February 13, 2025
I fell in love with Otaru on a trip in 2017. It has so much history and an incredible amount of charm, even in the snow. While I was here for the snow light path festival, I enjoyed the town during the day as well.
Kitaichi Hall
Kitaichi Glass is a long-established Otaru-based company that began producing kerosene lamps and glass floats used for fishing nets.
Kitaichi Glass was established in 1901 to manufacture kerosene lamps and trawler floats.
The only source of lighting in the hall are the 167 kerosene lamps lit every morning at 8:45 by human hands.
The Otaru Steam Clock is a British-style bronze clock that was a gift from Vancouver, Canada. It is partially powered by a steam engine and chimes with a steam whistle every 15 minutes. Installed in 1994, it was once the world’s second-largest steam clock.
You will find these sandboxes throughout Hokkaido. They are bags filled with an anti-slip agent stone from a rock quarry in Sapporo. You are free to open a bag and spread as much as needed over slippery areas.
