Sapporo 札幌市

Sapporo (Japanese: 札幌市) is the prefectural capital of Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of Japan. It is located on the southwestern part of the Ishikari Plain, The city of 1,906,000 people is flanked by a number of mountains including Mount Teine, the Maruyama and Mount Moiwa.

Sapporo is is quite a young city by Japanese standard. Although the area has been an Ainu settlement, the village of Sapporo only came into being after a canal was constructed there in 1866. The year of establishment for Sapporo is taken as 1868. It was selected to be the new administrative center for Hokkaido, replacing Hakodate which was deemed to be not ideally placed.

Sapporo gained city status in 1922. In 1937 it was chosen as the venue of the 1940 Winter Olympics, but the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War caused the cancellation of the games. Sapporo held its first Snow Festival in 1950.

Sapporo became the fourth city in Japan with a subway system in 1971. The following year the Winter Olympics was finally held there, and Sapporo became the first city in Asia to host it. Sapporo was one of the venues for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It was held at the Sapporo Dome completed a year earlier.

Sapporo, Japan


The Sapporo Train Station with the JR Tower skyscraper

Planning your trip to Sapporo

The main gateway to Sapporo is the New Chitose Airport (CTS), located to the southeast of downtown. From the airport, you have the option of taking the Skybus or the JR train to reach downtown Sapporo. A trip on the train takes about 40 minutes and costs ¥1040.

You can also take the JR train from Tokyo to Sapporo, passing through the Seikan Tunnel, which at 54 km presently stands as the world's longest railway tunnel (until the 2018 completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which will be longer than it by 3 km). The train journey from Tokyo takes 10 hours and involves taking one Shinkansen and two Limited Express trains. It costs ¥22,470 for paying customers, so it is only of value to Japan Rail Pass holders.

Planning your travel within Sapporo

Quite unlike other cities in Japan, Sapporo is planned out in a strict grid system. The main thoroughfare in the city is O-Dori, which runs east-west through the city. To travel around the city, you have the option of taking the JR above-ground trains, the subway and streetcars. There are three subway lines. If you are going to use it often, get the all-day card for ¥800, or just ¥500 on weekends and public holidays. A single-journey ticket will cost you upwards of ¥200.

Odori Park with the Sapporo TV Tower

Places of Interest in Sapporo

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