Otaru

Finished in 1923; in 1986 half of it was filled in for a road and lined with a promenade and 63 gas lamps. The crowd peaks at dusk as the lamps come on, while the northern stretch, never filled, keeps its old width and is far quieter.

A red-brick building of 1912 packed with thousands of music boxes, at the end of Sakaimachi street. The steam clock at the crossroads outside is modelled on one in Vancouver and lets off steam and a tune every 15 minutes.

An old herring warehouse turned café, lit with no electric light at all, just 167 oil lamps. When it opens in the morning the staff light the lamps one by one, and your eyes take a moment to adjust to the dimness inside.

A 532m peak the ropeway climbs in 4 minutes. At night the lights of the city and Ishikari Bay spread below, rated one of Hokkaido's three finest night views, and touching the tengu mask's nose supposedly makes wishes come true, so its tip is rubbed shiny.

A villa the Aoyama family, rich on herring, spent six years building, hence its nickname, the herring palace. Each room had its own craftsmen for the sliding panels and ceilings, and a restaurant inside serves herring soba.

A bank completed in 1912 to a design by Tatsuno Kingo and others, from the days when Otaru was called the Wall Street of the North. Admission is free, and one corner lets you lift a stack of notes worth 100,000,000 yen.

Part of the first railway laid in Hokkaido in 1880, closed in 1985 and turned into a walkway with the rails left in place. You walk on the sleepers through the middle of town, and for February's Snow Light Path snow lanterns line the track.

A cape running out into the deep Shakotan blue; the gate at its start, the Nyonin Kinsei no Mon, barred women until 1855. The ridge path to the tip takes about 20 minutes, the gate shuts in strong wind, and in winter the way is closed.

Founded by Masataka Taketsuru in 1934, it still heats its pot stills directly over coal fires. It is about 25 minutes from Otaru by train, guided tours need booking, and they end in a tasting where drivers get soft drinks instead.

A small market wedged into a triangular slope right by Otaru station, which gave it its name. Some stalls let you choose a live crab from the tank and boil it for you on the spot, and from early morning the rice-bowl counters have people queueing.

About a kilometre of Meiji and Taisho stone warehouses and merchant houses turned into glass studios, confectioners and music-box shops. Most shut around six, and the street empties as darkness falls, so shop by day and save the canal for night.

An aquarium on the Shukutsu shore 25 minutes north of town by bus, where seals and sea lions live in an outdoor pool walled off from the sea. The wind blows straight in, so bring a layer even in summer, and pair it with Nishin Goten on the hill above.

A herring baron's house built at Tomari in 1897 during the boom and moved to the Shukutsu headland in 1958; his family and dozens of fishermen shared its roof. The fishermen's wide loft bunks survive, and it opens April to November.

A museum where the old Temiya Station of Hokkaido's first railway stood, dozens of steam engines and old carriages ranged across a wide yard. In summer an American-built steam engine gives rides on the yard track, and the Temiya Line walk begins at its gate.

A cove close to where the Shakotan Peninsula ends in the north, reached by a short dark tunnel onto cliffs over blue water clear to the seabed. The stairs down to the beach are long and steep, brutal coming back, and most pair it with Cape Kamui.