Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture — Japan's northernmost main island — and the fourth-largest city in Japan with a population of 1.97 million. Sapporo is one of the youngest major cities in Japan (founded 1869 when the Meiji government opened Hokkaido to development and settlement by mainland Japanese — before 1869, Hokkaido was primarily inhabited by the Ainu indigenous people; the city was laid out on an American-influenced grid plan by the Kaitakushi (Development Commission) using American agricultural and engineering advisors who redesigned the city from scratch in the 1870s) and one of the most visited winter destinations in Japan — the Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri, February, held on the Odori Park and in the Susukino ice sculpture venue: 200+ massive snow sculptures built by teams from around Japan and the world, some 25 m high; 2 million visitors over 7 days; founded in 1950 by six local high school students who built 6 snow sculptures in Odori Park; now the largest snow festival in the world) and the Hokkaido winter sports (Niseko ski resort, 100 km southwest — one of the top ski destinations in the world with an average of 15 metres of powder snow per year; Furano ski area, 120 km north; the Hokkaido backcountry skiing scene). Sapporo hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics (the first Winter Olympics in Asia — the ski jumping at Ōkurayama, the speed skating at Makomanai). Outside the winter, Hokkaido is Japan's food paradise — the freshest seafood in Japan (crab: hairy crab, king crab, snow crab; sea urchin/uni; salmon and ikura roe; scallops from the Saroma Lake), the finest dairy products in Japan (Hokkaido accounts for over 50% of Japan's milk, butter and cheese production — the "Hokkaido milk" is the most prized in Japan), the Sapporo Beer (Japan's oldest beer brand, 1876), and the Sapporo ramen (the miso-base ramen unique to Sapporo, with corn, butter and a thick noodle, the most filling ramen in Japan).
Odori Park (the 1.5 km green axis of Sapporo's city grid, from TV Tower to Nishi 12-chome — the park that divides the city north-south; in winter (January-February) it is the venue for the Snow Festival and the illumination festival; in summer (June-August) it has the Sapporo Beer Garden (outdoor beer festival), the Lilac Festival (May), the Yosakoi Soran Festival (June — the energetic dance festival combining Kochi's yosakoi dance with the traditional Hokkaido fishermen's soranbushi song; 50,000 performers, 2 million spectators); in autumn the ginkgo and elm trees create the finest urban foliage in Hokkaido; the Sapporo TV Tower (147 m, 1957, modelled on the Eiffel Tower, the observation deck gives the finest view of the Odori grid).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Sapporo Beer Museum (in the original 1890 red brick Kaitakushi Brewery building — the German-style Bavarian brewery that Seibei Nakagawa built after studying in Germany, producing Japan's first modern lager at the Sapporo Brewery from 1876; the building is the finest surviving red-brick industrial heritage building in Hokkaido; the museum traces the 150-year history of Japanese beer culture; the tasting room offers the Kaitakushi beer (the 1876 recipe recreation), the Sapporo Classic (available only in Hokkaido — different from the export Sapporo; a richer, more malt-forward version brewed for the local market), and the seasonal beers; the Sapporo Beer Garden adjacent has the famous all-you-can-eat Genghis Khan lamb barbecue).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHokkaido University (founded 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College by the American William S. Clark — the author of the motto "Boys, be ambitious!" carved in English on every Hokkaido University building; the university was modelled on Massachusetts Agricultural College by the Meiji government's American advisors; the campus has the finest collection of autumn foliage in Sapporo in October-November — the ginkgo avenue is the most photographed campus scene in Japan in autumn; the Botanical Garden adjacent to the campus has the world's finest collection of Hokkaido and Ainu botanical specimens and the Ainu Museum of indigenous culture).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSusukino (the entertainment district south of Odori Park — one of Japan's three major entertainment districts after Kabukichō in Tokyo and Namba in Osaka; 4,000+ bars, restaurants, clubs, ramen shops and karaoke venues in the streets south of Susukino station; the Sapporo ramen shops (the miso ramen that is Sapporo's greatest contribution to Japanese cuisine — the miso broth (awase miso: a blend of Sapporo white and red miso), the thick wavy noodles, the corn, the pat of butter, the bamboo shoots and the sliced chashu pork; Ramen Yokocho (Ramen Alley), the small covered arcade off Susukino with the original Sapporo ramen shops, each with 8-10 counter seats, operating since 1951).