means "flower" in Japanese).

Our selected crabs were prepared and cooked in the restaurant next to the store. It took about 20 minutes for the crabs to be cooked.

Restaurant staff preparing the crabs we ordered.

The friendly seller was happy to pick out crabs from his tanks for us to do a photo shoot while waiting for our orders to be cook.

He deliberately chose a much larger King Crab for our photo shoot. This crab probably weighs over 3 kg.

Holding a thorny Hanasaki Crab carefully for a photo.

The restaurant’s chef expertly cut the cooked crabs so it was very easy for us to eat without getting pricked by the thorny shells, especially the Hanasaki Crab.

Grilled King crab.

Boiled King Crab.

The King Crab has the best sweetness and I think is the best tasting crab. Personally, I prefer the texture of the boiled crab over the grilled crab which was sweeter but a little drier after cooking.

Boiled Hanasaki Crab. Bright red like a flower.

The slightly yellowish flesh of the boiled Hanasaki crab.

It was good that we had the chance to try the Hanasaki Crab. This seasonal crab is less likely to be available outside Hokkaido. The Hanasaki crab has a richer body taste and a shrimp-like flavour.

The prices of the crabs at the touristy Sankaku Market is probably higher compared to the local markets but I have no regrets to splurge a little to enjoy quality products and unique experiences. Freshly boiled live crab is especially delicious compared to the frozen ones we usually eat back home. It also features a crisp and elastic texture.

Kawashima Fresh Fish Store and Restaurant also offers other seafood dishes as shown by the menu on the wall.

 Menu displayed in the restaurant includes the popular seafood donburi and grilled fishes.

Varieties of shellfishes available.

We had grilled scallops for 500 yen each.

Maruki Takinami Shoten Kita no Donburiya Restaurant

Our second visit to the Sankaku market was the morning before our train ride from the Otaru JR Station to the Nikka Distillery located in Yochi.

We chose to try the popular kaisen donburi (seafood rice bowl) at the Maruki Takinami Shoten Kita no Donburiya Restaurant. On an earlier visit, we noticed that this is one of the most popular kaisen donburi restaurants in the market with long queue of waiting customers.

Even at 8 am in the morning, we had to register our names on a notepad in front of the restaurant and wait for seats. The small restaurant has about 2 rows of 4 tables and maximum 4 persons per table.

There is a row of chairs at the side of the restaurant for the people in the queue. Since we were early (the restaurant opens at 8 AM), we did not have to wait very long. Only 10 minutes.

This shows how popular this restaurant is. Having to queue even when the overall market is not crowded.

Various kaisen donburi combinations are available at the restaurant.

We could also create our own seafood donburi by selecting our own favorite seafood items. The flexible menu lets us choose from 3 or 4 combinations of sashimi on rice and how much rice we want (either normal or large size).

The sashimi options includes salmon roe (ikura), salmon, crab, tuna, botan shrimp, amaebi or cold water northern shrimp, live scallops, cured prawn roe (ebiko) and sea-urchin roe (uni). The more expensive sea urchin roe requires a top up of 330 Yen.

I think this is really value for money. No wonder this restaurant is so popular.

Co-incidentally (or great minds think alike), we all chose to have the same 3-items rice bowls with salmon sashimi, ikura (salmon roe) and uni (sea-urchin roe). For me, I chose the ikura and uni plainly because it is difficult to get fresh and high quality ikura and uni back home and I do not like the taste of raw shrimps and scallops.

Our chosen combination of kaisendon with salmon sashimi, ikura (salmon roe) and uni (sea-urchin roe).

There is also a bowl of complimentary soup served with the kaisen-don.

There are also grilled dishes served at this restaurant.

We could not resist having more of our favourite shellfish. We ordered the grilled scallops for only 330 yen each! Much cheaper than what we had paid at other restaurants in this trip.

Grilled scallops for 330 yen each.

We enjoyed our breakfast of fresh seafood kaisen donburi for at Sankaku Market. We actually ate quite fast because we had a train bound for Yochi to catch at the Otaru JR Train Station located next to the market. We spent about 40 minutes in the restaurant (order, wait for food to be served and enjoying our meal).

Imagine how long the queue would be(probably an hour or more) during the peak hours.

