The last part of Brandon’s Sapporo trip is about COSTCO.
Brandon took the limousine bus from the 1st Floor of the domestic arrivals area in the New Chitose Airport. It takes about 35 minutes and cost 930 Yen one way, and you have to get off at Sanrizuka Shogakko. It’s on the left side of the road, which is the same side you will be traveling on, and is visible from the bus.
If you are traveling there from Sapporo City, check out Sapporo COSTCO’s webpage for detailed directions.
For those who might not know, to shop at COSTCO, you have to possess membership.
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If you have shopped at COSTCO before, there are a lot of products you have seen before, but you can find Japanese food, drinks, and alcohol. The sushi and sashimi platters are reasonably priced, and there’s usually something to taste, which is sometimes grilled fish or nigirimagurosushi.
Another good thing about COSTCO in Sapporo is customers will neatly park their carts when they are in the food court.
If you want to see what a COSTCO in Japan is like or if you want to picnic or barbecue during your visit, COSTCO is a good place to check out.
Part 4 of Brandon’s Sapporo trip is Mt. Moiwa, which is one of the best spots for viewing Sapporo’s city lights.
Mt. Moiwa is located about 45 minutes from Susukino. This is how to get there:
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From the 4 pictures in the slideshow above:
DO NOT GO THIS WAY Picture: When searching on Google Maps on how to get to the Mt. Moiwa Ropeway from Susukino, it will tell you to take the Sapporo Shiden street car and get off at Denshajigyosho-mae Station. If you take this route, you will have to walk up steep stairs and then pass a temple with a cemetary, which is not very scenic.
The BETTER Way: Take the Sapporo Shiden street car to Ropeway Iriguchi Station. There is a free shuttle bus from the Station to the Mt. Moiwa Ropeway (5 minute ride) that departs about every 20 minutes, which is recommended if you or your somebody in your party has difficulty walking.
From Ropeway Iriguchi Station: It is a 5-minute walk uphill.
Ropeway & Minicar Tickets: First the ropeway will take you most of the way up the mountain, and then you will transfer to a minicar that will take you to the summit. It’s 1700 Yen for a roundtrip ticket for both the ropeway and minicar.
Here’s the view when you get there:
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Some tips when going to the top of Mt. Moiwa:
There is an omiyage (souvenir shop), vending machines with hot and cold drinks, and a restaurant, but we recommend bringing your own snacks, o-bentos (lunch boxes), and drinks.
If you are visiting during cooler/colder weather, pack some warm clothes buy hokkairo (hand warmers) that can be bought in convenience stores or pharmacies.
The summit can get quite windy, so make sure your things don’t get blown away.
Be flexible with your planning because it might be cloudy on one day but sunny on another day.
Jingisukan is Japanese for “Genghis Khan” (yes, that Genghis Khan). According to this website (in Japanese), there are a few schools of though of how this dish got its name, but it seems that the name jingisukan was created during Japan’s occupation of Manchuria or the dish itself is based on a dish that was made in Manchuria. However, Mongolia has no direct connection to jingisukan, except that sheep’s a major staple food in Mongolia.
When grilling and eating jingisukan for the first time, you will recognize the more gamey aroma. So, if you want to ease into it, we recommend ordering jingisukan that is marinated in a special sauce, which is shoyu-(soy sauce) based. The sauce does help with killing some of the gamey-ness.
From the pictures above, you can see that the grill is dome-shaped with the vegetables (bean sprouts and onions) on the bottom edges and the meat goes on dome. The juices from the meat and the sauce, if you choose marinated jingisukan, will drip down and help with cooking the vegetables.
Brandon went on a trip to Seoul and Sapporo, so here are some pictures and info from his adventure!
This post will focus on the Susukino Area. Susukino is considered to be one of the major entertainment districts in Japan.
The Susukino Area can be accessed by taking the Namboku Line (heading towards Makomanai) from Sapporo Station and getting off at Susukino Station, which is two stops from Sapporo Station.
