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Overview

Sapporo is the bureaucratic capital of Japan, all the government buildings and institutions are apparently located here.  Sound like a recipe for some boring people and lack of things to do - not so, it is a decent sized town with plenty of night life and home to the world famous "International Snow Festival".

This is something that has to be seen to be believed - huge carvings out of ice and snow on display down the main strip in the centre of town.  If you go, make sure you get to see the ice carvings floodlight at night by fluorescent colours - truly spectacular!

Sapporo is also famous for the annual "Toyota Big Air" which is one of the biggest snowboarding competitions on the world circuit attracting a few invited pros who compete for prize money of around USD$50,000.  It is just one huge night of entertainment with bands, light shows, crazy Japanese running around - oh, and some amazing snowboarding on show!

Accommodation

There are many places to stay in Sapporo, we have used the following places we found on the Internet. 

Guest House NONAKA - http://www.healingweb.net/nonaka/

Youth Hostels

• http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/key-yh/kouei%20YH/english/sapporo.html
• http://www.youthhostel.or.jp/kokusai/

Night Life

The places mainly range from "Westerner Bars" to more traditional Japanese style places.  You will find that a lot of the traditional places will sometimes shun from allowing Westerners in as there is a history of the tourists behaving badly and getting too drunk.  Remember, respect the culture and the way of life when you are in Japan.

The best time to go out in Sapporo is during the Toyota Big Air or the Snow Festival.

Snowboard Shops

We are not aware of any in particular, but know that some do exist.

Getting Around

It is really easy to get around town, there is subway train system and a lot of the streets work on a grid system.  The subway has signs in English.  If you are getting stuck, there is a tourist information centre at the Sapporo Train Station that has very helpful English speaking staff.

Getting There

Easiest way to get to Sapporo from the airport is by train.  This is really easy to do and not too expensive.

Snow Report

The snow report is currently not available for this destination.

More snow reports...

Snow Cams

There are no resort cams available for this resort.

The Trail Map is currently not available

Sapporo

Date	Name	Comments
16 Feb 2005	sammy Kaska	do you know of any resorts in japan that have big parks.

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