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Explore Cape Kamui and Shakotan Coast from Otaru by car

30 August 2023

After a hearty breakfast of delicious freshly cooked crabs at the Sankaku Market, we started out from Otaru towards the Shakotan Peninsula in our rental car. The plan for the day was to tour the beautiful coastline of the Shakotan Peninsula that is located on the north-western side of Otaru. The famous sightseeing spots at the gorgeous Shakotan Peninsula and its beautiful blue seascapes are Shimamui Coast, Cape Shakotan, and Cape Kamui. I have also added a stopover at Ebisu Rock, if time permits.

Our rental car had to be returned to the Toyoto-Rent-a-Car office in Otaru by 5 PM so we made the decision to head out to the furthest place that we wanted to see, i.e. Cape Kamui, and then see the rest of the sights on our journey back towards Otaru. That way, we would have better control of our timings.

On the way to Cape Kamui, we made an impromptu stop at the Shakotan Sight-seeing Information Center to use the toilets and also to satisfy our craving for some morning coffee. Not surprisingly, the cafe in the information center sells soft-serve ice cream in the famous Shakotan Blue colour. 

Cape Kamui

After more than an hour on the 67 km of slow coastal road with lots of tunnels and sea views, we arrived at the Cape Kamui car park at about 11.30 AM. There is a stone with a colourful map showing the path to the tip of Cape Kamui.

Nice map of the area highlighting the path to the tip of the cape.

Cape Kamui is the most popular place on the Shakotan Peninsula providing a 360 degree view from the tip of the cape that protrudes into the blue sea. To get to the tip of the cape, one must hike an undulating 770 m nature trail. The gorgeous scenery along the trail plus the bonus of seeing a lighthouse and a set of rocks, known as the Kamui Rocks, jutting out from the blue sea is definitely worth the sweat and the workout.  

Path from the car park (in the background) to the start of the trail is well paved.

There is a gate at the entrance to Cape Kamui with a sign that says “Cape Kamui – a place where women are prohibited”.

There is a “woman is forbidden” sign at the entrance to the Cape Kamui pathway. It was tied to an old folklore but times had changed. Women are welcomed to enter now. In fact, everyone can access Cape Kamui for free but it is advisable to check the opening times and also the weather. The pathway may be closed on days with bad weather or strong winds due to safety reasons.

Even from the entrance, we could already see the majestic coastal scenery and the famous Shakotan blue sea.

The view from near the entrance to Cape Kamui.

Crystal clear water with different shades of blue.

The nature trail is undulating but is easy to walk. 

We stopped often to admire the stunning coastal views.

Looking back at the trail that we took to this point. 

The midday sun was hot! Should have brought a hat but we were fearful of the “strong winds” that did not show on this day.

Almost at the end of the narrow cape. Looking back, we could see almost the entire cape with the sea on both sides.

The white lighthouse marks the end point of the trail.

We stopped often to view the awesome coastal scenery and snapped photos. It actually took us about 40 minutes to get from the entrance to the lighthouse!

We were glad to take shelter in the shade of the lighthouse to cool down a little before going to see the Kamui Rocks.

The highlight is at the end of the trail. Here, we could see a set of rocks jutting out from the blue sea. There is one tall rock that is in the shape of a human. Legend has it that an Ainu princess was heartbroken after being abandoned by her lover who left Cape Kamui on a ship. She threw herself off the cliff and turned into this rock. Before dying, she also placed a curse that any ship with woman on board will capsized when passing by this place. Hence the “women is forbidden” sign at the entrance.

Kamui Rock, which is said to be the incarnation of a Ainu princess named Charenka, according to old legend.

Enjoying the updraft at the edge of the cliff.

A view of the Shakotan coast from the tip of Cape Kamui.

Eating fresh sea urchin rice bowl at Osyokujidokoro Naramuraya

It was almost 1 PM when we left Cape Kamui. Time for lunch.  Shakotan is famous for producing the best sea urchin in Japan. Summer is the best season for sea urchin in Shakotan, which started from June to August.

Poster showing how sea urchins are harvested off the Shakotan coast.

