Japan's northernmost major city — planned on an American grid by Meiji-era engineers in 1869 — where the largest snow festival in the world fills Odori Park with 200 sculptures reaching 25 metres high each February, where 15 metres of average annual powder snow make Niseko 100 km away one of the world's top five ski destinations, and where the morning sea urchin at Nijo Market arrives from islands whose cold clear waters produce the finest uni in Japan.
The 1890 Red-Brick German-Style Brewery Where Japan's First Modern Lager Was Produced in 1876 & The Covered Alley with 8-Seat Counter Ramen Shops Serving Miso Broth with Corn and Butter Since 1951
Fifteen Metres of Average Annual Powder Snow in a Resort That Receives More Precipitation Than Any Ski Area in the Alps & A 35-Minute Train to a Victorian Canal Port Where Sea Urchin Arrives from the Northernmost Inhabited Islands of Japan
The Freshest Hairy Crab in Japan at 7am in a Market Open Since 1884 & The Caldera Lake So Clear That 14 Metres of Water Column Are Transparent from a Kayak Surface