Otaru
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Hangry. A condition involving negative emotions as a result of a lack of food intake. Doesn't necessarily involve anger per se, but can also lead to temporary depression, anxiety, or just general grumpiness and a feeling that the world's about to end.
I can get hangry pretty often - I think it's genetic - but a good meal fixes me up right away and I'll be beaming by the time my stomach's full. Which means I should probably be living in Otaru, because there's no way I can be hangry with such a constant flow of good food.
Otaru's a small (and pretty touristy) seaside town around 45 minutes train ride on the JR Rapid train from Sapporo. If you love seafood, this is the place to go. If you love soft serve, this is the place to go. If you love cream of any kind, this is the place to go. Basically, just go, but wear something with an elastic waistband.
Sights
Considering how much Otaru's sold as a tourist town, the fact that it looks like a cross between Disney Land and a little German town (complete with beer stands) probably shouldn't have come as a surprise. It's less Tsukiji, more - as my sister put it - Studio Ghibli.
Even their tourist maps make it look like Disneyland. Source: www.backpackbuddy.net
The canal, lined by warehouses on one side and one of the main streets on the other.
The canal featuring in almost every obligatory Otaru tourist shot runs parallel to the coast about two or so blocks from the waterfront. It's picturesque enough, but it can be a bit tough getting a decent shot with all the tourists milling around. If you really want to, you can take a gondola (or well, speedboat) ride down the canal, or hop into a trishaw manned by some guys in really tight short shorts.
In the crossroads area
Although the map shows attractions dotted all over, the most activity and actually interesting places that we came across were around this plaza area located at the crossroads near Gin no Kane on the tourist map and the road it lies on (where Kitaichi Plaza is located).
Trying to fence along the railway tracks of the former Temiya Line. Heeled boots didn't help.
Frankly speaking, we weren't very impressed with some of the touted 'must visit' spots. The interior of the Music Box Museum bordering the crossroads looked like a replica of some wooden Austrian lodge and was filled with little Faberge egg replicas and tiny dolls all playing tinny music. Interesting, but not for long, and the crowds can get a bit tiresome - not to mention the stuffed bear music band outside kind of creeped us out.
The canal featuring in almost every obligatory Otaru tourist shot runs parallel to the coast about two or so blocks from the waterfront. It's picturesque enough, but it can be a bit tough getting a decent shot with all the tourists milling around. If you really want to, you can take a gondola (or well, speedboat) ride down the canal, or hop into a trishaw manned by some guys in really tight short shorts.
In the crossroads area
Although the map shows attractions dotted all over, the most activity and actually interesting places that we came across were around this plaza area located at the crossroads near Gin no Kane on the tourist map and the road it lies on (where Kitaichi Plaza is located).
Frankly speaking, we weren't very impressed with some of the touted 'must visit' spots. The interior of the Music Box Museum bordering the crossroads looked like a replica of some wooden Austrian lodge and was filled with little Faberge egg replicas and tiny dolls all playing tinny music. Interesting, but not for long, and the crowds can get a bit tiresome - not to mention the stuffed bear music band outside kind of creeped us out.
Down the same road, there are a few glass museums/shops including Kitaichi Plaza and Jizakeya Kitaichi, selling small accessories, cutlery, lamps and ornaments, some selling snacks and sake as well. If you're in the mood for it, there's sake tasting available in a few of these two storey warehouse-like buildings to wash down all the cream you'll be ingesting. The glass stores took up around fifteen minutes of our attention since we couldn't be bothered to pack breakables into our check-in luggage, and once you've seen one glass store, you've pretty much seen the others too.
Koinobori for the Children's Day festival!
Our original plan was to lunch once we'd reached Otaru, but we were a little distracted. Heading down from the station directly to the canal is a wide road, and on that ten or so minute stroll we came across around four to five soft serve stores. Resistance was futile, so we popped into the first one we came across and had about finished it by the time we came across the third store. The one we bought from - closest to the station - had almost no queue, while there were throngs of people at the last couple of stores before the canal, though whether due to higher quality ice cream or sheer proximity to the tourist district I'm not sure.
Most of the soft serves across Hokkaido have been more than satisfactory, probably partially due to the gastronomical wonderwall that is Hokkaido cream. In Otaru alone, I sampled four soft serves (within the span of about as many hours) of three different flavors: milk, matcha and cheese. The milk and matcha flavors more traditionally associated with ice cream are almost impossible to go wrong with in Japan, but the cheese one was more of an acquired taste.
