11 Things to do in Sapporo, Japan
- Next Stage Travel
- Oct 3
- 9 min read
Day trips from Sapporo is a separate blog post.
Shopping
Perhaps because Sapporo is snowy for much of the year, there is a great deal of shopping underground. There are two large stretches of mall-like shopping, one called "Aurora Town" and the other "Pole Town." You can access them from Odori Station, or from stairways from the main street. A major department store, Mitsukoshi, is also here. The B1 level near Odori Station has a sweets market, one level up is savory foods, and above that the rest of the department store. If you have never been to a Japanese department store food area, it is well worth a visit--to look, or to buy a picnic lunch, or take-away dinner or breakfast. There are groceries here too, as well as the prepared foods. The upper levels include not only clothing, but also tableware, arts, the adorable leather backpacks you will see school children wearing, restaurants near the top, and repair shops (such as watch and clothing alterations). Another major department store is Daimaru. If you like antiques, we had good luck at Route 36. It's not near anything else you are likely to visit, but had a large selection and good prices. 3 Chome-9 Minami 5 Johigashi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0055 For souvenirs, don't overlook these well-priced options.
Don Quixote (called "Donki"): their mega store in Sapporo has 2 levels of food, plus electronics, housewares, clothing, and all manner of tchotkes. If you want to take home candy, ramen, cute socks, sushi-themed earrings, do come here first. You will see the same items elsewhere for more money. They will also have the widest selection of kit-kat and chips flavors.
Discount stores like 3 Coins and the 100 yen choices (Daiso, Can Do, Seria)
7-11 and Lawson
The Historic Village of Hokkaido is on the eastern outskirts of town (and a short walk from the Hokkaido Museum - see below). It's an open-air museum of over 50 buildings and residences from the late 19th to early 20th century from around Hokkaido. There are various businesses (barber, confection shop, sake brewery, etc.), farm buildings, silkworm factory, tractor and traincar storage, and residences of both wealthy and poor residents. Note that the various businesses unfortunately do not have any items for sale - we could have definitely gone for some confections during our visit!
It's interesting to walk through the buildings, many partially or fully furnished. The day we went, there were also various demonstrations of silkworms, rice stalk braiding, and print-making.
Signs have English translations and more detailed descriptions in English can be found through QR codes provided at each building.
There is also a horse-drawn single-car tram ride (250 yen each way) that goes from most of the length of the Historic Village - a distance of perhaps 0.5 km.
Historic Village of Hokkaido. Konopporo-50-1 Atsubetsucho, Atsubetsu Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 004-0006. Open every day except Monday 9 AM - 4:30 PM. 1000 yen or 1400 yen for a combined Village and Hokkaido Museum ticket.
This history museum aims to tell the story of Hokkaido from over a million years ago to today. It starts with how various animals crossed land bridges during ice ages. That is reflected in the fossil mammoth and Naumann's elephant skeletons that greet you in the first exhibition hall. The halls then go in chronological order telling how the first modern humans arrived, how they survived and thrived, how various waves of humans continued to arrive, the early, relatively cordial relations with mainland Japan and then the later, less cordial and finally, destructive relations with Japan.
The main signs all have English translations, and most individual exhibits have at least a brief English description of the object. Some detailed description signs do not have English translations but Google Translate had no problem with any of them. Overall, an informative and interesting museum, and a good way to learn more about the history of Hokkaido.
When we were there, the special exhibit was about the last samurai of Japan, and we decided not to buy that exhibit ticket.
Hokkaido Museum. Konopporo-53-2 Atsubetsucho, Atsubetsu Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 004-0006. Open every day except Monday 9:30 AM - 5 PM. 800 yen or 1400 yen for a combined Historic Village and museum ticket. Special exhibit is 1000 yen extra.
Mt. Moiwa is a mountain at the southwest edge of Sapporo. It has a number of hiking trails as well as a ropeway (cable car) that goes up and down the mountain. The Sapporo tram has a stop at the ropeway, so that was the most convenient way to get to Mt. Moiwa. At the top of the mountain are an observation area, restaurant and, of course, a souvenir shop. The restaurant (called The Jewels) is open at night and would probably be a fun way to see the city at night.
