Sapporo

is the fifth-largest city in Japan by population. It is the capital of Hokkaid? Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan.

Culture and entertainment

Sapporo is one of the popular tourist attractions in Japan, and as of 2006, the annual number of tourists had reached 14,104,000, which was an increase of 5.9% over the previous year (13,323,000 in 2005) . 2006 was also the first year for Sapporo when the number of tourists exceeded 14 million, in its history of tourism.

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Cuisine

Sapporo is known as the birthplace of Miso Ramen, a r?men noodle using miso, and Sapporo Ramen is also widely known. The Kouraku Ramen Meitengai, an alley lined with many ramen restaurants, was established in 1951 in Susukino district, and after its demolition due to plans for the Sapporo Olympics, the Ganso Sapporo Ramen Yokocho was established in the same place. It currently attracts many tourists throughout the year.

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A lamb barbecue style dish called jingisukan (named for Genghis Khan) is another popular local specialty.

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Sapporo is also famed for fresh seafood, salmon, sea urchin and crab in particular. It is also noted for Haskup, a local variety of blueberry.

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Entertainment and performing arts

The Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara is the main musical venue in Sapporo, located in Nakajima Park in Chuo-ku. It is home to the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, a local professional orchestra organized in 1961, and their regular concerts are held in this hall. The open-air stage in Sapporo Artpark is another one of the music venues in Sapporo. The Pacific Music Festival (PMF), an event started with the idea of Leonard Bernstein in 1990, is held in both places. The Sapporo Artpark, located in Minami-ku, also contains public arts, an art museum, and the old house of Takeo Arishima. Other art museums in Sapporo include The Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, the Sapporo Museum of Sculpture, and the Migishi Kotaro Museum of Art, Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Museum of Literature, located in Nakajima Park, has hosted many exhibitions, seminars, and other educational activities. The Sapporo Convention Center is located in Shiroishi-ku, and a number of forums and events are held in the building. The Sapporo Salmon Museum is located in Minami-ku, and displays mainly materials related to the ecology of salmon. The Sunpiazza Aquarium is located close to the Sapporo Science Center in Atsubetsu-ku.

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Points of interest

A lot of historical buildings, as well as shopping malls and parks, are located in Sapporo, and draw many tourists in every year. Historic landmarks include the Former Hokkaid? government office building, the Sapporo Clock Tower, the Hokkaido Shrine (Hokkaid? Jing?), and the Sapporo TV Tower. The Sapporo Factory was a former brewery of the Sapporo Beer, and is currently a huge shopping mall with many restaurants, offices, and the multiplex movie theatres. Another former brewery of the Sapporo Beer is the Sapporo Beer Museum, which is currently a part of the Sapporo Garden Park, and houses the . The Sapporo City Archive Museum, The Edwin Dun Memorial Hall, and some old buildings in the Hokkaido University are also historically important in Sapporo, and each was listed in the Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan.

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The Sapporo JR Tower, a complex building houses the Tower 38 and department store, is located adjacent to the Sapporo Station. Being close to the main station of Sapporo, the Sapporo JR Tower has been visited by many tourists, and the number of visitors of the Tower 38, the tower with an observation deck, recorded 311,815 in 2006. The Sapporo TV Tower, located at the eastern end of the Odori Park, is one of more modern architectures, and has also an observation deck viewing the entire Odori Park and Sapporo City. Susukino is a district having the main nightlife scene in Sapporo, Sapporo Ramen Yokocho, Norubesa (a building with a huge Ferris wheel) which are located in this district as well as many restaurants, nightclubs, bars, and adult entertainments. The district also has the Tanuki Koji Shopping Arcade, the oldest shopping mall in the City. In Minami-ku, the district of J?zankei is a site that has many hotels with steam baths and hot springs, and that many visitors also have visited.

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Sapporo also offers many parks and gardens. The Odori Park houses buildings such as the Sapporo TV Tower, and hosts many events including Yosakoi Soran Festival, Sapporo Lilac Festival, Sapporo White Illumination, and the Sapporo Snow Festival. In the Nakajima Park, there are some landmarks including H?heikan, an old hotel building moved from the Odori Park, and the Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara. The Maruyama Park is located next to the Hokkaido Shrine, and houses the Maruyama Zoo. The Moerenuma Park is located in Higashi-ku, and houses many open-air art compositions including the Glass Pyramid, planned by Isamu Noguchi. One of the gardens in Sapporo, the Chizaki Rose Garden provides various kinds of roses, and the Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens has also many types of plants and historically important buildings. The Hitsujigaoka observation hill has a farm with sheep, and attracts visitors with a statue of William S. Clark.

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Events

In February, the Sapporo Snow Festival is annually held. The main site is the Odori Park, and other sites include Susukino (known as the Susukino Snow Festival), and the Sapporo Satoland. Once Makomanai area in Minami-ku was one of the festival sites, but it was abolished and moved to the Satoland site in 2006. Many of the snow and ice statues in the sites are built by the armies of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. In 2006, the number of visitors at the Sapporo Snow Festival marked 1,985,000 in total.

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Every June, the Yosakoi Soran Festival is held. The sites of the festival are centered in the Odori Park and the street leading to Susukino, but other festival sites also exist. In the festival, many dance teams dance to their music which are composed based on a Japanese traditional song, S?ran Bushi. Members of the teams wear special costumes, and compete their dancing skills on the roads or stages constructed on the festival sites. In 2006, 350 teams were organized with around 45,000 dancers, and over 1,860,000 people visited at the festival sites. Other large sports venues include the Makomanai Open Stadium, the Tsukisamu Green Dome, the Maruyama Stadium, and the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center.

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Professional sport teams

• J. League - Consadole Sapporo (J1 in 1998, 2001 to 2002, and J2 in 2002 to 2007) .
• Professional Baseball - Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Pacific League, champion team of professional baseball leagues of Japan in 2006.
• Sapporo Ambitious - belonged in Masters League.

Sports clubs

• Ice hockey - Polaris
• Rugby football - Hokkaido Barbarians

City: :For alternate meanings see city (disambiguation)...

Ishikari Subprefecture: Ishikari (石狩) is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, located in the western part of the island. Its population in 2003 was 2,279,943....

Ramen: :This article discusses Japanese food. For other meanings, refer to Ramen (disambiguation)....