| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | Around ¥1000 (including drink + fries) |
| Opening Hours | 11:30 – 22:00 (last orders at 21:30) |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | jvburger.com +81 11-281-1355 |
| Notes | English menus provided. Staff have limited English ability |
| Location / Getting There | Sapporo. North 23 West 3. 2-51 Kopubiru 1F 3 Chome-2-51 Kita 23 Jōnishi, Kita-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaidō 001-0023, Japan Sapporo. North 1 West 8. Hashiba Building 1F Japan, 〒060-0001 Hokkaidō, Sapporo-shi, Chūō-ku, Kita 1 Jōnishi, 8 Chome. |
For some of the best burgers in Sapporo, Jacksonville Burgers are definitely the burgers of choice. The owner of the 3 store chain around Sapporo is from Japan. He once lived in Jacksonville, Florida, America (hence the name) and on coming back to Sapporo, he brought with him a recipe for success in the form of his delicious burgers. Jacksonville burger restaurants are not large, seating up to about 20 people. The interior is decked out typically in Americana and other hamburger paraphernalia. The smell of sizzling paddies soon hits you from the open kitchen as you enter.
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The tables seat up to 2 or 4 people and all are suitably furnished with mustard and ketchup to smother your fries and hamburger with. The menu has a mouthwatering array of hamburgers. Cheeseburgers, avocado bacon burgers, teriyaki burgers, Hawaiian, chicken, and Mexican salsa burgers are just some of the burgers on offer. Kids can get a special combo and extra toppings can be added for an extra ¥200. Side orders include buffalo wings, fries and coleslaws. Sets come with fries and a drink. Standard juices, colas are on the menu but if you’re looking for something stronger with your burger you cant go past a nice beer. Wine and spirits are also available. The servings are the perfect size too, so you don’t feel too bloated. So, if you’re living here in Sapporo or on holiday and want a change from the Japanese dishes and to divulge into a juicy burger then the Jacksonville burgers are highly recommended.
For all your electronic needs
| Admission | – |
| Opening Hours | 9:30 – 22:00 |
| Closed | – |
| Contact | – |
| Notes | Foreign Language Ability: Good. English ability from some staff. Thai, Chinese, English, & Russian announcements. |
| Location / Getting There | 5-1-22, North 6 jyo nishi, North Ward. (Next to Sapporo station) |
Founded in 1960 Yodobashi Camera is an electronics chain that has 21 stores across Japan. Yodobashi camera is one of the two main electronics stores in Sapporo. The store is made up of 3 floors. Yodobashi Camera covers all household appliances, smart phones, computers, travel, entertainment, and much more. You can not only find the latest Japanese products, but also products including figurines, digital single lens reflex cameras, cosmetics, watches made in Japan, and designer bags. They also have a Tax-Free service. English-speaking staff are available to help you enjoy your shopping experience.
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1st floor Smart phones, SIM cards, MAC & WINDOWS computers, monitors, hard drives, memory cards, routers, printers, printing ink, printing paper, laminators, keyboards, computer bags, cables.
2nd floor TVs, cameras, tripods, SD cards, photography equipment, watches, power plugs, transformers, overseas adaptors, sound equipment, earphones, IPODS, suitcases, travel goods.
3rd floor Refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, bathroom appliances, video games, DVD's, playstations, lights, kitchen appliances, microwaves, rice cookers.
Points of interest.
On the 1st floor, on the left of the entrance, is the mobile phone section. Here you will be able to buy a smart phone with any of the 3 major phone companies, which are AU, DOCOMO, or SOFTBANK. You will need your passport, and other forms of ID. For the traveller, SIM CARDS are available, ranging from a week to a month. The cost will set you back anywhere from 3000 to 5000 yen. At the back section they have hard drives, memory sticks and anything you need for your PC.
Points of interest.
On the 2nd floor, if you are looking for power converters and socket converters for your overseas appliances this is where you will find them. You will also be able to buy converters for your Japanese electronic goods for any region in the world. In the camera section you can find SD cards, so you can keep on clicking away as you travel around Hokkaido.
Points of interest.
On the 3rd floor. This is the area where you can fix any broken items. They also have the tax free counter in this area. Be sure to bring your passport.
Taj Mahal is a chain of fine-dining Indian restaurants that can be found throughout Hokkaido, with restaurants in Sapporo, Niseko and Kutchan. Established in 1982, the Taj Mahal restaurants are run by local Indians and they offer guests an authentic taste of India through their variety of halal curries and meats. There are 3 locations throughout Hokkaido and offer a great selection of Indian curries that will please any customer’s taste buds!