We purchased the cheese-flavored soft serve in question from Le Tao, along with another milk-flavored one. Slightly salty and half sweet, it wasn't bad, but we still preferred the milk. I would mention Le Tao's location, but it's a bit hard to miss it - one of its stores sits right on the edge of Kitaichi plaza, and there seem to be like another five within the same vicinity. Literally, every corner we turned, there was another Le Tao. Not that we minded - we'd sampled some of their cheesecake in the Sapporo Daimaru and had immediately bought a whole cake back to the hotel for dessert.
Oddly enough, Le Tao seems to be a product unique to Hokkaido. While the Shiroi Koibito chocolate cookies can be found all over the Haneda or Narita airport souvenir shops, we hadn't come across Le Tao prior to this trip. And we're so glad we did - it's leapfrogged my mental rankings to the top of my cheesecake list (soft, creamy, just enough density) even if its cheese soft serve seems slightly suspect.
Still not entirely sure what their slogan's supposed to mean.
Apart from cheese-related products, Le Tao also has a "Le Tao de Chocolat" branch just behind their Kitaichi Plaza store. We popped a few of their free samples as we strolled by and those just melted in our mouths.
If you haven't had your fill of cream yet after Le Tao (which we sure hadn't), there's a place selling 15cm wide cream puffs (!!!) on the other side of the road, not far from the front of the Glass Sangokan. We decided against trying some since they'd take up too much stomach space, and there's another well recommended cream puff place just down the Kitaichi Plaza street.
Home of legendary cream puffs, apparently
I have no idea how to pronounce the name in Japanese (ro... hana...?) but you won't really have to ask around to find it - there'll be tons of people streaming in and out the door. Their cream puffs are apparently the signature items, but they sell a multitude of other sweets too, including chocolate coated strawberries and other cream/chocolate-filled goodies.
Not very photogenic, but they had my dad raving.
The cream puffs weren't really what we expected - packaged and chewy as opposed to the more traditional fluffy and slightly brittle choux pastry, they can be found on the shop's second floor in a large cooler before the cashier. The green ones appeared to be filled with cream, and the red ones with custard. They weren't bad, but not really worth the rave reviews I'd heard - personally, I prefer the fluffy type that oozes cream - though my dad polished off our remaining two and headed off to grab a few more.
Pre-lunch appetizer part two.
Pre-lunch appetizer part two.
If you're a fan of more savoury rather than sweet foods, Otaru has plenty to offer you too. Apart from being distracted by soft serve, we were also sidetracked by a place called Otaru Potato Collection just opposite the canal. Their cheese and potato croquette wasn't too heavy or oily, and didn't ooze either, but was crisp and whetted our appetites well for lunch.
My uni/hotate don.
My uni/hotate don.
On the left side of the same street as the Music Box Museum, but just a little further away from the Plaza, we found a little sushi shop recommended by a chatty guy that we'd met next to the railway tracks. They serve mainly chirashis (rice bowls) rather than nigiri sushi, and the fish is fresh and affordable - around 1500 to 2000+ per bowl. It's not crazy filling, but it's the appropriate portion size if you're looking to snack later on.
The main streets of Otaru are also lined with fresh seafood stalls that will grill and cook the fish or shellfish that you pick in front of you. While they seem mostly identical, we opted for one with outdoor seating since my dad can't really stand the fishy smell. The prices are decent enough for the quality of food that they serve - the most expensive items were a decent portion of crab (2000 yen) and a good-sized scallop (1500 yen). Service was a little slow, but the food was worth the wait. The food was all quite fresh and the vegetables were buttered before they were grilled, so they were slightly salty but rich with flavor, as were the scallop and whelk. The crab legs were nicely fresh with little other flavoring necessary, but a little harder to eat - Singaporeans will be used to having (I have no idea what this is supposed to be called) what my family calls a kiap kiap (that nutcracker-looking metal thingy) to crack pincers open. That wasn't provided, so you basically use a chopstick to poke whatever meat you can reach out, and use your teeth for the rest.
We finished off the full day of eating at a charcoal grill place. The entrance to this place with its unpronounceable name (link attached) was located along the road sandwiched between the canal and a line of warehouses bordering the coast, with kegs of beer ready for you to grab a cup and enjoy as you wander the town. It serves everything from sashimi to grilled seafood, rice bowls and lots (and lots) of meat. Prices are around 3 to 4000 yen per person for a meat-filled meal. Service can be slow due to the large size of the restaurant, and you might want to hide anything that you want to protect from the smell of cigarette and charcoal smoke, but the food is tasty and there's a very entertaining little drum sequence they do for every new party of customers coming in.
Other buys
I tried to come up with another subtitle ending with "ites" but my brain's on its off day. Along with the aforementioned glass shops, most of these shops we wandered into were along the same lane as Le Tao and all the other sweets stores.