Shopping:
When visiting Sapporo, Susukino is an area you must visit. For those who enjoy window shopping, there’s a shopping arcade/street (shōtengai, 商店街) called Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade/Street. Tanukikoji is located just north of Susukino Station. In modern Japanese society where numerous shōtengai are steadily becoming empty “ghost-streets”, a stroll through Tanukikoji is experiencing a fusion of traditional and modern Japanese culture.
Eating:
For ramen lovers, Sapporo is heaven. Many visitors check out the Ramen Yokochō (Ramen Alley) in Susukino for their first bowl of ramen, but if you are more adventurous, skip Ramen Yokochō and explore less-traveled side-streets to find your bowl of steaming perfection.
Other than ramen, there are many types of food to make your waistline bulge: jingisukan (“Genghis Khan”: grilled mutton), seafood, and more.
For more photos of food, check out this post we wrote about Sapporo and Otaru.
Drinking:
For those who love their alcohol, Susukino has a lot of places to satisfy your thirst while eating delicious food. Just be careful of drinking too much at a nomihōdai (all-you-can-drink)!
When eating/drinking while traveling Japan, if you want to try many types of food and restaurants, we recommend not eating or drinking too much at one place. However, if you are paying a good amount of money at a certain establishment, get your money’s worth!
Keep an eye out for future posts about more food (of course) and other places to check out while visiting Sapporo!
Part 2 – Japanese Fast Food
Part 3 – Jingisukan (Grilled mutton)
Part 4 – Mt. Moiwa
Part 5 – COSTCO
If you’ve already been to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, or other areas of Japan, or if you just love delicious food and nature, make Sapporo and Otaru next on your list of places to visit in Japan!
Sapporo is the largest city on Hokkaido, which is the northern island of Japan, and Otaru is located about 40 minutes away by train from Sapporo.
When people in Japan think of Hokkaido, the first things that come into mind are great food and beautiful nature. So, in this post, we’re going to briefly introduce some of the food and nature in Sapporo and Otaru.
Grindz (Food!)
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Hokkaido is kind of like the Big Island (of Hawaii) of Japan. It’s the largest island in Japan, and it’s known for fishing and large ranches/farms. Because of this, Sapporo is the place to get some of the best fish and meat (also dairy products) in all of Japan! From, fresh seafood, ramen, to desserts, Sapporo has it all. If you’re looking for ono (delicious) seafood, head over to Otaru! Otaru is a 40 minute train ride Sapporo, and you can enjoy looking at the ocean while leisurely making your way to Otaru.
Yuki (Chad’s wife) looking out at the ocean while going to Otaru from Sapporo
Nature
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Sapporo has flowers, greenery, autumn leaves, and snow, so you can go there any time of year and enjoy nature. The Sapporo Snow Festival is held in early- February in and around Odori Park, and the Sapporo Lilac Festival is held in mid/late-May also in Odori Park. If you want to travel during winter from Hawaii, you need to get winter clothes because it is COLD. If you are unlucky or lucky, depending how you look at it, you can experience a Hokkaido winter in a blizzard. Blizzards are windy, snowy, and cold, but it makes the ramen taste that much better!
Travel Plan Recommendations
If you are only going to stay in Sapporo and maybe check out Hakodate, which is about 3 and a half hours away from Sapporo by train, 5-7 days will work. This is if you want to have a relaxing trip.
If you are active and want to go to Sapporo and travel to different areas of Hokkaido, at least 7 days would be necessary because Hokkaido is a lot larger than you think (about 32,000 square miles, which is about 8 times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii).
If you want to fly into New Chitose Airport, which is about 40 minutes from Sapporo, spend some time in Sapporo before going to another part of Japan, you would need at least 7 days of traveling to fully enjoy your trip. If you do this, there are many options on how to plan your trip depending on where you want to go after Sapporo. If you want to finish your trip off in Tokyo, you could go from Sapporo directly to Tokyo by airplane; another option is to stop off at Sendai by shinkansen to stay a night or two, and then go to Tokyo. If you want to go to Sapporo and then Osaka, you would need to take a flight from New Chitose to Osaka (Kansai Airport or Itami Airport).
All in all, Sapporo and Otaru are great places to visit to each food and go out into nature!
Jet-Set Japan 