Sapporo Taj Mahal
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | Lunch menu – around 1000 yen. Dinner menu – around 1400 yen |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 – 21:30 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-207-0765 |
| Notes | English speaking staff. English menu available. |
| Location / Getting There | North 2, East 4 Level B1. 3 Jyo-Kan Building. Factory |
The butter chicken
The Taj Mahal at the factory shopping centre is decked out in Indian tapestries and has a great feel to it. The staff are very friendly and offer a great service. The menu has what you would typically expect from an Indian restaurant. Lamb, chicken, vegetable, and seafood curries. Lunch menus come in sets with a drink and delicious naan bread or rice. Soft drinks, juices, beer (including 2 Indian beers), and wines are all on the menu, though you cant go past the delicious lassi’s. So, if you are at the factory shopping centre for some shopping, to take in a movie, or just some window shopping , Taj Mahal is a good choice for a taste of India.
Niseko Taj Mahal
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | Lunch menu – around 1000 yen. Dinner menu – around 1400 yen |
| Opening Hours | Tuesday - Sunday 11:30 - 21:00 Monday 17:00 - 21:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 0136-55-8699 |
| Notes | English speaking staff. English menu available. |
| Location / Getting There | 429-45 Aza Niseko, Niseko, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido. |
Delicious!
Taj Mahal, Niseko Annapurni serves up delicious meals in pure Indian style. The menu is the same as with the Sapporo restaurant. Set meals with naan, and a drink. Lamb, chicken, vegetable curries are available. The tandoori chicken is fantastic here! The Niseko branch restaurant has an open kitchen, so you can see the chefs working their magic. There is a stone kiln where the naan bread is made. During the winter, whats better than a nice spicy curry after a day of skiing!
A small but delicious place to have lunch
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | 1000 – 2000 yen |
| Opening Hours | Lunch 11:00 – 17:00 Dinner 17:00 – 23:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | - |
| Notes | Foreign Language Ability: Limited. English menu provided |
| Location / Getting There | South 3 West 3 PARCO Building 8th floor |
This cosy eatery is located on the 8th Floor of Sapporo PARCO. The staff are polite and very friendly and speak limited English but they will provide an English Menu upon request. The menu includes a vegetable curry, vegetables with chicken, vegetables and pork, mushroom curry, and a seafood curry. The spiciness ranges from one to five. Two being mild, and a safe choice with a slight kick. Assorted vegetables and the selection of meat are in small pieces, and fried before being added to the soup curry in a bowl. Each dish comes with rice and is available in small, medium or large portions.
This soup curry restaurant also has an omelette with rice on the menu, and also a dry curry dish. The lunch time menu offers a set menu that comes with a drink, whether it be orange juice, coffee or tea. The drink can come with or after the meal. This soup curry shop is conveniently in the middle of town in the PARCO shopping building. Located on the 8th floor in the eatery section, there are a dozen or so other restaurants to choose from, but the soup curry restaurant is always a solid choice. Perfect after a days shopping around central ward. This is a non smoking establishment.
8th floor restaurants
Huge 3D or 2D movies
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | Around 2,000 yen |
| Opening Hours | 9:00 – 23:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | http://www.unitedcinemas.jp/sapporo/index.html +81 570-783-011 |
| Notes | Foreign Language Ability: Limited |
| Location | North 1 East 4. Sapporo Factory, 2nd floor Japan, 〒060-0031 Hokkaido Prefecture, Sapporo, 中央区北1条東4-1-1 サッポロファクトリー 一条館2F |
There are 2 major cinemas in Sapporo. United Cinemas and Cinema Frontier. United Cinemas contains 11 screens and is also home to the only IMAX screen in Hokkaido. United cinemas also has 4D for that extra movie experience. The IMAX screen is a whopping 16 by 22 metres and seats up to 450 people. The movies here can also be seen in 3D. 4D opened up in 2016 and can be viewed in screen 1. When buying the ticket, they will have a list of the movies so you can just point and choose. Seating also needs to be selected.
Important! When selecting your movie from the displayed movie list, there will be a small kanji (symbol) next to the title. This kanji will be telling you whether the movie is in English or if its dubbed in Japanese.
字 or 字幕 - this means subtitles (which means the film will be in ENGLISH or its original language and there will be Japanese subtitles).
吹 - this means dubbed over (which means the film will be in dubbed over in JAPANESE)
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Souvenirs from the current movies can be bought at a small shop. And like most cinemas around the world, food is sold at the snack shop. 3 kinds of popcorn, hotdogs and other fare you would you expect. In terms of refreshments, you are able to buy beer at the cinemas in Japan, as well as soft drinks.