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNiseko (the ski resort area 100 km southwest of Sapporo — one of the top 5 ski destinations in the world; the Hokkaido winter climate creates an average of 15 metres of powder snow per year (compared to 10-12 m at the best Canadian resorts and 8-10 m in the Alps); the four interconnected Niseko ski areas (Niseko United: Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village and Annupuri, combined 60 lifts) give the widest skiable terrain in Japan; the night skiing under lights is particularly famous — the Hokkaido powder is so light and deep that night skiing through untracked terrain is an experience unavailable at most resorts; the Niseko Grand Hirafu village with its Australian/international resort culture has dozens of ski-in/ski-out accommodation options and après-ski restaurants).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNiseko Higashiyama Onsen and the Yukawa Onsen (the natural volcanic hot springs of the Niseko area, fed by the same volcanic system as the Niseko United ski area's geothermal heat) — the classic Japanese rotemburo (outdoor hot spring bath) experience in the snow: sitting in 41°C volcanic mineral water while snowflakes fall and the ski slopes are visible through the steam; the Yukawa Onsen has the finest outdoor bath in the Niseko area with a mixed-gender bath overlooking the Annupuri mountains; the Yukawa Onsen morning dip (7am before skiing) is the definitive Japanese winter experience.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideOtaru (35 km west of Sapporo by train — the historic port town with the Otaru Canal (the 1.2 km historic stone warehouse canal district, the most atmospheric Victorian-era port in Hokkaido; the warehouses now contain glassblowing studios, music box workshops, the finest sushi restaurants in the Sapporo-Otaru region, and the sake brewery Tanaka Syuzou Otaru Canal Brewery); the Otaru sushi is some of the finest in Japan — the proximity to the Hokkaido fishing grounds means the daily delivery of sea urchin, hairy crab, salmon, ikura and scallops to the restaurants of Sushiya-dori (Sushi Street); the Otaru Music Box Museum (the world's largest collection of antique music boxes, in the stone warehouse building on the canal).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGenghis Khan (Jingisukan — the Hokkaido lamb barbecue that is the most characteristic dish of Sapporo and Hokkaido: sliced raw lamb (and mutton) grilled on a domed cast-iron grill pan (shaped like the helmet of Genghis Khan — hence the name) with vegetables (bean sprouts, onion, cabbage, carrot, pumpkin); the sauce is a sweet soy-ginger dipping sauce; the all-you-can-eat Genghis Khan at the Sapporo Beer Garden (the large beer hall in the historic red-brick brewery complex, open all year, with the ¥4,500 120-min all-you-can-eat-and-drink Jingisukan set as the most popular offering in Sapporo) is the quintessential Sapporo experience.
Nijo Market (Nijo Ichiba — the covered market 10 minutes walk from Sapporo station, in operation since 1884 — the best seafood market in Sapporo and one of the finest in Hokkaido; the stalls open at 7am and the best produce goes quickly: fresh hairy crab (毛蟹, kegani — the Hokkaido hairy crab, with finer and sweeter meat than the king crab, seasonally available April-November), snow crab (ズワイガニ, December-March), live sea urchin (uni — the Hokkaido uni, especially the Rishiri and Rebun island uni, is considered the finest in Japan: sweet, rich, oceanic, with no ammonia aftertaste; the market stalls will serve it on rice in a bowl for breakfast with miso soup), ikura (salmon roe, the large glistening orange pearls that appear on every Hokkaido rice bowl).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Ōkurayama Ski Jump Stadium (the venue for the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics ski jumping — the first Winter Olympics in Asia; the 90 m and 70 m ski jump ramps are preserved as a heritage sports venue; visitors can take the chairlift to the top of the ski jump ramp (where the jumpers launch) and experience the terrifying perspective of the slope — the drop is 135 m over 180 m horizontal distance, which the viewer comprehends fully only from the jump position; the Olympic Museum at the base covers the 1972 Games; in summer, the grass ramp is used for training jumps).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLake Shikotsu (50 km south of Sapporo — the volcanic caldera lake of 78.4 km², with water clarity rated the highest of any lake in Japan for 5 consecutive years (Secchi depth: 28 m); the lake never freezes (due to its depth — 360 m, the second deepest lake in Japan after Lake Tazawa); surrounded by three volcanic mountains (Tarumae, Eniwa and Fuppushi); the Chitose River begins here; kayaking on the lake in summer (the water visibility from the kayak allows the paddler to see the lake bottom 10-15 m below); the Shikotsu Onsen hot spring village on the lake shore; the Shikotsu-Tōya National Park encompasses both Lake Shikotsu and the Noboribetsu Hell Valley.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHokkaido accounts for 50%+ of Japan's milk production and produces the country's finest dairy products — the Hokkaido milk (naturally higher in fat content than Japanese standard; the cows graze on Hokkaido's volcanic grasslands and produce a richer milk); the Hokkaido cream cheese (the softer Japanese cream cheese style); the Hokkaido butter (the finest butter in Japan, from the Furano and Biei plateau dairy cooperatives); the shiroi koibito biscuit (the "white lover" shortbread sandwich cookie with white chocolate, the most famous Sapporo souvenir, made by the Ishiya factory since 1976 — buy at the factory outlet or any Sapporo airport shop for the genuine product).