Three Days in Sapporo, Japan: Food, Snow and Winter Attractions
Our Japan adventure began in Sapporo, on the northern island of Hokkaido, where we arrived in the middle of January to find a city blanketed in snow.
Over three days, we explored the city, sampled plenty of Japanese food, discovered just how much of the city lies underground, and wrestled with the weather.
Sapporo made a great start to our trip, and experiencing Japan in the depths of winter was something quite different from the other stops on our trip.
Arriving in Sapporo
We landed at Haneda (Tokyo) Terminal 3 at 07:35.
Haneda has three main terminals: Broadly speaking, as I’m sure there will be some exceptions - especially for ANA, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 handle domestic flights, and Terminal 3 handles the international flights.
So it was no surprise that we arrived into Terminal 3 and would fly to New Chitose Airport (Sapporo) from Terminal 1.
After a simple immigration / passport control, and collection of our bags, we had around four hours before our onward domestic flight to Sapporo. We needed to leave that gap as the flight to Sapporo wasn’t on the same ticket as the flight from the UK.
There are a variety of different modes of transport between the terminals - train, monorail and shuttle bus. We decided to take the less complicated and very regular free transit bus from outside Terminal 3 round to outside Terminal 1. Every 4 to 10 mins, and takes 7 mins.
The monorail and train transit options need a free transit boarding ticket - requiring a visit to the airport information counter, presentation of our passports, boarding passes for the next flight - too much pain!
The free shuttle between Haneda terminals made the transfer from the international terminal straightforward, and was as regular and quick as advertised - I’m not sure why I was so worried about this step - it was simple.
Once settled in Terminal 1 we found our gate and used the time to get some food. This wasn’t your normal boring airport food - sandwich and a packet of crisps. Japanese food is ace.
The ground crew waved our plane off for the flight from Haneda to New Chitose Airport - yep they really do that.
Japanese Airport food Ground Crew - Japan
The flight was comfortable and no surprise - on time.
Once we landed and retrieved our bags we took a Chitose Line train (runs every 22mins) into central Sapporo and used Google Maps to navigate the short walk to the ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo.
It was our first proper taste of Japanese trains on this trip – and it immediately reinforced everything I'd heard about them. It was a cold but lovely 450m January walk from the station to the hotel. Sapporo was covered in a blanket of snow,
Our First Afternoon in Sapporo: Odori Park, the TV Tower and Ramen
We didn't hang around in the hotel - what would be the point.
Our first afternoon was spent exploring:
Odori Park – where preparations were already underway for the enormous snow sculptures that would appear for the Sapporo Snow Festival in February.
Sapporo TV Tower - lit up and looking lovely in the crisp winter air
Convenience store visit - Lawson, for our first of many snacks. We tried the hot chicken
We even found Tanukikoji Shopping Street - a 900m long covered street with loads and loads of shops and restaurants. There we had our first taste of a 24-hour huge Don Quijote store
We had our first of many ramen on the trip - close by - it didn’t disappoint.
It was a fairly gentle first day introduction to Sapporo, although by the end of it we'd covered a decent amount of ground.
Lawson chicken Sapporo TV Tower Tanukikoji Shopping Street Ramen
Over the next few days we walked, ate, shopped and walked some more - here are the highlights;
Sapporo Beer Garden: Why Our All-You-Can-Eat Dinner Disappointed
After a quick visit to the museum, we moved on to our pre-booked an all-you-can-eat-and-drink Genghis Khan dinner at Sapporo Beer Garden, expecting a lively evening of grilled lamb and plenty of local beer.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a let-down.
The enormous beer hall was almost empty, so there was very little atmosphere. Ordering through an iPad and having food delivered by robot was fun, but we still had to queue for our beer. The food needed more attention than we'd expected, with plenty of smoke from the grill and some of the vegetables burning while we tried to keep up with the cooking.
The beer was good, but it never quite became the centrepiece of the evening we'd imagined. We left full, but not particularly impressed.
Would we go again? Probably not. We'd rather find a good local bar, enjoy a couple of Sapporo beers and spend our money on a meal that doesn't require quite so much effort.
