Admission	-
Opening Hours	9:00 - 17:00
Closed	November - April (winter)
Contact	011-898-0455 http://www.kaitaku.or.jp
Notes	Free admission. Tower entry is closed to the public. This is due to awaiting renovations. 5 minute walk from the Hokkaido Historical Museum
Location / Getting There	Located in Nopporo Forest. Take the JR bus from Sapporo station or Shin Sapporo station, heading to Kaitaku-no-mura. Get off at Nopporo Forest Park. It's a 5 minute walk. Nopporo Forest Park, 53-2 Konopporo, Atsubetsu-cho, Atsubetsu-ku, Sapporo 北海道札幌市厚別区厚別町小野幌53-2 (野幌森林公園)

The Centennial Memorial Tower was constructed in 1970. It was built as part of Hokkaido’s Centennial Project and was in honor of the people who built and turned Hokkaido into what it is today. It is also a symbol of future accomplishment. It is located in the vast Nopporo Forest park, which contains many trails and the Hokkaido Hokkaido Museum. The tower is 100 meters tall, in accordance with the Centennial Project and can be seen rising in the horizon from the train into Sapporo from the airport.

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You may be forgiven for thinking you had walked onto a set of ‘Lord of the Rings’ as this tower has a striking look to it. In the summer it is surrounded by huge fields of dandelions and is a beautiful place to walk around. Surrounding the fields is the dense Nopporo Forest. The shape of the tower is meant to imitate snow crystals, as it has a hexagonal base. The cross section of the tower represents the Chinese character ‘north’. The uneven walls are symbolic of the struggles the people of old had, during long hard winters, and the rising tower curving to the sky shows hope for the future. There is an observation deck 23 metres up on the 8th floor and there are stairs that continue all the way up to the roof. On top there are views of Sapporo and surrounding areas BUT unfortunately entry into the tower is prohibited!

Unfortunately, and very disappointingly, access into the tower is not allowed due to safety regulations. The tower has fallen into some disrepair over the years and is therefore unsafe to enter and climb up. Although you can’t enter the building it is still definitely worth going to see as it really is an interesting piece of architecture and Nopporo park itself is a great place to walk around, and its free!