What you’ll see & do
Book this tour alone or include it in a custom trip
This private tour can be booked as a standalone day or included within a custom Japan itinerary, with hotels, transport, guides, cultural experiences, and local support arranged around your dates.
Otaru (小樽) flourished at the end of the 19th century as the financial and trading capital of Hokkaido – its stone warehouses, canal and Meiji-era bank buildings are among the best-preserved mercantile architecture in Japan. The city is an hour from Sapporo by car, and its sushi is consistently ranked among the finest in the country, fed by the cold waters of the Sea of Japan directly outside the harbour.
Yoichi, forty minutes further along the coast, is where Masataka Taketsuru chose to build the Nikka Whisky distillery in 1934 – drawn by the cold climate, the clean water and the similarity to the Scottish Highlands where he had trained. The distillery still operates on coal-fired stills, an increasingly rare method, and the single malts produced here are among the most awarded in the world.
On this private full-day car tour your guide takes you through both – Otaru’s canal, warehouses and sushi street in the morning, the coastal rock formations between the two towns, and the Nikka distillery with tasting in the afternoon.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
LANGUAGE
English · Japanese
AVAILABILITY
Year-round
All private, bookable directly
MEETING POINT
Your hotel lobby
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