It was Sunday and the weather was good, not too hot not too cold, my wife wanted me to go with her to Otaru to see wind chime festival. I have never seen this festival before so I happily agreed to go with her for a one day trip to Otaru. There are many places in Hokkaido that are waiting to be explored, do not forget, If you need help arranging private tour in Hokkaido, you can use our trip planner!

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Bus Stop

I thought that we would drive there, but she said that since I might drink a bit there, she said that it would be better to go by bus. We were lucky to have a bus stop really close to our house that will take us straight to Otaru Station. The station is just 5 minutes walk from our house so it was really convenient. It costs around 730 yen one way from that station to Otaru Station, there will be bus available every one hour during regular business day (Monday to Friday, 9am – 9pm). One benefit of travelling by bus is that you can also enjoy the scenery along the way! This is the station I was talking about (LINK).

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Arrival

It took around 30 minutes by bus from the bus station near our home to Otaru Station. We decided to stop near Otaru JR Station because we also want to enjoy the beautiful city of Otaru. One charming thing about Otaru is that the city has its unique elegant style. Even the convenience store like Lawson blends well with the surrounding architecture. I have been to Otaru many times, but I never felt bored exploring the downtown area of Otaru. There is also rickshaw service, in which you just need to pay around 1500 yen!

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Live Music in Otaru Canal

We also pass through Otaru Canal on the way to the Wind Chime Festival in Sakaimachi street. Otaru Canal is definitely a must go spot in Otaru since it is really famous spot in Otaru. Because of its all-season beauty and elegance, this spot may have a lot of visitors busy taking pictures. There is also a paid boat tour in which you can explore Otaru Canal via boat ride, since we did not have much time, we decided to skip the boat tour. Since it was a festival time, we also encountered a live singing show near the canal area.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Denuki Alley and Fire Watch Tower

Right across Otaru Canal, there is another great spot that you must also visit; Denuki Alley. This small alley has some restaurants and shops. The alley also has an old fire watch tower that you can also enter. There is a small circular stairs that anyone can enter to access the tower, it might be difficult to find the stairs in the beginning, but once you get inside the tower, you can enjoy a great scenery of Otaru Canal and its surrounding place.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Romankan Glass Shop

After taking some pictures in Denuki Alley (and not buying anything), we proceeded further. On the way right before Sakaimachi street, there was a glass shop called “Romankan”. It is basically a nice glass shop in which you can buy some local-made glass artworks. Otaru is also famous for its glass work, so if you want to buy some souvenirs, this is one of good place.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Sakaimachi Street

The Festival is located in Sakaimachi Street, another famous tourist attraction in Otaru that has many different art shops, restaurants and sweet shops. The reason why this street is really famous among visitors is because of the atmosphere; most of the buildings here still shows the aspect of Japanese culture while at the same time shows the charm of Otaru. It is definitely looks different from other Japanese cities I have visited. The pictures shown below do not represent all the shops in Sakaimachi Street, there are more shops available for you to explore by yourself there.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Kitaichi Venezia Museum

When exploring the street, we ran into Kitaichi Venezia Museum. Since my wife has deep interest in artwork, she wanted us to also explore this place. As the name suggests, this place contains many Venetian-themed artworks, ranging from Gondola boats, costumes, and of course, glass works. The shop part of the building forbids us from taking pictures, so there are no pictures from the shop.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Wind Chime Festival

The Wind Chime Festival is held along Sakaimachi Street. The roads were closed for vehicle access, so there were a lot of stalls installed along the street. There were some seats and tables prepared in the middle of the street so you can also enjoy some foods in the middle of the street. As the name suggests, “Wind Chime Festival”, there were a lot of cute wind chimes installed everywhere on the street. There were also many live music show performance along the street that made the festival better. There were even some beer ladies wearing Yukata walking around to offer visitors some beer! Here are some pictures from the festival.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Kitaichi Glass Otaru

When we were exploring the festival, we came across another glass shop called “Kitaichi Glass Otaru”. This place not only sells many locally-made glass artworks, but also a fancy-looking restaurants. We were not hungry that time so we skipped the restaurant part and just explored the shop part of the building.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Wind Chime Festival (continued)

After looking around the Kitaichi Glass Shop, we continued down the Sakaimachi Street. In the end of the street, there was a stage in which various performance were being held. We came just in time before the Yukata contest show, in which some participants showcased their Yukata. In my opinion, all Yukata looks nice, but there was one participant that definitely stood up from the rest.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Otaru Music Box Antique Museum

After enjoying some performance, we immediately headed to the Otaru Music Box Antique Museum located right across the stage. This museum has a huge collection of music boxes of various size, ranging from small to human-size music boxes. There were also many dolls that might look a little bit creepy at night but looks elegant at the same time. This museum also sells many different kinds of music boxes, so if you are looking to buy some souvenirs that are only available in Otaru, this is also one of a good place.

Otaru 1 Day Tour: Late Lunch of 500 yen Seafood Bowl

It was past lunch time already and we have not eaten lunch, so we were really starving. On the way back to the station, we decided to try the 500 yen Seafood Bowl in Otaru Poseidon. Since we were planning to eat a big dinner that day, we decide to just eat light. We were actually planning to try their sashimi rice bowl, but it was sold out that time, so we just went for the other 500 yen menu available that time; Salmon Flake Rice Bowl and Boiled whitebait rice bowl.