| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ￥500 - ￥1000 per drink ￥500 - ￥2000 for food ￥1500 - ￥4000 for drinking plan |
| Opening Hours | 18:00 - 4:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-596-0595 http://king-star.jp/ |
| Notes | All you can drink plan available English menu VIP area available (Japanese speaker needed) Party plan available Seating 20 VIP Seating 50 |
| Location | 〒064-0805 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo, Minami 5 Jonishi, 3 Chome, 五條 (Gojo) Building 5 minute walk from Susukino station |
Sapporo on tap
Sports Bar King Bar is a bar located in the heart of Susukino. It is hard to miss, as it is on the main drag running through Sapporo. It i also hard to miss, as it is a large red building usually with the staff (Japanese girls) gesturing passersby to come in. The bar is divided into 2 sections. The front section is a typical western style bar area with counter seating with TV screens to watch sports. The ‘VIP’ area has TV screens, counter seating, plus booths, with which to talk (and drink) with the girls working at the bar.
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Front area
Beer is served by the glass or as a drinking plan. The drinking plans are all you can drink for 60 minutes, 90 minutes, or 120 minutes. Price depending on length and time (the later it is in the evening, the more expensive the drinking plan is). They have Sapporo, Kirin, and Heineken beers plus, spirits, whiskeys, wines, and champagnes. Most drinks are around the ￥500 mark. Bottles of champagne or scotch range from ￥12,000 to ￥65,000. Typical bar food is on the menu, plus pizzas, hamburgers, salads, and steaks. The food menu is extensive. To order the ￥5000 King steak, prior reservation is needed!
Back area
The VIP section is behind the front section. This section has booths and a separate bar area. This area is set up in a ‘snack bar’ style. To access this area, you need to go on a drinking plan. In the ‘VIP’ area one of the girls working at the Sports Bar will pour your drinks, and sit with you. As a note, a Japanese speaker is required for this area and touching the girls is prohibited. Customers are expected to buy the girls a drink or two. So, whether to stop for a quick beer, watch some sports, or have a party, King Star Sports Bar is worth a look.
| Dates | November 24 - December 25 |
| Opening Hours | 16:30 - 22:00 |
| Contact | 011-281-6400 (Sapporo White Illumination Executive Committee) |
| Location / Getting There | Odori Park (1~4-chome) Ekimae dori (Kita 4-jo ~ Minami 4-jo) |
Winter designs
Sapporo White Illumination is an event held every winter which sees Odori park and the main street through Sapporo draped with hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights. Sapporo was the first city in Japan to start this tradition in 1981, since then other cities throughout Japan have followed suit with their own illumination events. Some 520, 000 lights are draped through trees and objects set up through Odori park creating a beautiful landscape of color in the evenings. A beautiful area to wander around in the snow and get some great photos!
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Illumination tunnel
The Odori Park venue goes for 7 blocks, which spreads from the TV tower all the way west through Odori park. The German Christmas Market festival, which is also in Odori park, runs concurrently with the Sapporo White Illumination, so there is quite a lot to see, especially around Christmas! There are spots for photo opportunities in the park. Each year sees new additions to the event to check out. During the chilly evenings, there are stalls set up to grab something hot to drink, or eat. So, rug up, grab your family or friends and enjoy the Sapporo White Illumination display!
| Ticket prices | ￥1,100 - Seniors ￥1,800 - General ￥1,500 - Students ￥1,000 - Under 15 3D shows are an extra ￥300 |
| Special prices | ￥1,100 - First day of month ￥1,100 - Men's day every Wednesday ￥1,100 - Lady's day every Thursday ￥1,300 - Late show / Morning show |
| Opening Hours | Morning shows from 9:30 Late shows from 21:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-209-5400 |
| Notes | Credit cards accepted 字幕 - Japanese subtitles 吹替 - Dubbed in Japanese Wheelchair seating Reservations available |
| Location / Getting There | JR Tower Stellar Place 7F North 5 - West 2 - chome Chuo - ku, Sapporo 7th floor above Sapporo station |
Cinema Frontier foyer
There are two main movie theaters in Sapporo, one being at Stellar place (Sapporo station), the other being at Sapporo Factory. The movie theater at Sapporo station is ‘Sapporo Cinema Frontier’. Sapporo Cinema Frontier has 12 screens, with sizes ranging from 92 seats to 541 seats. 3 of the screens are in 3D, with 3D lightweight glasses available for a cost of ￥100 or ￥300 for clip on types (these glasses can be taken home and used again). As a note, Japan is usually the last country for movies to come out, so the latest movies are usually 2 or 3 months behind.
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Choose your movie
Buying tickets is very simple. There are 2 options, one is at the front desk in the large foyer, with the friendly staff who mostly have some English ability. The other is to use one of the computer screens to buy your ticket yourself. The computers are in English and Japanese. Simply select ‘purchase ticket’ and then choose your movie (movie titles are in Japanese with only a couple with English translations), then choose the time and select your seats. Once these steps are complete, you can easily pay and get your printed tickets. Note, once admitted, tickets can not be canceled, changed or refunded for whatever reason. It’s always advisable to double check to see if the movie has Japanese subtitles or is dubbed in Japanese. Exchanging tickets before hand and cancelling advanced tickets is possible.
