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Otaru’s neighboring area around JR Minami-Otaru Station is known as ‘Nantaru’ to locals, and home to the city’s sake brewing and the food market not far from Sakaimachi-dori shopping street.
Sightseeing
Sakaimachi-dori
堺町通り
8min walk from Minami-Otaru Station
Halfway between JR Minami-Otaru Station and Otaru Canal, this atmospheric street is lined with classic buildings and warehouses built in the early 20th-century, and now have been refurbished into craft studios, souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes. Don’t miss the Kitaichi Glass Building No.3 and the Otaru Music Box Museum.
Tanaka Sake Brewery Kikkogura
田中酒造亀甲蔵
5min walk from Minami-Otaru Station
Built around 1905, the former Okazaki Warehouse is now Otaru’s only existing sake brewery (founded in 1899). You can see the brewery through the windows on the 2nd floor and sample 10 brands of sake in the tasting room.
Sumiyoshi Jinja
住吉神社
5min walk from Minami-Otaru Station
Otaru’s representative shrine dating back to 1892, Sumiyoshi Jinja sits on a wooded hill overlooking the sea. The grounds of shrine has century-old torii (shrine gates) and ishi-dōrō (stone lanterns). It is the home to the Otaru Matsuri (15 July), one of the largest shrine festivals in the city.
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Hotels
Minami-Otaru area has several guesthouses.
Photo: じゃらんnet
Little Barrel
リトルバレル
10min walk from Minami-Otaru Station / 20min walk from Otaru Station
Converted from an old Western-style hospital (built in 1924) into the lovely guesthouse in Hanazono’s residential area, the Little Barrel has stylish dorms, private rooms and a shared kitchen.
Photo: じゃらんnet
Otarunai Backpackers Hostel Morinoki
おたるないバックパッカーズホステル杜の樹
10min walk from Minami-Otaru Station / 20min walk from Otaru Station
The charming hostel Morinoki is housed in a century-old folk house close to the Suiten-gu shrine. Mixed and female-only dormitories with shared laundry, shower and kitchen.
Photo: じゃらんnet
Guesthouse Otaru Wanokaze ♨︎
ゲストハウス小樽 和の風
16min walk from Minami-Otaru Station / 20min walk from Otaru Station
In the same building as Taisho-yu (大正湯), Wanokaze offers a budget guesthouse with a Showa-style onsen sento (public bathhouse). There are simple dorms and private rooms. The sento will cost an extra (closed Mon).
Map
Getting There
TRAIN
The JR line stops at Minami-Otaru Station (one stop east of Otaru), about 30 minutes by rapid train from Sapporo.
BUS
Chuo and JR (JHB) operate frequent highway buses between Otaru Station and Sapporo Station (1hr). Prepaid IC cards are available, and the Hokkaido Rail Pass holders can use the JR Bus. In Minami-Otaru area, highway buses stop at Okusawa-guchi (奥沢口), Sumiyoshi-jinja-mae (住吉神社前) and Hanazono-koen-dori (花園公園通).
Getting Around
BUS
Chuo Bus 4 circles around the area from Honkyoku-mae (本局前: in front of Otaru Post Office) via Otaru Station stop H (Nagasakiya), Shimin-kaikan-dori (市民会館通), Sumiyoshi-jinja-mae, Minami-Otaru Station and Meruhen-kosaten (メルヘン交差点: in front of Otaru Music Box Museum). Prepaid IC cards are available.
Information
Otaru Tourism Association
The tourist information center is a 10-minute walk from JR Otaru Station.
Minami-Otaru Station
南小樽 | 미나미오타루
Address：11 Sumiyoshi-cho, Otaru-shi, Hokkaido
Distance：32km from Sapporo
Elevation：19m
北海道 小樽 旅遊觀光 飯店住宿 | 홋카이도 오타루 여행 호텔