Otaru - Tinkling music, sparkling glass

Thanks to the Lonely Planet guide, I was clued in on a seaside town called Otaru, a 45 minute train ride from the city and a convenient day trip away from urban madness. From what I read of the history of the place, it used to be a herring port, but is more well known nowadays as a centre for glass craftsmanship and tourism. I was convinced once I read in the book that there were places there I could try making a few glass items of my own. I'm such a sucker for these things ^^;

The train ride took me west of Sapporo, out into the less densely populated regions, mostly industrial, peppered with residential areas, the occasional shopping mall and the Sea of Okhotsk. Along the way it occurred to me how it must look in places like Scandinavia or Canada, where the snow seems to stretch on forever, and where the houses look all the more warm and comfortable trimmed with sparkling icicles.

After a 10-minute walk northeast of the station (it took that long because I needed to be really careful on the snowy sidewalks), I reached the Otaru Canal. Possibly the most distinctive part of the town, the canal stretches the length of the town's coast and is dotted with the town's signature lamp posts. I'm told it's quite a romantic place to walk though in the evenings. A picture in the JET calendar I got sent also depicted large, cylinder shaped ice lanterns, lit up from within, lining the edge of the canal, which I thought was rather charming. I now realize the power of SLR cameras though, because the lanterns turned out to be the size of a kids' sand bucket. XD

The surface of the water is actually frozen; the crowds on the sidewalk were pitching snowballs at it.

On the advice of a local guide, I took a look around the parallel street just two blocks south of the canal in search of Otaru's renowned music box museum. The street the museum is on is a bustling hub of tourist traps, with shops selling local knick knacks, fresh and dried produce, confectionery and of course, handmade glass items. Needless to say, my souvenir hunter instincts turned a 10 minute walk into a meandering one hour journey fraught with temptation and financial pitfalls. T_T

When I finally got to the Otaru Orgel Doh (小樽オルゴール堂) at the end of the street, it was rather a little later in the day that I planned, but still, I had the chance to take a look at the history and construction of music boxes through the centuries. There's something very nostalgic and feelgood about music boxes; their sound seems to evoke feelings of calm and well being, which would probably explain why it puts me to sleep so readily. The museum houses several working music boxes of both the cylinder and disc variety, varying in size from the familiar jewellery box and watch movement types to full on tabletop models the size of a grandfather clock. An interactive console let me listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and The Beatles' "Yesterday" among others, which naturally convinced me to buy a music box for myself. I'm so easily led. *sigh*

The main floor of the museum is also a massive shop selling music boxes in a plethora (wow, obscure word!) of shapes and sizes. There were keychain versions, traditional jewellery box versions in European and Japanese designs, as well as wall mountable versions in string operated and key operated styles. The store also has a section where customers can create their own custom music boxes, with over 250 classical, folk and pop tunes to choose from, as well as a range of cases or platforms to house the mechanisms in. Some tunes are more popular than others, and due to the large number of tourists from Hongkong and Malaysia (or Singapore) that day, they ran out of Pachelbel's "Canon in D" by midday. Boo. I found a nice, somewhat tacky looking laser etched glass globe that played the tune though, so I'm good. Add to that a CD of Chage & Aska tunes played in the music box style (nostalgia!), and I was quite a happy camper.

I mentioned above that glass blowing is a local specialty, and that the LP guide singles out places where visitors can make their own items. One of these is K's Blowing, located on the same street as the music box museum, which lets you create your own blown glassware for a not-so-small fee, inclusive of local and international delivery charges if you need it. Artisans are on hand to assist you in shaping and handling the molten glass, and will supply instructions in rudimentary English for foreign tourists.


I opted for a curvy, tactile looking mug with multicoloured accents and the winter exclusive "yuki akari" design, which is supposed to resemble snowflakes. I would have liked the spring design, in which pink, white and green glass is used to suggest cherry blossoms, but sadly, it was still winter. I had lots of fun making it anyway, though the process is actually a lot harder than it looks to arrive at a perfectly symmetrical end product. One thing the LP guide didn't mention though; since the mug is a rather large item, it takes about 24 hours to cool down from the furnace, so you can't actually take the mug home with you on the day you make it, hence the delivery service. Good thing the local couriers are an efficient lot, so you'll receive your item in the mail on the second business day after your visit. International deliveries are done by EMS, which is excellent for speedy delivery but a little hard on the wallet.

And here's my mug, along with a few other glass items I picked up on the way. I made the swirly green glass bead on the leather choker at Yuzu Koubou (ゆず工房), located behind the Otaru Canal Craft Hall due northeast of Otaru station just before the canal. Nice place, with nice people. In the upper right corner is a pair of Hina dolls in glass, the prince on the left (wisteria detail) and the princess on the right (plum blossom detail), just in time for Girl's Day on the 3rd of March. I really appreciate the minimalist design and the clever use of refraction in the floral prints of their kimonos. The lady in the shop gave me the cherry blossom print chopstick rest as a freebie ("Shhh!" she told me, so don't go telling anybody XD) because I also bought the pair of yuzu (Japanese citrus) earrings. The mobile phone dangly was from the Otaru Museum and is quite intricate, so here's a closeup:

Evening is when the Otaru Canal is at it's best. The ice lanterns are lit, and hundreds of glass candleholders are strung across the surface of the water. The local Korean association used the snow on the sidewalk to make lighted snow sculptures that weekend, which added to the atmosphere. The flickering candlelight and the soft glow from the lamp posts do make for a romantic stroll along the canal at dusk, however the surging hordes of tourists kind of spoil it a bit. ^^;;


It was with much reluctance that I headed back to Sapporo at the end of the day. Otaru really is my cup of tea, what with the souvenirs and handicrafts. I might consider a trip back up north in the summer to get away from the heat, so this little ex-fishing town might just be on my list again. You can never have enough glassware or music boxes, you know. ^^