The town's nostalgic, old-fashioned mood is enhanced by its architecture and layout. A beautiful large canal flows through it.
Otaru is situated in the western part of Hokkaido, facing Ishikari Bay. It has developed and prospered as "the sea entrance of Hokkaido" over the last 100 years and it has gained the nickname "Wall Street of the North." The glassworks shops, coffee shops, restaurants and shopping malls along the canal have been converted from stone-built or brick-built warehouses, which were used for storage in the days when commerce flourished and the canal was crowded with jostling barges. When night falls, oil lamps on the cobbled streets are lit, and the town evokes a gentle, nostalgic mood.