The main area of Sapporo City spreads from the newly
redeveloped Sapporo station south to Nakajima
Park (Nakajima Koen). The vast majority of shops, restaurants and
the famous Susukino entertainment
area can be found within this area. There are four major department
stores Dimaru, Stella
Place, Paseo and Seibu located on top of and around Sapporo station.
Other major department stores include Robinsons, Mitsukoshi, Parco
and Marui.
Oodori
Park (Oodori Koen) marks the center of Sapporo and is a beautiful
park  to
visit in the summer and is the area of the world famous Sapporo Snow
Festival (Yuki Matsuri) held in February. From this area south,
running the length of the street to Susukino entertainment area,
there is an underground shopping complex called Pole town. Running
directly under Oodori
Park there is another shopping complex called Aurora Town. These
areas are especially useful during winter as you can walk peacefully,
well protected from the severe winter weather.
Located between Oodori and Susukino is the covered mall area called
Tanukikoji. This area others some good shops and restaurants and also
many famous Pachinko (Japanese slot machines) parlors.
From Sapporo station the start of the Susukino area is marked by Robinsons
Department Store and the huge Nikko Whiskey sign. This area offers
large numbers of bars and restaurants and other forms of entertainment.
There are three main subway lines in Sapporo. (Maps)
The Nanboku line runs North to South and is color coded green. The
Tozai line runs East to West and is color coded orange and the Toho
line runs somewhat parallel to the Nanboku line and then into the north-eastern
suburbs and is color coded blue. There is also a street car or tram
running through the south-western area of Sapporo and can be a great
way to get a glimpse of some of the outer areas of the city.
(Click
here for a full Sapporo subway and street car map.) |
English
Sapporo is the
largest city north of Tokyo and is the fifth largest city in Japan.
It has many great 