Sapporo Cinema Frontier has a snack shop that has the typical movie fare, though in Japan, you have the option of ordering a beer. There are different kinds of popcorn you can order as well. Alongside the snack shop, there is a goods store where you can buy merchandise to your favorite films. Sapporo Cinema Frontier is easy to find, it’s on the 7th floor of Stellar Place. So, once inside, sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy your movie time!
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ￥800 - ￥1200 set menu ￥260 - ￥650 per sushi plate |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 - 23:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-213-5870 http://www.sushi-hanamaru.com/ |
| Notes | Seating 97 Possible lines at lunch time English menu Smoking allowed from 15:00 |
| Location / Getting There | 2 Chome Kita 6 Jonishi, Kita, Sapporo, Paseo West B1F 2 minute walk from Sapporo station |
Lunch menu
Machino Sushi Shiki restaurant is part of the Hanamaru company which is a famous chain of sushi bars and restaurants. Machino Sushi Shiki is located in Paseo and is one of three Hanamaru sushi bars in Hokkaido. There are 2 options for your order, the set menu or the plate menu. The set menus include a lunch menu of 10 pieces of sushi with a mussel soup, and egg pudding (recommended), or the shrimp soba noodles set, or the mixed set of salmon eggs, soup, and sea urchin on rice.
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Delicious mussel soup
The other option is to order individual plates. Each plate has 2 pieces of sushi per plate. The prices are much higher at around ￥350 per plate, up to ￥650 a plate. For those wishing to sample different kinds of sushi, the other Hanamaru kaiden (sushi train) restaurants are a cheaper option. Machino Sushi has a large drinks menu, including beer, cocktails, and sake. There is counter seating as well as table seating for up to groups of 8. This restaurant caters for tourists but as a note, taking photos of the sushi is no problem BUT the sushi chefs do not like having their photo taken. Apart from that, enjoy the fresh sushi at Machino Sushi Shiki Hanamaru!
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ￥450 - ￥850 per drink ￥700 - ￥1000 per dish |
| Opening Hours | 17:00 - 2:00 Sunday to Thursday 17:00 - 5:00 Friday & Saturday |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-271-0085 St. John's Wood home page |
| Notes | Seating 40 No seating charge Credit cards accepted No parking Sports TV available Outside seating in summer |
| Location / Getting There | Sapporo-shi Chuo-ku Southern 4th West 4th Street 16 Huai Ao Bldg. 1F 1 minute walk from Susukino subway station |
Cold half pint of Carlsberg
St. John’s Wood is a British style pub located in a prime location right near Susukino station. As with all good British style pubs, St. John’s Wood has a good selection of whiskeys, malts, wine and beer. They have Suntory Premium, Carlsberg, and a local black stout on tap, which are served in half pints or pints. There is also a selection of 10 bottled beers from around the globe on the menu. There are cocktails, and non-alcoholic drinks as well, with happy hour from 18:00 to 19:00 for a cheaper beverage! Pay at the counter.
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Counter seating
With window seating looking onto the main street, St John’s Wood is a good bar to sit and watch the traffic walk by, especially in the summer with outside seating. There is also counter seating with 2 large screens for sports plus there are tables for large groups up to 15 people. The food menu also serves up good British fare, fish & chips, shepherd’s pie, and St. John’s very own haggis served with potatoes! Side orders include everything from olives, onion rings to cheeses, nuts and pickles. Pizza and pastas are also served at St. John’s Wood. For a quick drink, a starting pub for a night out, or one more on the way home, St John’s Wood is a good pub to check out.
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ￥1000 - ￥2000 |
| Opening Hours | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-215-1250 050-5593-8277 for reservations |
| Notes | Seating 60 Smoking establishment Cakes, sweets & food Credit card accepted No parking |
| Location / Getting There | Hokkaido Sapporo-shi Chuo-ku South Ichi-nishi 2-18 Ikeuchi GATE 2F 2 minute walk from Odori station |
Caramel coffee
Sold as a “girls relaxing space” Arucamo Cafe is an elegant and fancy space, which sells not only coffee, but has cakes, and in its large dining area, jewelry and adornments are for sale. This coffee shop has a lot of space and there are large tables for big groups. Arucamo Cafe has a good selection of coffees & aromatic teas. They also have large 24cm cakes with which to choose from. The cakes are made with seasonal fruits and go well with any tea or coffee (especially on a cold winters day).
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Jewelry for sale
On the healthier side of things, Arucamo Cafe have vegetarian dishes on the menu as well as pastas and delicious sandwiches. While you are waiting for your order, feel free to wander around and take a look at the jewelry for sale. If anything picks your fancy, then inform the friendly staff. Arucamo Cafe is located on the 2nd floor of the Ikeuchi Department store. It has large windows with pleasant views overlooking the street . It’s also a good location to enjoy a coffee and get views of the Yosakoi Soran Festival if you are in the area at that time.
