Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens

AdmissionAdults : ¥420
Aged 7 - 15 : ¥300
6 and under : free
Opening Hours9:00 - 16:30 (16:00 last entry)
ClosedMondays(on Tuesday when Monday is a National Holiday)
Winter - November to April
Contact011-221-0066
hubg@fsc.hokudai.ac.jp
NotesWheelchairs available to borrow
The botanic garden does not allow pets on garden grounds.
Service animals are permitted.
Toilets available.
No car parking
Parking available for motorcycles and bicycles.
Location /
Getting There
North3, West8, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, 060-0003, Japan

10 minute walk from Sapporo station


Woodlands

The Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens were established in 1886 as a part of the Old Sapporo Agricultural College. They were opened by Dr. Miyabe Kingo, a graduate of Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaido University). The gardens cover 13.3 hectares and are the second oldest botanical gardens in Japan! The collection of plants and trees numbers over 4,000 species. These include alpine plants, and wild plants from Hokkaido, and can be enjoyed in the Spring, Summer, and Autumn.


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Natural History Museum

The gardens also contain a tropical greenhouse, a natural history museum, memorial building, and early Hokkaido homes. The natural history museum was built in 1884, and is the oldest museum in Hokkaido. Its old and spooky facade houses Ainu artifacts, biological specimens, and the stuffed body of ‘Taro’, one of two surviving sled dogs from Japan’s 1958 Antarctica mission. The exhibits documenting the lives of the Ainu and Uilta (indigenous peoples of Hokkaido) were collected from 1870 – 1930. There is also the Miyabe Kingo Memorial Building with displays of articles belonging to Miyabe, the first director of the botanical gardens.




Rose garden area

Other features of the Botanical Gardens are a Herbaceous Plants Garden, a Rose Garden with 200 rose bushes from 20 different varieties, a Canadian Rock Garden (in commemoration of the partnership between the University of British Colombia and the University of Hokkaido) ,and the Alpine Plants Rock Garden with over 600 species of alpine plants home to Hokkaido and its climate. The Northern Peoples Ethnobotanical Garden has around 200 species of plants used by the indigenous peoples of North East Asia for building, clothing, food, hunting, medicine and rituals.




The botanical gardens, are only a 10 minute walk from Sapporo station on the south exit. It is also a few minutes on the west side of the Old Hokkaido Government Building so you can fit the gardens into a sightseeing schedule. The gardens are a nice spot to walk around, sit on one of the many lawns, and take in the nature. Visitors can enjoy the seasonal flowers and the autumn leaves.



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About

Hokkaido Guide contributor and editor. Keen photographer with a love of travel, the great outdoors and all things Hokkaido, Japan. Matt Holloway is a professional photographer and holds exhibitions around Sapporo, Hokkaido and Sydney Australia.