Hokkaido II Day 8: Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery & Otaru Sakaimachi Street

After our morning wash up at the onsen, the girls ate the LeTAO cheesecakes we bought the day before for breakfast while the boys had noodles at the nearby convenience store. We reconvened after breakfast and headed to Otaru Station to buy train tickets to our next destination.

On our way to Otaru Station

The next train to Yoichi Station was at 10.57am as we had just missed the earlier train. The train tickets cost ¥440 per adult and ¥220 per child. Since we had time, we shopped at the station.

Love the bread from Saint-Germain bakery! Super good!

Yummy fried chicken from this stall

We boarded the train approximately 10 minutes before it departed.

Local train heading to Kutchan through Yoichi

On arrival at Yoichi Station, we decided to buy our return tickets so that we wouldn't waste time. Thankfully we did because we found out that we had to catch the 1.43pm local train back to Otaru Station as the next one's at 3pm! We made a mental note to be at the station by 1.40pm latest.

Yoichi Station

Yoichi is the birthplace of whisky in Japan, with Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery being the first distillery. The distillery was just a 3-minute walk from Yoichi Station and you could see it from the station. This was a must-do activity for us as the Hubby is a big fan of whisky and has a small collection! 😁

Main entrance to Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery

You'd need to make advance booking of the distillery's complimentary tour in order to enter. We booked the 12pm slot on our first night at Lake Toya (had to cancel the earlier booking once we knew we wouldn't have a car). We showed the reservation email to the staff, who gave us 5 entry cum tasting tickets: 2 alcohol tasting tickets for the adults and 3 juice tickets for the underaged. We were also instructed to keep the tickets until we left the premise.

As we had arrived early for the tour, we had time to take photos with the picturesque, snowy distillery! It looked like it came out of a storybook! 😍

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With the snow-covered whisky barrels

The distillery was even more magical in the winter!

We headed indoors to their mini theatre, where a staff showed us an introductory video of our tour.

Boards introducing the distillery and our tasting ticket

Introductory video shown on the screen

The guided tour was conducted in Japanese but the distillery printed highlights of the tour in English so that we could follow it.

Walked around the distillery and learnt about its history

These furnaces were not for show;
the staff worked hard to keep them burning for the whisky distillation.

More walking to explore their premises

Rita House

Visualisation of the whisky-making process

Nikka Museum

As the tour took approximately 70 minutes, we did not have time to explore Nikka Museum. At the end of the tour, the hubby enjoyed complimentary tasting of 3 types of whisky!

Hubby had whisky while the rest of us had juice

The 3 types of whisky we were given to try

The dining area

Beautiful view outside the window! 😍

In the interest of time, the Hubby headed straight to the shops after he had finished his drinks while the kids and I checked out the vending machine at the dining hall.

The vending machine dispensed various snacks that paired perfectly with whisky.
We bought the mini sausages as it was unique to the distillery. It was a hit with the family!

By the time we headed downstairs to the shop, the Hubby had filled a basket full of products that he wanted me to get him for his (belated) birthday! 😅

Very satisfied customer! 😁

The Hubby was not the only one who enjoyed the distillery! Even though the rest of us can't/don't drink, we didn't want to leave as the place was simply too beautiful! 😍

Took more pictures as we left the distillery

Reluctant as we were, we had to leave by 1.30pm otherwise we would miss the train to Otaru Station! It was an enjoyable visit and I highly recommend it! 👍

We made it to Yoichi Station just in time to catch the train!
(Littlest was sad that we had to leave)

We stopped at our hotel to deposit our shopping and rested at their Resting Room.

Our hotel provided complimentary yakult and ice-cream for guests

After a quick break, we continued our journey to Sakaimachi Shopping Street for lunch and round two of shopping.

The snow can make it extremely slippery to walk!

The Hubby spotted a Kito no Gyoba restaurant along the street where we had our late lunch. It turned out that they were famous for fresh Hokkaido seafood.

One of Kito No Gyoba's many outlets in Hokkaido!

Super fresh salmon

Yummy crab soup

Love the rice bowl and sticks of beef! 😋

Yummy grilled squid

Littlest's favourite: fresh giant prawns!

After a very satisfying lunch, we proceeded to do our shopping. As we had limited time left before the shops closed at 5-6pm, we split into 2 groups for efficiency: boys to the Kitachi Glass Shop and girls to the Orgel Music Box Museum!

The skies were getting ominously dark

Pretty glass cups the Hubby bought from Kitachi Glass Shop

The Hubby also bought this sake glass set exquisitely made in Japan

While the Hubby was happily shopping, the girls and I arrived at the traffic junction across the road from the museum.

Otaru Cafe x Hello Kitty!

Otaru Music Box Museum and Otaru Steam Clock

I couldn't wait to return to Otaru Music Box Museum as I have loved it so much during our last visit to Otaru.

The only photos I took of the music boxes as I was too busy choosing the ones I liked to buy!

Totoro and other parts of the museum

By the time I completed my purchase, it was already dark outside.

The buildings were illuminated!

The 15-minute walk back to our hotel felt like an eternity due to the slippery ice and snow! We slipped and almost fell many times! 🥴 We were so happy to be back in the comforts of our hotel!