Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan’s second-largest island, located just north of Honshu. Its northern location means cold winters and plenty of snowfall, making February’s Sapporo Snow Festival one of the most famous winter events in the world.
Sapporo is also well known for hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics held in Asia. The city is home to Sapporo Breweries, one of Japan’s major beer producers, with its popular Sapporo Beer exported worldwide.
Unlike most major Japanese cities, Sapporo is relatively new, established as a village in 1866. Before Hokkaido’s large-scale development, the island was primarily inhabited by the indigenous Ainu people. Sapporo was chosen as Hokkaido’s capital due to its abundant flat land, which was well-suited for urban development.
Sapporo’s urban layout is unique for Japan, as the city was planned on a grid system, giving it wide, tree-lined avenues that differ from the winding streets of many older Japanese cities. The city’s design was influenced by American urban planners, and as a result, many historic buildings have a late 19th-century Western architectural style, rather than the traditional Japanese designs seen in most of the country.
Despite being Japan’s fifth-largest city, Sapporo was not initially served by the Shinkansen bullet train. However, in 2016, the Hokkaido Shinkansen was extended to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, providing a faster rail link to Hokkaido. The final extension to Sapporo is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2030. Once completed, the travel time between Tokyo and Sapporo is expected to be around 4 hours, significantly reducing the current 10-hour journey.
For now, the fastest way to reach Sapporo remains by air, with New Chitose Airport serving as the city’s main international gateway. The Tokyo–Sapporo air route remains one of the busiest domestic flight routes in the world.
