Odori Park Audio Guide

Odori Park: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Odori Park

   Welcome to Odori Park, known in Japanese as 大通公園, a long ribbon of green running through the heart of Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. The name simply means large street, and that is a fair clue to how it began. The park stretches east to west for about 1.5 kilometers, from the first block west of its starting point to the twelfth block west, and it covers 78,901 square meters. As you walk it, you are standing on a dividing line. To the north lie government offices and business towers. To the south lie department stores, shopping streets and restaurants, with the entertainment district of Susukino beyond. In the next few minutes we will look at why this strip exists, how a student-built snow display grew into a world-famous festival, what grows here, and which landmarks to look out for. Let's start by picturing Sapporo before the park was here.

2. 02

   A Firebreak Becomes a Park at Odori Park

   The story starts in 1869, when the Hokkaido Development Commission was established. A government judge named Shima Yoshitake was sent to found a central city, and he imagined Sapporo as a grid of tidy blocks. In his plan, a large street would divide the city, with offices and officials to the north and homes to the south. Shima was later dismissed for misgovernment in Hokkaido, and Iwamura Michitoshi took over the urban planning. In 1871 he reshaped the plan, and a wide firebreak was built exactly where Odori Park lies today. Its job was practical: to stop a fire in the crowded southern districts from racing north into the government quarter. So the street that was meant to be the main road became a park, and the firebreak's old purpose is still visible in the city. Even now the north and south sides of the park feel like two different towns.

3. 03

   Snow, Song and Summer Crowds at Odori Park

   Odori Park is the city's great stage. In early summer it hosts the YOSAKOI Soran festival. In summer come the beer garden and the Bon festival season. In winter the park fills with the Snow Festival and the White Illumination, and the Sapporo Lilac Festival is also held here. The Snow Festival has humble roots. In 1950, not long after the war, junior high and high school students built six snow statues here to lift the mood of a gloomy time. People played snowball fights, enjoyed a carnival, and crowds came to watch. Large snow sculptures first appeared in 1953. Today Odori Park alone shows more than 200 snow statues, and around 2 million visitors come from Japan and abroad to see them. From six statues to a festival of that scale, all in the same long strip of park you are walking now.

4. 04

   Trees, Tower and Landmarks of Odori Park

   Look up and around you. The park holds as many as 4700 trees of 92 species, including the lilac, which is the official tree of Sapporo. Lilac season is celebrated with its own festival here. The most recognizable landmark is the Sapporo Television Tower, which stands within the park. It was built in 1957, rises 147.2 meters, and is beautifully illuminated at night. Another landmark is the Sapporo City Archive Museum, built as the Sapporo Court of Appeals in September 1926 from bricks, Sapporo soft stone and reinforced concrete. It took its present name in 1973 and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1997. The area around the park is also a transport crossroads. Odori Station, beneath the park, is where three subway lines meet. Outside Tokyo and Osaka, it is the only station in Japan with three subway lines. The park has also been named among the hundred best roads of Japan and the hundred best urban parks of Japan.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Odori Park

   Odori Park is still growing. In 2016 the city announced a plan to extend it about 100 meters to the east, across the Soseigawa, tying both banks into one lively district. As you wander on, try a few things. Notice how the mood changes as you glance north and then south. Look for the Sapporo Television Tower rising between the trees. See whether you can spot the old brick-and-stone archive museum. And picture the same open ground in winter, filled with snow statues, or in summer, alive with festivals. Every block has its own character, so the park rewards a slow stroll from one end to the other. What will you notice first?