Sapporo Brewery Cooking meat Genghis Khan Cooking meat Genghis Khan Burnt Genghis Khan Robot waiter Seven Eleven Japan
Breakfast at Komeda's Coffee: A Cheap Japanese Morning Tradition
We visited a coffee shop chain that came highly recommended for its simple and cheap breakfasts. We opted for a coffee, a boiled egg, and bread with jam. Such a simple breakfast at Komeda’s Coffee — there are loads of them. It’s a Japanese tradition ¥600 each, less than £3 each. Who said Japan was expensive? Definitely worth a visit, and much more fun than a hotel breakfast.
Komeda's Coffee Komeda's Coffee Komeda's Coffee
Visiting Sapporo's Famous Chocolate Biscuit Attraction
We took a train out to Shiroi Koibito Park, a chocolate-themed attraction built around the famous Shiroi Koibito biscuits. As it turned out, these chocolate-filled biscuits were everywhere in Sapporo. We used our Suica cards for the journey, and the whole process was remarkably easy.
Weather warning - where is everyone?
There was a lot of snow — more than usual, as it was all over the news. Everyone in Sapporo just seemed to get on with it. It was today that we realised how much of the city is underground. Not just restaurants in the basements of department stores, but huge malls with loads of shops, restaurants, and more. All the people were down there and together with the underground trains allowed for efficient movement across the city - regardless of weather.
If you're visiting in January or February, comfortable, waterproof footwear is essential outdoors — but don't underestimate how useful the underground network can be.
Cooking Our Own Okonomiyaki (With a Little Help!)
Eating in Japan can be an adventure when you don't recognise half the menu and have no idea how much to order.
On this occasion, our best guess produced a selection of sausages and a dish that looked like a cross between an omelette, a giant hash brown and a roti, with vegetables and noodles thrown into the mix.
There was just one problem: we had to cook it ourselves.
The waitress took one look at us and came over to help. I'm guessing it was fairly obvious that we had no idea what we were doing and were in danger of burning our lunch. She was lovely about it, although I did look around to see that nobody else seemed to need quite so much assistance.
We looked up the name afterwards. It was okonomiyaki, a savoury Japanese pancake, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Another lesson learned: sometimes the best meals in Japan start with absolutely no idea what you've ordered.
okonomiyaki, sausages and noodles okonomiyaki, sausages and noodles
Mount Moiwa Ropeway
A trip to Mount Moiwa promised one of the best views of Sapporo. We travelled out to the mountain and took the ropeway up towards the observation deck, hoping to see the city spread out beneath us.
Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas.
What had started as a clear day turned into a snowstorm, and by the time we reached the top, visibility had disappeared completely. Instead of spectacular views, we were looking at a whiteout.
We made the best of it. There was coffee from a vending machine, a souvenir T-shirt and a photo with some Japanese characters before we headed back down into the snow.
It was disappointing not to get the view we'd come for, but that's winter travel. If you're planning a visit to Mount Moiwa, check the weather and visibility before setting off, particularly if the views are your main reason for going. We'd certainly consider another attempt on a clearer day.
Mount Moiwa - great visibility Mount Moiwa - poor visibility Mount Moiwa - no visibility Dressing up - Japan
Leaving Sapporo
Would we recommend it?
Absolutely.
Sapporo was a great way to begin our Japan trip.
We enjoyed the food, the shopping, the winter atmosphere and the experience of seeing how a major Japanese city copes with heavy snowfall. Not everything lived up to expectations — our dinner at Sapporo Beer Garden being a case in point — but that's part of travelling independently.
January was bitterly cold, and the snow occasionally disrupted travel, but it also made Sapporo feel very different from the Japan we'd experienced elsewhere. It was a world away from the more temperate streets of Osaka and Kyoto, and even further removed from the warmer climate of Okinawa.
Three days gave us a good introduction to the city, although the weather meant we missed out on the views from Mount Moiwa.
We'd happily recommend Sapporo to anyone wanting to see another side of Japan, particularly if you're interested in winter scenery, a variety of Japanese food and a destination that feels quite different from the country's more familiar tourist stops.
For us, Sapporo was a memorable start to the trip — and a reminder that sometimes the experiences that don't go quite to plan make the best travel stories.
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