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Sapporo

Page history last edited by PBworks 18 years, 2 months ago

__GENERAL INFORMATION__

 

PLACES TO GO

 

 

ODORI PARK - This place has to mentioned first, as it's probably my favourite and most fondly remembered location in Sapporo. It's fundamentally a long row of square gardens that traverse from East to West and that act as a divide between Southern and Northern Sapporo, originally implemented apparently so that if a huge inferno was to rage throughout the city, it would have burn out when it hit Odori, thus only torching half the population. Odori Koen is the heart of Sapporo - it's Central Park if you will, where the young go to court each-other and workers go to relax during lunch hour, or at weekends. It's also where all the major festivals are held, like the Winter Festival which includes a mammoth display of some of the finest ice-sculpturing in the world, and brings particapants from as as far from Hawaii every year, and is also host to the summer Yasokoi Soren festival, which is basically nothing more than a bunch of dudes dancing around on the streets which isn't that impressive, but more than enough reason than I needed to get smashed out of my skull every night on the local piss-water. Odori Koen's a cool people-watching place, and of course, most importantly is the best place to meet chicks on your days off. If you're thinking that during my time in Japan I'm just hunting ladies and not taking time to appreciate the subtle and the wonderful of Japan and it's scenery..you'd be bang on the mark!Seriously though, if you don't mind finding a seat inbetween the sleeping bums, Odori Koen is a lovely place just to chill out and lay back, and pretty lively no matter what the hour. In 99', my youthful summer nights in Sapporo were spent lounging around in the there in the warm humidity with a pack of Mild Seven, sitting around watching people and thinking about shit, hitting on chicks my age. That's another one of the cool things I haven't mentioned about Japan yet, there isn't much attitude. I mean, you can be out on your own at 3am in the morning in a dark park, and nobodies going to give you hassle or piss you off. You don't have to worry about getting mobbed by gangs, because Japanese are pretty non-aggressive - you even find groups of schoolgirls just hanging around at undesirable hours without a worry in the world. There's been so many times when I've accidentally chatted-up some guys girlfriend, and the boyfriend has done is laugh and introduce himself, automatically presuming it was a mistake. You've got to respect the Japanese for that, they're laid back.

 

SAPPORO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION PLAZA - Another example of Japans eagerness to 'internationalize' is the 'Kokusei Plaza' and is a great place to drop in to if you're looking for jobs, students, foreign merchandise and general information. It's a large place designed to act as a forum for Japanese/Foreign relations you'll often find Japanese in there looking to find such things as Spanish salsa classes, German language tutors, Thai cooking lessons, and the like. Any foreigners arriving in Sapporo to teach or study should make the Kokusai plaza their first port of call before heading out into the city to look for jobs elsewhere. Obviously staff speak reasonable English, and are usually not adverse to helping you with advertising in Japanese if need be.

 

SUSIKINO - This is the throbbing hub of Sapporo where you find the lions share of bars, clubs, video-arcades, restaurants etc. When I wasn't broke ass broke you could find me down there spending my hard-earned money or just sitting or sleeping on the street-corner hugging a bottle of cheap imported wine - to the great amusement of passing salarymen and yakuza. Susukino is the given name for southern area of Sapporo past Odori Koen and the superstores and terminated by Nakajima Park. It consists of a few blocks of heavily concentrated bars, strip-joints, hostess bars, dancing clubs and similar establishments to those you'll find in anywhere else north of Tokyo. Expect signs so neon flourescent they'll burn your eyes out, hordes of skirt and salarymen fighting their way to get to the bars, talentless buskers plucking away and screaming in high-pitched voices, and without question a huge McDonalds right smack bang in the middle of it. Susikino is the place to meet all the quaint and sparkling denizens of Sapporo that come out to play at lights out. It can be expensive to drink there if you expect to start early and finish late, but that's alright because you're best friend is always around, the local 7-11, available so that you can pop into to get cheap can of brew or 10 before you hit the clubs. One little niggle I had with Japan, is that it's a beer drinking country, so if you're not into your hop-fermented, you're stuck with heavy spirits, or else sake and shochu. Shochu is a kind of a pissy tasting wine which apparently the Japanese used to use to scrub floors with. Drink it and you'll know why. You can buy a sort of Japanese equivelant of an alchopop called Chu-hi which is flavoured Chu-hi, but it's really stomach-rotting stuff and can't compete with good old English Cider (note to American/Canadian readers, cider in the UK is a 4-8% strength alchoholic drink).

 

ASAHIYAMA - Asahi Hill. To get there follow the road alongside the Murayama Koen and take a right at the Royal Host restaurant. I first got shown this place after I got picked up by some chick at a club (yes you did hear that right, I got picked up, gotta love Japan) who drove me up there so that she could impress me. Well, it sure worked. At the summit is the most amazing view of a city you've ever seen. The city looms around you so much that you feel immersed in it. She got hers. Actually this isn't the most reputable mountain in Sapporo but was close to where I lived at the time so many a night I resigned myself to treading up that steep slope to the top so that I get a fantastic view of the Sapporo city lights, and naturally, spend some time getting smashed.

