Steam Clock

Introduction

The Otaru Steam Clock stands at the Marchen Crossroad at the top of Sakaimachi Street in Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan, in front of the main hall of the Otaru Music Box Museum. It is the work of the Canadian clockmaker Raymond Saunders, made in 1977 to mark the friendship between Otaru and Vancouver and installed here the same year; because Saunders also built the famous clock in Vancouver's Gastown, the two are described as the only sister steam clocks in the world. Standing about 5.5 m tall and weighing some 1.5 tonnes, it runs on steam from a boiler that both drives the mechanism and sounds a set of five whistles, chiming every quarter hour with a longer melody on the hour. White steam billowing into cold Hokkaidō air, against a backdrop of stone warehouses and gas lamps, makes this the most photographed corner in town. The adjoining music box hall displays tens of thousands of boxes and lets visitors assemble their own — an essential stop beyond the canal promenade.

✨ Highlights

🛈 Practical Info