Snacks
I love squid. My siblings don't, and they forbade me from eating squid in the car throughout this trip because they can't stand the smell in an enclosed area. But Korea and Japan get me, because they love squid as much as I do, as evidenced by the huge calamari lollipops and random street-side squid snack stalls (alliteration at its finest) and town mascots of three squids cleaning up litter (no joke, just take a look at Hakodate). And if you love squid as much as I do, then you won't be able to resist the smell coming out of this shop.
Ika Taro Saki-ika boasts "Freshly Roasted and Freshly Shredded" squid, the smell of which permeating from its storefront evidencing its slogan. Apart from just squid (vinegared, dried, seasoned and vacuum-packed to accommodate squid-haters) it sells dried snacks of other kinds of seafood as well - seaweed, crispy mini crabs, dried fish and the like, most of which you can buy three packs of for 1000 yen. The best part? They have samples everywhere, so I came out with a bag and mouth both full of squid.
Knick-knacks
There really isn't much of another way to describe what this store sells. Right next door to the dried seafood store, æ¦å°‡é¤¨ as its name is written in kanji was where the squid naysayers in my family spent their time. My father emerged with six rubber shurikens (throwing stars) that my brother used to annoy me the whole night. This shop is a history nut's heaven, filled with suits of plastic armor in the old Japanese style, hats shaped like helmets and umbrellas with katana (samurai sword) handles. Even if you're not into that kind of stuff, it's interesting just to take a look. Most of this stuff is on the second floor - the first floor holds a whole different bunch of Japanese paraphernalia, from aprons to scarves and paperweights.
Absolutely no idea what use these were for apart from being cute.
Miniatures, but full-sized versions are available for purchase too.
Chopsticks
This shop was just another couple of doors down from the historical knick-knack shop, and we spent way longer in here than I would've ever anticipated, partially due to my mom's determination to purchase the perfect presents. I actually bought a pair for myself - black, with gold designs - but more for hair-twisting purposes than eating ones. The variety is pretty amazing, and the prices range from 900 yen to 5000 yen per pair. Engravings are available as well if you wish to personalize your chopsticks, as are matching chopstick holders in any shape from dragon heads to pretzels and little radishes.
My dad amused himself arranging these chopstick holders while my mom shopped for presents.
Kimono
I wish I remembered the name of this shop (all I remember is a 花 in the name, I think), but we happened across it quite by accident. It was located at the corner of the same Le Tao street and a street leading to the road along which the canal runs - probably near where the Otaru Taisho Glass building is located on the map. From the (misspelt) sign outside, they offer kimono rentals by the hour as well as selling their pieces. There were two little old ladies and a chihuahua sitting outside the shop, and the shop itself was cluttered with barely any space to squeeze between the displays, but the pieces were beautiful. There was a long, simple black dress (around 20000 yen) with a gold flower design curling up from the bottom, which we deciphered was the dress for a mother of a bride, and the shopkeeper showed as a traditional wedding kimono at the back of the shop as well. Kimono, yukata and obi of all colors are hung all over the shop, a lot of them vintage pieces, and my brother and I each ended up purchasing kimono jackets (mostly priced between 5000 to 10000 yen) - haori - which are easily matchable with more modern clothing.
Credits to my brother for the blurry picture while we were in Niseko (I think it's deliberate - he just doesn't like my face), but here's my vintage purple haori! Downside: dry cleaning only.
Other trinkets
Apart from these few stores mentioned above, and the other sake/glass-ware (pendants, glasses, ornaments) stores along the street, there are plenty of roadside trinket stalls to browse among. Otaru seems like quite a superstitious town, considering the number of fortune-telling shops and "lucky item" offers that we came across. Word of advice though, if a shop seems credible because it has pictures of Abe and some celebrities visiting it, it isn't. We saw at least two other shops with the exact same pictures.
Fugu (pufferfish) angry bird keychains!
The main streets of Otaru are also lined with fresh seafood stalls that will grill and cook the fish or shellfish that you pick in front of you. While they seem mostly identical, we opted for one with outdoor seating since my dad can't really stand the fishy smell. The prices are decent enough for the quality of food that they serve - the most expensive items were a decent portion of crab (2000 yen) and a good-sized scallop (1500 yen). Service was a little slow, but the food was worth the wait. The food was all quite fresh and the vegetables were buttered before they were grilled, so they were slightly salty but rich with flavor, as were the scallop and whelk. The crab legs were nicely fresh with little other flavoring necessary, but a little harder to eat - Singaporeans will be used to having (I have no idea what this is supposed to be called) what my family calls a kiap kiap (that nutcracker-looking metal thingy) to crack pincers open. That wasn't provided, so you basically use a chopstick to poke whatever meat you can reach out, and use your teeth for the rest.
