Things to do in Sapporo

Landmark · Chūō-ku, the centre of the grid

A 1.5-kilometre green strip cutting the city in half, and the origin point from which every Sapporo address is counted.

Local tip: The Clock Tower two blocks north is routinely nominated as one of Japan's three most disappointing sights, and it deserves it — a small wooden building hemmed in by offices. Go to Ōdōri instead, and in February the whole park becomes the Snow Festival.

Nightlife · Southern Chūō-ku

The largest entertainment district north of Tokyo — thousands of bars, izakaya and ramen counters packed into a few blocks.

Local tip: Ramen Yokochō is the famous alley and is mostly for visitors now. The better miso ramen is in the ordinary shops a few streets out. Susukino is safe but it is the one part of Sapporo where touts operate; ignore anyone who approaches you on the street.

Neighborhood · Western Chūō-ku, Tōzai subway line

Sapporo's leafy, expensive quarter — a shrine in old-growth forest, a small zoo, and the best bakeries and coffee in the city.

Local tip: Hokkaidō Jingū sits in genuine primary woodland and the walk up Maruyama itself takes half an hour. Bear sightings do occur on the mountain in autumn, and the city posts notices at the trailhead — read them rather than assuming they are boilerplate.

Food · Chūō-ku, east of Susukino

A compact covered fish market that has traded since the 1900s — crab, uni, scallops and sea urchin rice bowls.

Local tip: Prices at the front stalls are set for visitors. Locals buy at the Curb Market by Nijūyonken station instead, which is bigger, cheaper and entirely unglamorous. If you do eat at Nijō, the kaisen-don at the back counters is fine value; the crab sold by the stall is not.

Nature · Minami-ku, 50 minutes south by bus

A hot spring valley of two dozen inns in a gorge — inside Sapporo city limits, despite feeling like a weekend away.

Local tip: Almost every ryokan sells day-use bathing for a few hundred to a couple of thousand yen, so you never need to stay overnight. Go on a weekday in October for the maples, or in deep winter when the snow-covered gorge is the entire point.

Nature · Higashi-ku, 40 minutes northeast

A former municipal rubbish tip rebuilt as a single enormous sculpture by Isamu Noguchi, finished in 2005 after his death.

Local tip: Noguchi designed the whole 188-hectare site as one artwork — a glass pyramid, a man-made mountain, a sea fountain. Most Sapporo residents have been once and forgotten it exists. Bring a bike in summer; in winter it becomes a free cross-country ski and sledging ground.