“Sapporo is the fifth largest city in Japan, and the largest city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.” (Thanks Wikipedia!) Those visiting Japan for the first time usually do not include it in their itinerary. We visited because we had just finished snowboarding in Hokkaido, so we thought it’d be worth exploring the city for a day before flying out of its airport to head to our next stop in Japan.
Sat 12/28
Bus from the ski resorts of Hokkaido to arrive in Sapporo!
7:00pm – Hakodate Uni Murakami Sapporo Branch (Uni restaurant)
Finally outside of the ski resorts/touristy part of Hokkaido which means the expectations of food goes up! Hokkaido is known for their seafood, so we immediately jump on a place that specializes in uni, with all of our luggage in tow. We got a bowl of uni and a grilled mackerel. The uni was great, but what really exceeded expectations was the mackerel. Well salted, very tender, don’t skip this one! More info here
Sun 12/29
9:30am – Nijo Market
The Nijo Market is all about fresh seafood and spans two or three blocks along the sidewalks. Shoppers can feast their eyes upon fresh crabs, octopus, scallops, shrimp… or purchase ready to eat seafood like boxes of uni, jars of salmon roe, and cured fish. While it was fun to check out the selection, some sellers were unfriendly to us tourists, like the one shooing us aside if we weren’t going to buy anything. There are restaurants in this market too for those looking for a sit down meal.
10:15am – 11:00am – Lunch at a restaurant in Nijo Market
Speaking of sit down meal, we decided on this sushi restaurant in the market to have our lunch. I think their giant poster filled with pictures got our attention. They quoted a 20min wait but it was more like.. 35min. We split the rice bowl with tuna and salmon roe. It seemed to be good quality, but this being the first REAL meal in japan (outside of ski resorts), it didn’t quite hit the spot.
11:10am – 11:40am – Sapporo TV Tower
This structure was modeled off the Eiffel Tower. It’s free to go inside, browse souvenirs, and even to go up a level for more souvenirs and a restaurant. There is a fee to go up the elevator to the indoor observation deck. I believe it’s around $7 for an adult. I didn’t have high hopes given the tower isn’t that tall but the view was better than expected, nothing spectacular though. There’s actually a live cam by the ticket counter if you’d like to preview the view before purchasing tickets. They don’t offer much information to learn about the tower. What you will see is a long street with mountains in the background.
11:50am – 12:15pm – Sapporo Clock Tower
We went in knowing very little about what this was. This schoolhouse has been kept around because of its cultural significance as one of the first places in Japan to start housing higher education. There are a few panels of information. It’s not the most exciting visit but it’s history. The most unexpected part was this adorable clock mascot coming out to take pics with fans. It was making such cute poses and encouraging everyone to take photos. To be honest, we were falling asleep while in the tower, but that instantly woke us up. Admission is $2.
12:15pm – 12:30pm – Sapporo Odori Park
The park is a long narrow segment between two roads. Unfortunately there isn’t anything to see in the winter. If you’re here during the right times, the ice sculptures festival is here!
1:20pm – 2:20pm – Lunch at Tiger Curry
Soup curry, never had it before. There is no english menu, so it might be a bit hard to figure out. To order you have to pick the type of soup, type of curry, spiciness, and amount of rice. We ended up waiting for about 45 minutes in the cold since this was such a small and popular spot. Thought it was well worth a try since we’ve never had soup curry. It has such an intense flavor and is very satisfying when coming from the cold. More info here
3:00pm – Ishiya Chocolate factory. Tour at 3:40pm
Visiting a chocolate factory brings out the kid in you. This is the company that makes those popular Hokkaido cream cookies wrapped in dark green wrappers. The factory is designed to feel like you’ve walked into a fairytale. The free unguided areas were actually the most interesting- there’s a window into the actual factory that makes those cookies. We paid $16/person for the premium tour which was absolutely not worth it. They use projections and decorated rooms to tell a story about the origin of chocolate, but it has nothing to do with the factory itself. It’s just a show for kids. As expected, the factory also sells chocolate desserts, drinks, and there’s a cafe. The hot white chocolate was tasty. The most disappointing part? The cookies here cost MORE than it would in stores and at the airport.
6:15pm – Dinner at the train station (Sapporo Station South Square), an omurice restaurant
Due to being in a rush, we opted to eat at a very casual and convenient location before our trip to Tokyo. Omurice is a hearty meal for a reasonable price. It’s rice wrapped in a sheet of fluffy egg. This place has so many variations you couldn’t even imagine. I enjoyed the original (roe and yam) and the beef one was good too.
7:00pm – train to airport
7:45pm – arrive at airport