Based on my research, I had shortlisted two popular restaurants that served the fresh uni-don (sea urchin rice bowl). Osyokujidokoro Misaki and Osyokujidokoro Naramuraya are located about 12 km (16 minutes drive) from Cape Kamui. These restaurants are owned by fisherman in the area, so the sea urchin would be super fresh.  According to the Naramuraya website, the fishing for sea urchins, octopus, and Atka mackerel begins at sunrise, and the owner himself does the fishing. The restaurant serves the Shakotan seafood that are freshly caught in the morning.

The two restaurants are located close to each other. We arrived at the Naramuraya first and I managed to park my car in the last available space in front of the restaurant. I was expecting queues based on reviews on the internet but we managed to get a table immediately.

Outside the Naramuraya (中村屋) restaurant.

Menu at Naramuraya

The restaurant serves two types of sea-urchin rice bowls. The purple sea urchin rice bowl costs 4290 yen (tax included) and the rare red sea urchin bowl (Ezobafununi) cost a whopping 8,800 yen (tax included).

There are also other rice bowls options such as the three-colour rice bowls and grilled fish.

My son and wife ordered the three-coloured rice bowls (with crab meat, purple sea urchin and ikura) for 3,630 Yen (tax included) each.

The three coloured rice bowls with crab meat, purple sea urchin and ikura. All rice bowls are served with wasabi, yellow pickles and miso soup.

They were surprised that I took a leap of faith and ordered the uni-don, a rice bowl topped entirely with the purple sea urchin. I figured that I may never pass this way again and this would probably be the last time I eat such fresh uni.

My purple sea urchin rice bowl with freshly caught Shakotan sea urchin. 

The creamy sea urchin roe has no odor and is sweet and briny at the same time. I quite enjoy the unique taste and it balances well with the steamed rice.

Shimamui Coast

Our next destination, the Shimamui Coast at Cape Shakotan, is not far from the Naramuraya Restaurant. The Shimamui Coast was included in the top 100 coastlines of Japan.

We followed a sign that pointed to tunnel that is leading to the viewpoint of the Shimamui Coast.

Entrance to the tunnel leading to Shimamui Coast’s observation deck.

Walking through the dark tunnel with light at the end.

This was what greeted us at the end of the tunnel. The beautiful clear blue sea with rocky beach below.

The sign proclaiming that this place is one of Japan's Top 100 most beautiful stretches of coastline. The waters off the Shimamui Coast on the Shakotan Peninsula are strikingly clear.

There is a path that leads down to the rocky beach below. My original plan was to hike down and chill on the beach. My plan was foiled by a bear!

Apparently a brown bear was sighted in the vicinity on 18 August, about 2 weeks ago. As a result, the path to the beach and hiking trails around this part of the coast were cordoned off with yellow tapes.

Bear warning sign at the observation deck.

Since we did not spend too much time at the Shimamui Coast, we decided to go check out Cape Ogon that is the next cape located slightly east of Cape Shakotan.

We drove to Bikuni Port but were unable to locate the trail leading to the observatory point on top of the cape. The port was deserted so there was no one that we could ask for directions. After driving round a few minutes, we decided to abandon Cape Ogon and proceed to our next and final destination. On hindsight, I should have done more research before the trip so we would not miss the trailhead to the Cape Ogon.

Ebisu Rock & Daikoko Rock

Ebisu Rock & Daikoko Rock are located just off the coastal highway leading to Otaru from Cape Ogon. The small road on the left side that leads to the pair of rocks is easy to miss when driving down the coastal highway towards Yochi or Otaru. There is a small unofficial car park at the end of the road.

First view of both rocks from where we parked our car.

We walked back about 100 meters to get a closer view of both rocks that sit on shallow water just off the shore.

Closer view of the Ebisu Rock and Daikoko Rock. Daikoko Rock has a torii gate on top.

The two rocks are named after gods. The locals called them shintai - the physical entities that harbour spiritual beings. A torii could be seen on top of Daikoku Rock. A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine.

These rocks are interesting subjects for a photographer. They made the seascape so much more interesting.

Ebisu Rock is narrow and looks to be unstable with erosion at the base. I wonder how long more can the rock stay upright.

Ebisu Rock was the last attraction we saw on the Shakotan Peninsula. We arrived back in Otaru at about 4 PM and returned our rental car as planned. 

We spent the rest of the day exploring Otaru on foot. This would be covered in a separate post.

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