Sapporo Tour in the Port City of Otaru and Local beer brewery

This tour will start at Sapporo Station, in front of “MYOMU” (The Circular Stone Structure)at 9a.m. This circular stone structure is located in front of the doors at the South Exits of the station. Your guide (wearing a Snow Monkey tag) will be there to greet you. The tour will begin with a walk along The Otaru Canal(Unga)which is the symbol of Otaru. It celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. Brick and stone warehouses line the canal, a reminder of Otaru’s role as a trading hub for Hokkaido during the rapid industrialisation of Japan in the Meiji and Taisho periods.

After leaving the canal we will head towards Sakaimachi Street and have lunch at one of the many eateries. After lunch, it’s on to The Kitaichi Glass Factory dotted along Sakaimachi Street. Guests on this tour will be “in for a treat” at The Kitaichi Glass Factory. Kitaichi Glass Otaru is a long-established company that started operations in 1901 first producing oil lamps. Unbelievably, there are 18 shops of Kitaichi Glass in the city, proving its immense popularity

The Otaru Music Box Museum lets you experience “heavenly music” played by an Aeolian pipe organ and offers rare glimpses at local antique music boxes.This is one of the largest museum shops of music boxes in Japan. The building itself is over 100 yrs old and is a historic landmark in Otaru. The Music Box Museum consists of 6 houses. Each house displays wonderful music boxes.Your guide will be able to provide further information of the museum and the building itself during the tour. You will have the opportunity to make your own “unique music box” at the Handicraft Studio(optional). Immediately upon leaving the Music Box Museum, we will come face to face with The Steam Clock.

The Otaru Steam Clock was a gift from Vancouver, Canada to Otaru in June of 1994.You will witness as a boiler sends steam into the clock, and whose steam whistle blows hourly to tell the time. In addition, every 15 minutes, the clock plays the same melody as the chimes of Westminster Abbey in London. A fascinating clock and chime to behold. Your guide will provide a little more in-depth information of this steam clock.

Finally, we will “quench our thirst” at the Germain Beer Brewery/Warehouse #1. Located in a quaint-rustic warehouse, it sits right along the canal. Its location is perfect. Guests will enjoy great beer inside a wooden beerhall type atmosphere with shiny copper tanks. The German style pretzels and schnitzel are to die for. Non-alcoholic beers and other drinks are available as well. This will be an excellent tour ending event for us to socialize and chat a bit about our Otaru experience. Your guide will be able to provide more historic information of the warehouse brewery, as well as the beer making process here. Finally we will make our way back to Sapporo Station