Japan is usually the last country to release Hollywood blockbusters and is usually 6 months behind most countries. So if you have missed the movie you wanted to see back home you can always catch it down the track in Japan. So, sit back, have a snack and enjoy the movie.
Thumping IMAX sound
Easy to see the screen
| Admission | Free entry |
| Opening Hours | 1st week in February All day. Lighting stops at 10pm. |
| Closed | – |
| Contact | 011-222-4894（Sapporo City Call Center) |
| Notes | - |
| Location / Getting There | Sapporo – Odori Park, Susukino, Tsu Dome |
Arguably the biggest FESTIVAL / EVENT in Sapporo, the Sapporo Snow festival, according to the snow festivals home page, brings in about 2 million tourists every year. There are 3 main sites throughout Sapporo during the festival. Odori site, Susukino site, and the Tsudome site.
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| HISTORY | |
| 1955 | The Self Defense Force joined in to make a massive snow sculpture. |
| 1959 | Twenty five hundred people participated in building and designing snow sculptures. The national media reported the Snow Festival for the first time. |
| 1965 | Makomanai site was officially opened as the second site. |
| 1972 | Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympic Games where the Snow Festival was widely acknowledged around the world through the international media. |
| 1974 | The International Snow Sculpture Contest began as a part of the Snow Festival. Since then, teams from various regions around the world have participated. Teams include Shenyang (China), Alberta (Canada), Munich (Germany), Sydney (Australia) and Portland (U.S.A.). |
| 1983 | The third site at Susukino was opened adding a new aspect to the festival. The Susikino site included ice sculptures illuminated by neon street lights. |
| 1984 | The duration of the festival was extended by two days and became seven days. |
| 2005 | Makomanai site was closed after forty years. The site was temporary moved to Satoland. |
| 2009 | Satoland closed and the Tsudome site was set up as the second site. |
| The Sapporo Snow Festival has developed its international aspect over the years, and has been creatively evolving up to the present. | |
One of the giant snow scultpures
ODORI SITE
This main site is located in central Sapporo in Odori Park. The park runs for 1.5 kilometres and features small, medium and giant snow sculptures. The largest snow sculptures measure up to 25 meters wide and 15 meters high. Apart from the dozen or so giant snow sculptures, the Odori Site exhibits more than one hundred smaller snow statues and hosts several concerts and events, many of which use the sculptures as their stage.
Three story sculptures
Apart from the ice sculptures there and live bands there are other things to do and see. There is an ice rink directly below the TV Tower. 2 blocks west from the TV Tower there is a large jump which is used for snowboarders who put on an exhibit in the evenings, well worth a look. As the festival in Odori park gets bigger each year, there are more and more stalls, places to eat and huts to grab a hot drink and take a break from the cold temperatures. A good vantage point to see the entire festival is from Sapporo TV Tower at the eastern most point of the park.
Fantastic artwork
SUSUKINO SITE
This site is located in the entertainment district and consists of ice sculptures and is just a 10 minute walk south from Odori park. It runs for 7 blocks down ‘Eki Mae Dori’ (the main street down the heart of Sapporo). From about 5 pm the street closes so the public are free to wander around and take a close look at the ice sculptures. With the glow from the neon lights from the bars and restaurants it does make a great place to check out. Although this is the smallest site, it displays about 100 ice sculptures and is the location of the Ice Sculpture Contest.
One of the many ice sculptures
The snow festival attracts two million people to Sapporo every year and, best of all, entry is free.There is an ice bar stationed between the ice sculptures that will serve up drinks in ice glasses if you need some refreshments and if you want to take a load off , ice stools are available. For kids, there is an ice slide and some sculptures that can be sat on for a photo opportunity. Another good photo opp is the ‘Illumination street’ that has an arch of fairy lights for the viewers to walk through.
TSUDOME SITE
This site is aimed at kids and families and is filled with several snow and ice attractions, including a 100-meter long “tube rider” snow slide and a snow rafting area where people of all ages can ride on a raft towed by a snowmobile. There is also an 80-meter long snow zip-line that whisks you above the site at a height of about six meters. Also a new feature is the snow golf park. After the days activities, relax at the Snow Festival Ice Café for a drink served in a glass made of ice (only open Saturday, Sunday and the national holiday; admission fee required).
NAKAJIMA PARK
Although, technically, not part of the snow festival, NAKAJIMA PARK has its own attraction. In the evenings the park lights up with hundreds of candlelights placed in the snow. Nakajima park is only a 5 minute walk from Susukino so its easy to take in all these sights. Be warned, the temperatures at this time of year hits freezing so rug up, stay warm and enjoy all of the sights of the Sapporo Snow Festival.