We took the ropeway up to the top of the mountain and hiked down the backside of the mountain. FYI, it's about 3 kilometers with an elevation change of 1200 feet. So, an amazing run up if you are looking for a challenge. We saw lots of iridescent beetles, and no mosquitos
For the hike, we ended at the Mt. Moiwa Hiking Walking Trailhead (if you enter that into Google Maps, it should come up as a location). 5 Chome-6 Asahigaoka, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 064-0941
Mt. Moiwa Ropeway. 5 Chome-3-7 Fushimi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 064-0942. Open daily 10:30 AM - 9:30 PM. 1050 yen person each way.
This compact museum is a pleasant way to spend 1-2 hours. When we were there, there were exhibitions exploring the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2, a glass exhibition from Orrefors from the early 20th century and an exhibit shared from another Hokkaido art museum which commissioned small art pieces that encompass a universe.
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art. 北海道立近代美術館, 2F, 17 Chome-2 Kita 1 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0001. 510 yen pp. Special exhibition, when we were there, was an additional 1300 yen. Open every day except Monday 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM (Fridays until 7:30 PM)
See our post about Nijo Market in Food in Sapporo (insert link).
Nijo Market. 〒060-0052 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Minami 2 Johigashi, 1 Chome, 南３条東１丁目〜２丁目. Open 7 AM - 5 PM every day. Several restaurants open at 7 AM, while the rest are open by 8 AM.
There are actually three areas to explore at the Sapporo Central Market - the Central Wholesale Market, the Morning Market and the Crab Market. We first went to the Sapporo Morning Market, a building directly south of the Central Market (and in front of the Central Wholesale Market, if you are walking from the subway). This is a more retail-consumer friendly market relative to the Central Market. Just about every vendor is selling some type of seafood, and most specialize in some type - uni, oysters, crab, local fish, etc. There are a number of sushi and donburi restaurants inside the Morning Market - they are clustered together on one side of the building. We had breakfast at Kitanotakara, but all the places looked great. Kitanotakara offered donburi with either bafun or Murasaki uni (or a combination) as well as a la carte uni, toro and other sashimi (see further info in Foods in Sapporo). Kitanotakara also had a branch in the Sapporo Crab Market about a block away.
Sapporo Morning Market. 〒060-0012 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Kita 12 Jonishi, 20 Chome−1−20 丸果センター. Open. 5 AM - 11 AM every day except Wednesday and Sunday.
The Crab Market is actually about a two block section on Soen Hassamu Dori with about 60 shops and restaurants, located about 1 block south of the Central Wholesale Market. Most of the shops have seafood; there were also several melon/fruit shops, dried fish, konbu, and confectioners shops. At various shops, we tried Hokkaido fermented butter ice cream (tastes like whipped butter with sugar), honeydew (musk) melon ice cream, various konbus, fish jerkies, pickles and a tomato-flavored canelle. And, of course, got our picture with the giant lobster and crab.
Sapporo Crab Market. 21 Chome-2-3 Kita 11 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0011 - note this address is for one of the stores. If you map to this location, all the shops will be visible. Hours vary - some stores are open from 6 AM - 3 PM, others from 9 AM - 2:30 PM.
The Central Wholesale Market is where the large scale seafood sales occur. We did not see a lot going on (at 8:30 AM); this document gives an interesting English-language overview of how fish is bought and sold. The market did give us flashbacks to a trip we took to Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo with our children (at the time 6, 8 and 10 years old) where they were almost run over multiple times by speeding mini-forklifts...
Sapporo Central Wholesale Market. 20 Chome-2-1 Kita 12 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0012. Open 24 hours a day except closed Sundays and Wednesdays.
This fun outdoor sculpture garden/park is about an hour outside of Sapporo by public transit. There is a small art museum (separate admission charge) but we skipped that and went straight to the art park. Along the way from the museum to the art park are a craft workshop, where one can take classes in fabric dyeing, wood carving, glass blowing, etc., and a display hall where local Hokkaido artists display their wares. Most of these wares are for sale; we bought two carved birch branch vases.
