Otaru/Yoichi/Kiroro Shopping and Walk Down Memory Lane at Sakai-machi Dori

The Otaru Music Box Museum is Sakai-machi Dori’s landmark. The museum is one of the largest specialty stores in Japan, with about 25,000 music boxes on display and for sale. Built over 100 years ago, the romantic, Western-style building is one of Otaru City's designated historical site, and is worth a visit for the building alone. Let the nostalgic music played from the museum’s music boxes take you down memory lane. At the nearby Music Box & Handcrafts Studio You-Kobo, you can combine parts of your choosing to create your very own music box.

Kitaichi Glass is a long-established glass store with its origins in the manufacture of oil lamps since 1901. Kitaichi Glass No.3 Bldg. sells a variety of glassware and accessories in a massive stone storage building that was once a warehouse. Inside is a café called the Kitaichi Hall, where you can enter the mesmerizing room lit with 167 oil lamps. Follow the nostalgic trolley rails as you make your way into the café, and as soon as you are in it, you will be surprised by the picturesque atmosphere that greets you. Take a break and enjoy a fantastic tea time in this unique café, lit only with oil lamps without any electricity. When you are here, make sure you try their Special Royal Milk Tea, made with tea leaves boiled with Hokkaido milk. It is also a 20-minute walk to the Hanazono branch where you can try your hand at carving glass and making your very own straps.

Located in the impressive octagonal tower, LeTAO's Main Store is famous for its made-to-order sweets. Give their "Double Fromage" a try! It's a melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake made with Hokkaido’s local ingredients. You can take it home, but there is also a coffee corner on the second floor where you can enjoy your cake fresh out of the oven. The third floor and above are open to the public free of charge as an observation deck, where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Otaru City.

Otaru Candle Studio is right beside Otaru Canal. Covered with ivy, the building is a renovated warehouse. The store carries candles of all colors, shapes, and scents, which came from all over the world. The workshop's signature candle is a kind of traditional candle that can only be found at certain places in the world today. The studio uses machines from Denmark to make their candles, faithfully following the traditional way of candle-making. When you are here, make sure you give candle-making a try.