Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- Flights take 1 1/2 hours from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, 2 hours from Hiroshima, and 2 1/4 hours from Fukuoka. Sapporo's New Chitose Airport (tel. 0123/23-0111), located about 43km (27 miles) southeast of the capital, is connected to downtown by either Airport Limousine Bus, which delivers passengers to a few major hotels in about 70 minutes for ¥1,000 ($9.50); or by JR trains that operate every 15 minutes between Chitose Airport Station and Sapporo Station, with the 36-minute trip costing ¥1,040 ($9.90).

By JR Train -- Trains from Tohoku and other regions on Honshu arrive in Hakodate, where you'll transfer to a train departing every hour or so for Sapporo. The fare from Tokyo to Sapporo costs ¥23,980 ($228), with trips averaging 10 hours including transfers. Trains from Hakodate take about 3 1/2 hours and cost ¥8,590 ($82). Otherwise, three overnight trains also depart from Ueno Station in Tokyo and arrive in Sapporo the next morning, taking about 16 hours and costing ¥25,270 ($241). In addition, an overnight train from Osaka departs at noon and arrives in Sapporo the next day at 9:07am, costing ¥25,620 ($244).

Visitor Information

Be sure to pick up the useful leaflet "Sapporo and Shikotsu-Toya National Park" at a Tourist Information Center in Tokyo or international airports in Tokyo or Osaka (or download at www.jnto.go.jp). In JR Sapporo Station, the Visitors Information Corner (tel. 011/209-5030; open daily 9am-5:30pm) is in the station's Stella Place (turn left out of the west ticket wicket), where multilingual volunteers provide general hotel, sightseeing, and transportation information. Pick up Xene, a bilingual, free magazine with information about Sapporo, including concert and event news. Plaza I Information Counter is on the third floor in the MN Building across from the Clock Tower at N1 W3, Chuo-ku (tel. 011/211-3670; open daily 9am-5:30pm); it provides information on tourist attractions, daily life, and transportation, and offers guidebooks and maps. Online, you can check www.welcome.city.sapporo.jp or www.sta.or.jp.

Internet Access

You can get online at Bon de Bon (tel. 011/213-5726; daily 10am-9pm), a cafe in the basement of the Paseo Mall in Sapporo Station (opposite the east ticket wicket). It charges ¥200 ($1.90) for 30 minutes, and you're expected to order a drink. On the first floor of the Century Royal Hotel (1 min. west of Sapporo station's south exit), i-café (tel. 011/221-3440) charges ¥200 ($1.90) for 30 minutes.

Post Office

Sapporo Central Post Office, N6, E1 (tel. 011/748-2345), 2 blocks east of Sapporo Station, has a 24-hour window for stamps and mail and ATMs for international credit cards (weekdays 7am-11pm; Sat 9am-9pm; Sun and holidays 9am-7pm).

Orientation & Getting Around

After the jumble of most Japanese cities with their incomprehensible address systems, Sapporo will come as a welcome surprise. Its streets are laid out in a grid pattern, making the city easy to navigate. Addresses in Sapporo refer to blocks that follow one another in logical, numerical order.

Sapporo Station lies at the north end of the city, with downtown and many of its attractions, hotels, and restaurants spreading to the south. The center of Sapporo is Odori (Main St.), a tree-lined avenue south of Sapporo Station that runs east and west and bisects the city into north and south sections. North 1st Street, therefore, refers to the street 1 block north of Odori. The other determinant landmark is the Soseigawa River, which marks addresses east and west. West 1st Street runs along the west bank of the Soseigawa River, while East 1st Street runs along the east bank.

Addresses in Sapporo are generally given by block. N1 W4, for example, the address for the Sapporo Grand Hotel, means it's located in the first block north of Odori and 4 blocks west of West 1st Street. If you want to be more technical about it, the entire, formal address of the hotel would read N1-jo W4-chome. "Jo" refers to blocks north and south of Odori, while "chome" refers to blocks east and west of the river. Better yet, street signs in Sapporo are in English.

Central Sapporo is easy to cover on foot. You can walk south from Sapporo Station to Odori Park in less than 10 minutes and on to Susukino, Sapporo's nightlife district, in another 7 or 8 minutes. For longer distances, transportation in Sapporo is via bus, three subway lines (which interchange at Odori Station), and one streetcar line. Fares begin at ¥200 ($1.90) for buses and subways and ¥170 ($1.60) for streetcars, but easier is the With You Card, available in denominations beginning at ¥500 ($4.75) and valid for all conveyances. One-day Cards, allowing unlimited rides on all modes of transport in 1 day, are also available, costing ¥1,000 ($9.50) for all modes of transport. A 1-day card for subways only costs ¥800 ($7.60), except on weekends and holidays when they're discounted to ¥500 ($4.75). Children pay half fare. Cards can be purchased at subway stations and on buses and streetcars.

Finally, the Sapporo Stroll Bus and Sapporo Walk are tourist buses that travel in a loop to tourist sites around the city April to late October (unfortunately, neither goes go to Nopporo Forest Park). Single fares are ¥200 ($1.90) for adults and ¥100 (95¢) for children. A 1-day pass, ¥750 ($7.15) for adults and ¥380 ($3.60) for children, allows you to get on and off as many times as you want between 9am and 7pm. Buses depart from the south side of Seibu Department Store, and stops are clearly marked.