Otaru Hokkaido
Otaru Japan is a seaside city and port on the southwest coast of Hokkaido. It’s a nice small city that has various Hokkaido ski areas within striking distance that are ideal for powder hounds and/or those looking for a quieter Japanese experience away from the destination ski resorts.
Pros and Cons of Otaru Hokkaido
Pros
- The Otaru ski resorts are renowned for getting huge amounts of snow, and a couple of the ski areas are up there as receiving the most snow in Japan.
- You get plenty of ski/snowboard terrain variety considering there are multiple ski areas near Otaru.
- Otaru provides a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the real Japan, away from the curated “resortification” that you find at some of the Hokkaido destination ski resorts.
- Otaru hotels provide very good value for money, especially compared to destination resorts such as nearby Kiroro and Niseko.
- The seafood in Otaru is abundant and highly renowned.
- There are lots of restaurants to explore in Otaru.
- The city has lots of historical buildings which make the place somewhat picturesque.
Cons
- If you stay in Otaru Japan, a daily commute is required to get to the nearby ski resorts.
- The big snowstorms often arrive with fury and windy conditions that may close the lifts at some of the Otaru ski areas. You may need to stay a little flexible with your plans and hit the low elevation ski areas.
Otaru Ski Resorts
| Ski Resorts Near Otaru - Stats |
| Ski Area |
1°
Aspect |
Top
(m) |
Base
(m) |
Vertical
(m) |
Runs |
Lifts |
Max **
Pitch ° |
Location
* |
| Kiroro |
NW to W |
1,180 |
570 |
610 |
23 |
10 |
37 |
28km S |
| Sapporo Kokusai |
E |
1,100 |
630 |
470 |
7 |
4 |
30 |
24km SE |
| Sapporo Teine |
N to NE |
1,023 |
340 |
683 |
15 |
10 |
38 |
32km SE |
| Otaru Tenguyama |
NNE |
532 |
122 |
410 |
6 |
3 |
42 |
3km S |
| Asarigawa |
NE |
680 |
140 |
540 |
8 |
4 |
36 |
10km SW |
| Onze |
NE |
308 |
100 |
208 |
9 |
2 |
30 |
15km SE |
| Fu's |
NNE |
540 |
260 |
260 |
9 |
3 |
38 |
52km SE |
| Sapporo Moiwayama |
SE |
448 |
173 |
275 |
10 |
5 |
38 |
46km SE |
| Sapporo Bankei |
N |
483 |
200 |
283 |
17 |
6 |
33 |
37km SE |
* distance relative to Otaru train station, ** max pitch is on-piste
You can click on the map icon above to see the locations of the Otaru ski resorts.
Kiroro Ski Resort is the highest profile ski resort near Otaru. It typically gets lots and lots of snow, has good piste terrain, popular sidecountry, and good touring options.
Sapporo Kokusai receives massive amounts of snow, and even though the slopes are crowded with lots of beginners, the sidecountry and backcountry areas tend to offer some fresh tracks.
Sapporo Teine is also good for beginners and it features some steep tree skiing.
The
Otaru Tenguyama ski area on Tengu-yama sits above the city. It’s a small ski area that’s at reasonably low elevation, so even though the slopes are mostly northeast facing, the ski area is ideal for storm riding and thankfully competition for freshies is minimal.
Of similar ilk is the
Asari Ski Resort at Asarigawa Onsen. Like Otaru Tenguyama, Asari ski resort is good for a day trip to ski the solitary off-piste and sidecountry areas. Asari is also at low elevation so it’s good for really windy days when some of the lifts at Kiroro are closed.
You can see how we rate these ski areas on our
Hokkaido ski resort ratings.
Fu’s, Bankei and
Moiwayama are little locals’ ski areas that are closer to Sapporo and probably more easily visited from there.
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Otaru accommodation via us.
Where is Otaru?
Otaru is just 38km northwest of
Sapporo and 89km from the New Chitose Airport. The small city sits on the coast in southwestern Hokkaido.
If you don’t have your own wheels or you’re not on a
multi-resort tour, it’s easy enough to catch a train from the New Chitose Airport or Sapporo City to Otaru. See the
Otaru travel page for tips on getting there and to the nearby ski resorts.
Otaru Hotels
Otaru accommodation provides very good value for money. The Otaru hotels include large western style hotels and a handful of upscale Japanese ryokans, and there are a few backpacker hostels if you want to save even more yen.
OMO5 Otaru is a lovely boutique 4 star hotel. It offers daily shuttles to Kiroro, Asarigawa Ski Resort and
Snow Cruise Onze, and the bus stop to Otaru Tenguyama is a one minute walk away. The hotel is well located and just a few minutes walk to the Otaru canal and the main shopping street.
Otaru Hotels Listings
Activities
It’s novel to see snow at sea level in Otaru, but it’s also nice to look at the historic canals and wander along the old Sakaimachi Street to check out the glass crafts. You can head to the beer brewery and the seafood market where you can feast on crab and lots of other local specialities.
The Snow Light Path Festival is incredibly popular. The city is very pretty in the evenings, all illuminated with candles, and the canal is particularly picturesque with the many floating lights. The festival is held in mid February and if the Lunar New Year period coincides with it, then Otaru can become crazy busy.
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Facilities
Considering that Otaru is growing in its popularity as a base for skiing and snowboarding, it’s surprising that the city doesn’t have much in the way of ski and snowboard rentals. You can rent basic equipment at the nearby ski areas, or Kitashiri Ski and Adventure Center can organise standard ski and snowboard rentals to be delivered to various hotels in Otaru.
Sports Alpen is a sports shop about 2km southeast of the CBD that sells lots of piste skis, snowboards, boots and basic clothing.