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When it rains · Otaru

The rainy-day Otaru

Wet weather, and Hokkaido rain is cold. Timed from the gangway and back, with the hour before all-aboard already set aside.

~4h door to door5 stopsA wet day ashore
Open the whole route in Google MapsOr build your own day →
Photo: bryan... / CC BY-SA 2.0
Door to door
~4h
From the gangway and back
Best for
A wet day
Wet weather, and Hokkaido rain is cold
What it costs
¥0
Transport spend: ¥0. Museums ~¥700.
Booking
Nothing
Every stop here takes walk-ups
The route

How the day runs

Times are from the moment you step off, not from the scheduled arrival. Everything shifts if your ship is late; the order does not.

  1. +0:00
    Walk to Sankaku Market

    Covered, warm, and fifteen minutes from the ship

    What you will see here →Full guide: Sankaku Market →
  2. +0:30
    A seafood bowl and hot tea

    The correct response to Hokkaido weather

  3. +1:15
    The Bank of Japan Otaru Museum

    Free, indoors, and the herring-money story told properly

    Photo: Suicasmo / CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. +2:15
    Music Box Museum and Kitaichi Glass

    Both large, both indoors, both on Sakaimachi

    What you will see here →Full guide: Sakaimachi →
    Photo: 663highland / CC BY 2.5
  5. +3:30
    Back to the ship
The margin is not optional. This route ends an hour before all-aboard on purpose. If you are running late, drop the last stop, not the hour.
What the day looks like

Otaru, along this route

Real photographs of the places above and the streets between them. Every one is credited.

The former Bank of Japan Otaru branch in cut stone
The former Bank of Japan Otaru branch in cut stonePhoto: 663highland / CC BY 2.5
Inside the Otaru Music Box Museum
Inside the Otaru Music Box MuseumPhoto: Liandrei / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Nikka Whisky distillery at Yoichi, Hokkaido
The Nikka Whisky distillery at Yoichi, HokkaidoPhoto: 663highland / CC BY 2.5
Sakaimachi
SakaimachiPhoto: 663highland / CC BY 2.5
Sankaku Market
Sankaku MarketPhoto: bryan... / CC BY-SA 2.0
Sushi on Sushiya-dori
Sushi on Sushiya-doriPhoto: kantokuruza / CC BY-SA
Different hours, different day

The other routes in Otaru

The canal on foot2–3 hours · ~3h2–3 hours ashore, no transport at allCanal, glass and Sakaimachi4–6 hours · ~5h4–6 hours ashoreYoichi, and the whisky8 hours or more · ~7h8h+ ashore, with the tour booked in advance
Pick your own stops instead →Back to the Otaru guide →