The art park itself is probably about 50 acres with 70-80 different sculptures and art pieces. It's a pleasant way to spend a few hours. Many of the pieces are interactive - for example, one where you can sit as part of the sculpture, and a cone structure that you could enter that was an echo chamber.
Sapporo Art Park. 〒005-0864 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Minami Ward, Geijutsunomori, 2 Chome−７５. 800 yen pp. Open daily April 29-Nov. 3 from 9:45 AM - 5:30 PM.
This really should be at the top of your sightseeing list. Who wouldn't want to see the latest toilet, bath and kitchen technology in Japan? We actually went with a mission - to see how we might purchase and install a modular Toto bathroom and washroom in the United States. We obviously weren't the first people to ask that question because a representative handed us an English-language FAQ about how the Toto products in the showroom are only for purchase and installation in Japan. The construction/remodel process in Japan seems to be a bit different than the US. While retail customers can view and select items and systems, the construction company buys and installs everything. So, we, as retail US customers, couldn't directly buy the items and ship them to the US ourselves.
Toto Showroom Sapporo. 4 Chome-1番10号 Kita 3 Johigashi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0033. No cost.
This botanical garden is also the original site of Sapporo Agricultural College in the late 1800s; after several iterations, the College became Hokkaido University. Covering 33 acres in the middle of Sapporo, it has areas focusing on different geographies and plant types. We particularly enjoyed wandering through the small rose garden, with ponds and other flowering plants, and the ethnobotanical section, which focused on Asian plants and with individual signposts that mentioned how each plant was used.
Also on the grounds are a small natural science museum, in the original building of Sapporo Agricultural College and an Ainu museum. The natural science museum has various preserved animals, including several Hokkaido wolves, which went extinct about 1900. The Ainu museum has a number of artifacts fro the late 19th and early 20th century. English language descriptions are provided for most of the items, as well as an English translation of context around these artifacts (how they may not really be representative of the Ainu, but more representative of how the Japanese anthropologists chose items) and a description of an unusual 1935 film of a 'bear-ascension' ceremony (in which a bear was basically tortured and then killed).
Hokkaido University Botanical Garden. 〒060-0003 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, 北３条西８丁目. Open every day except Monday 9 AM - 4:30 PM. 420 yen pp.
These two sites are next to each other and were a surprising amount of fun. Mt. Okura Ski Jump Stadium is the site of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympic Ski Jump competition. At that competition, Japan won its first winter Olympic gold medal (Japanese athletes also took silver and bronze in the ski jump).
You can buy a ticket for both the museum and ski jump stadium lift at the museum. We first took the ski lift to the top of the ski jump. It's about a 5 minute ride to the top for a spectacular view of the city of Sapporo. There is a small cafe at the top where we tried Okoppe Butter Cream Cake, which had two layers of sponge cake sandwiching sweet fermented butter cream (the butter is fermented through lactic acid addition according to the package).
The museum is two floors describing the history of the Olympics in general, Japan's role in hosting various Olympic games, celebration of Olympic athletes in general and Japanese athletes who competed, and how Hokkaido became popular for skiing in the early 20th century.
The best part was the interactive exhibits of ski jumping, cross-country skiing, ice hockey and bobsledding. For each one, you could actually experience a little bit of what it was like to participate in each one through a combination of videos and movement (for example, for the ski jump, you had to time your jump and movement of skis with the video showing the jump-off point; in the cross county skiing, you could compete with two other people to race around a course using ski 'plates' that moved and detected speed.)
Sapporo Olympic Museum. 1274 Miyanomori, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 064-0958. Open 9 AM - 6 PM daily. 600 yen pp or combined ticket with lift 1370 yen pp.
Mt. Okura Ski Jump Stadium. 1274 Miyanomori, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 064-0958. Open 8:30 AM - 8:30 PM May - October; 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM November - April (may be closed some days for practice/maintenance). 1000 yen pp or combined ticket with Olympic Museum 1370 yen pp.
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