A Complete Guide of Otaru (Where to Eat, Drink and Play)

"Love Letter" was filmed in Otaru, a small romantic town that can be toured on foot. The town is surrounded by mountains and seas as well as European architecture and heritage sites. It is well known for its glassware, music boxes, and sushi. It only takes half an hour to travel from Sapporo to Otaru via JR. Passengers can see the beautiful Japan Sea from the left of the train. Otaru is a small town for a day trip with all major tourist sights located within walking distance. There are buses connecting to sites that are a little farther away, for example, Mount Tengu where the “Love Letter” was filmed, Asarigawa Onsen and the Aquarium.

The Otaru Canal , once illuminated by gas lamps, becomes a romantic location of this village. During the Lighted Snow Path Festival in February, the canal lights up with a trail of snow lamps, which create a magical yet dreamy scene against the reflection of stars on the canal water surface. Otaru is a quiet town close to Sapporo in Hokkaido where it only takes half an hour to travel from Sapporo to Otaru via JR. The lighted snow path festival is located along the Otaru Canal, which is a 10-minute walk from the JR Otaru Station. This beautiful town was featured in the film entitled "Love Letter", and is also famous for its glassware and music boxes.

Asarigawa is located only 30 minutes from Otaru with open-air hot springs and hot spring hotels. With its proximity and accessibility, it is the best place to enjoy onsen for Otaru visitors. Some hot spring hotels offer pick up services for advanced bookings.

Mount Tengu is the highest point of Otaru village. Visitors enjoy a night view of Otaru, by taking a cable car up to the mountain. But what excites Japanese TV fans is that this is where Hiroko cried to Itsuki in the snow at the ending of the film "Love Letter". Also, Mount Tengu includes Tenguyama Shrine, beautiful mountaintops and forests, the lovely Chipmunk Park, and grassland sled activities that operate during the summer.

Located in the bustling tourist shopping street (Sakaimachi Dori) of Otaru, it is one of the most characteristic glass craft shops in Otaru. The Kitaichi Glass Sangokan (Hall No. 3) is considered to be the headquarter and center of all its stores surrounded by No. 5 Hall, Crystal Hall and glass studio for visit. Visitors can buy glass goods and join a glass making session at their glass workshops.

Otaru Music Box Museum's main hall is for used for retailing where it displays and sells more than 3,000 kinds of exquisite antiques and modern music boxes collected by countries all over the world. Each music box is exquisite and ideal for gifts to friends.

Kitakaro Otaru is one of the most popular western confectioners in Hokkaido with its signature dessert “Fairy Forest”, a baumkuchen that is said to be so magical that it could only have been be made by fairies. "Fairy Forest" carries on the traditional European tree cake making method of brushing layers of thin milky egg batter on a cylindrical spit and baking in a special oven to give the cakes a delicate yet soft texture; no wonder it is known to be Japan's first soft and delicious texture confectionary. The cream puffs must be refrigerated. It is recommended to consume cream puffs on site as the crispy crust of the cream puffs soften after hours on an airplane without any preservation.

Founded in 1998, "LeTao" is the most popular western confectionary in Otaru. The signature double-layer cheesecake made with layers of Italian mascarpone cheese and local cream cheese in a uniquely developed frozen method. It is no wonder that it regularly tops the list of online all year round desserts on the Japanese Rakuten website. Also, its pyramid-shaped black tea chocolate is a popular choice among buyers. LeTao blends cocoa and Darjeeling black tea into a wonderful balance to achieve a rich and mouth-watering texture. The elegant black tea aroma immediately fills your mouth with a bite of the chocolate, whilst the fine tea flavor does not overpower the flavor of the chocolate, a memorable experience! If you wish to bring LeTao cakes back to the country, it is recommended you place the cake in a cold bag as the cakes need to be stored frozen. Place it in the refrigerator for thawing and consume in 2 days.

Otaru is the hometown of sushi in Hokkaido, which has a history of more than 70 years of sushi operations. This operated traditional sushi restaurant, now operated by the third generation of its founding family, Masa Sushi, is located in the Sushi-ya Street of Otaru. Nakamura Zenpaku is the third generation of the family to win the Hokkaido Sushi Technology Convention Grand prize. Average cost: 4,000 – 5,000 yen per person

Enjoy rainbow ice cream on the street in Otaru Hokkaido is famous for its dairy products, and the ice cream is not to be missed! You will find a big ice-cream sign near the Kitaichi Glass retail store, selling rainbow ice-cream in 7 flavors all year round. The 7 flavors are grape, matcha, strawberry, honeydew melon, milk, lavender, and chocolate. Sometimes, there are seasonal offerings as well!

Sankaku Fish Market is located at the left of Otaru JR Station and is only a minute's walk away. It is a good place to have a seafood meal in Otaru. The seafood shops and restaurants inside the market are all joint ventures with reasonable prices and fresh ingredients. The live cooked king crab and sea urchin rice are highly recommended.