We finished off the full day of eating at a charcoal grill place. The entrance to this place with its unpronounceable name (link attached) was located along the road sandwiched between the canal and a line of warehouses bordering the coast, with kegs of beer ready for you to grab a cup and enjoy as you wander the town. It serves everything from sashimi to grilled seafood, rice bowls and lots (and lots) of meat. Prices are around 3 to 4000 yen per person for a meat-filled meal. Service can be slow due to the large size of the restaurant, and you might want to hide anything that you want to protect from the smell of cigarette and charcoal smoke, but the food is tasty and there's a very entertaining little drum sequence they do for every new party of customers coming in.
Other buys
I tried to come up with another subtitle ending with "ites" but my brain's on its off day. Along with the aforementioned glass shops, most of these shops we wandered into were along the same lane as Le Tao and all the other sweets stores.
Snacks
I love squid. My siblings don't, and they forbade me from eating squid in the car throughout this trip because they can't stand the smell in an enclosed area. But Korea and Japan get me, because they love squid as much as I do, as evidenced by the huge calamari lollipops and random street-side squid snack stalls (alliteration at its finest) and town mascots of three squids cleaning up litter (no joke, just take a look at Hakodate). And if you love squid as much as I do, then you won't be able to resist the smell coming out of this shop.
Ika Taro Saki-ika boasts "Freshly Roasted and Freshly Shredded" squid, the smell of which permeating from its storefront evidencing its slogan. Apart from just squid (vinegared, dried, seasoned and vacuum-packed to accommodate squid-haters) it sells dried snacks of other kinds of seafood as well - seaweed, crispy mini crabs, dried fish and the like, most of which you can buy three packs of for 1000 yen. The best part? They have samples everywhere, so I came out with a bag and mouth both full of squid.
Knick-knacks
There really isn't much of another way to describe what this store sells. Right next door to the dried seafood store, æ¦å°‡é¤¨ as its name is written in kanji was where the squid naysayers in my family spent their time. My father emerged with six rubber shurikens (throwing stars) that my brother used to annoy me the whole night. This shop is a history nut's heaven, filled with suits of plastic armor in the old Japanese style, hats shaped like helmets and umbrellas with katana (samurai sword) handles. Even if you're not into that kind of stuff, it's interesting just to take a look. Most of this stuff is on the second floor - the first floor holds a whole different bunch of Japanese paraphernalia, from aprons to scarves and paperweights.
Chopsticks
This shop was just another couple of doors down from the historical knick-knack shop, and we spent way longer in here than I would've ever anticipated, partially due to my mom's determination to purchase the perfect presents. I actually bought a pair for myself - black, with gold designs - but more for hair-twisting purposes than eating ones. The variety is pretty amazing, and the prices range from 900 yen to 5000 yen per pair. Engravings are available as well if you wish to personalize your chopsticks, as are matching chopstick holders in any shape from dragon heads to pretzels and little radishes.
Kimono
I wish I remembered the name of this shop (all I remember is a 花 in the name, I think), but we happened across it quite by accident. It was located at the corner of the same Le Tao street and a street leading to the road along which the canal runs - probably near where the Otaru Taisho Glass building is located on the map. From the (misspelt) sign outside, they offer kimono rentals by the hour as well as selling their pieces. There were two little old ladies and a chihuahua sitting outside the shop, and the shop itself was cluttered with barely any space to squeeze between the displays, but the pieces were beautiful. There was a long, simple black dress (around 20000 yen) with a gold flower design curling up from the bottom, which we deciphered was the dress for a mother of a bride, and the shopkeeper showed as a traditional wedding kimono at the back of the shop as well. Kimono, yukata and obi of all colors are hung all over the shop, a lot of them vintage pieces, and my brother and I each ended up purchasing kimono jackets (mostly priced between 5000 to 10000 yen) - haori - which are easily matchable with more modern clothing.
Other trinkets
Apart from these few stores mentioned above, and the other sake/glass-ware (pendants, glasses, ornaments) stores along the street, there are plenty of roadside trinket stalls to browse among. Otaru seems like quite a superstitious town, considering the number of fortune-telling shops and "lucky item" offers that we came across. Word of advice though, if a shop seems credible because it has pictures of Abe and some celebrities visiting it, it isn't. We saw at least two other shops with the exact same pictures.
We'd originally planned on just spending lunch in Otaru, but later decided to make it a day trip. If you're wondering which to do, I'd recommend the latter, since that means more time for meals (and many many snack breaks), and it really is quite a pleasant environment to wander without having to worry about time constraints.
Of course, there's a lot more of Otaru to explore than just these few lanes, but we found that this is where more of the life and activity was, although that also means that these streets are definitely catered more to tourists. With a little bit more time, you could even head out of Otaru for a while to the nearby Asarigawa hot springs for an onsen break to feel clean and healthy after a heavy bout of eating.
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