 

 

 


EATING-OUT

 

 


NIGHTLIFE

 

RAD BROTHERS - The ultimate gaijin hang-out! Ask any gaijin in Sapporo about the weirdest place to go and he/she'll direct you to Rad. It's the kind of place where all the night owl weirdos go to party until 6am at weekends. I had kind of a love-hate relationship with Rad, because some weekends it was just too Twilight Zone, with guys dancing naked on the tables and shit and there's nothing to put you off your Asahi then some guys 3-inch cock swinging in your face. However, at Rads you can meet some of the very coolest people in Sapporo. I came across hostesses, strippers, hookers, famous musicians, millionaires, queers, steers, you name it. I remember meeting some Japanese who'd studied abroad - believe me, you haven't laughed until you see a Japanese trying to do an impression of Taxi Driver "You lookin' at me? You must be looking at me cos theres nobody else here!? Shitheel.." Bloody hilarious!!. I picked up a lot of girls here, I mean, don't forget it is for the most part a gaijin bar, and so you've got to question the motives of any Japanese chicks or guys going there, as I'd say most of them are looking for love of the Caucasian persuasion, the only problem being you tend to find a lot of the nutcase women here, you know the type, artistic, tree-hugging types that get out of bed at midnight and believe that every conversation has to be radical, and question they're whole meaning of life every second of the day. These chicks can be a pain in the ass, but they're okay for a lay. Anyway, Rad is the kind of place you go to chill and have a tequila as the sun comes up and nothing really kicks off until late, but once it does you'll know it, as there is no crazier place to be in Sapporo than Friday night in Rads after 11. It's located around South 5, or, just along the main road that leads into Susikino, quite close to Nakajima Koen. - (Kris).

 

This is place is only good for taking girls to after you've been in Booty. Its always pretty empty so you can have some privacy and there’s a vast selection of cocktails to choose from if you want something a little different to drink. The clientele seem to be mostly Japanese unlike at the more obvious gaijin bars like Bar Viva and The Gaijin Bar and I wouldn’t say that it was all that gaijin friendly. Also, the J guys who hang around in there are pretty dodgy characters.

 

If you walk left from Rad you will reach lots of concealed bars and clubs with no signs outside and some of them aren’t that gaijin friendly. I’ve been turned away from two bars in the building which houses flore cafe because I wasn’t Japanese. This kind of pissed me off but to be honest after watching how some of the gaijin behave I can kind of understand ? I wouldn’t want them in my bar either. Flore cafe itself though is quite a gaijin friendly place with a bar, dance floor and a DJ who is usually pumping out techno and house. I’ve met quite a few nice looking girls here but if none take your fancy then it’s always fun to watch the J guys on the dance floor busting out their crazy techno dance moves. - (Kireru)

 

CLUB BOOTY - This is simply the best place to go on a Saturday night if you're looking to hook up. It’s very busy with plenty of nice looking and not so shy J girls on the dance floor. There's no entrance fee and the place is quite spacious with a second floor where you can sit and chat. The music is only ever rnb and hip-hop and the dance floor gets very packed around 12:30.

 

KING XMHU - King Xhmu's (or King Moos) is the ultimate place to go if you have the dough. The entrace fee ain't cheap, usually around 3000 - 4000 Yen (20 quid man!! Ouch!) but it's worth a shot once every blue moon. A negative point is the tricks they pull to rip you off in there. you have to buy drink cards worth 1000, 3000, or 5000 Yen and for some unexplainable reason, the 1000 Yen one is always out of order. Sly eh? So, before you know it, you've spent 6000 Yen just to get the night started. That's a day's work, enough to make any English teacher grouchy. On the other hand, this place rocks, even the building looks cool. Forget visiting the TokaiTower (any guesses why that isn't reviewed on this page? Because it's shite), visit King Xmhu's for a real masterpiece of architecture. A huge intimidating statue of an African God that looms over the entire street, the mouth being the entrance. Inside isn't bad neither, it's all styled like some tribal temple, and as you go up to steps to the thump of the music you're faced with this omnipotent looking demon firing lasers over the crowd from it's eyes. Look down to see babe central dancing the night away under your feet. Just grab a girl! Stick to Booty if you're on a budget though. - (Kris)I must say that after reading your guide I was kind of expecting something a little better especially considering it costs like 3000 yen to get into. I’ve only been once though so perhaps it was just a bad night but there were very few women in that place. I think that this was due to the fact that the PR’s who were selling tickets were hot birds and they were attracting the men rather than the women. You were right about the building itself though - very cool. - (Kireru)

 

 

LOCO TONTE - is across the street from king moo and I wish I'd got a little more pissed before I arrived. The music is varied with a mix of jpop, hip-hop, rnb, cheesy house and 80’s classics. The women are well… interesting and they go a little crazy when the Jpop kicks in. I wouldn’t say that it was the best place to pull, not because its difficult it’s just that the girls are of an acquired taste. I’ve been to this place about 5 times now because my friend’s love it and I must say as long as you have quite a bit to drink and go in with an open mind it's actually quite fun. The entrance fee is 2000 yen on a Friday but this includes as many drinks as you want and on a Saturday it will cost you half that but you only get 2 drinks included in the price. Booty, however, is a cooler place and I’d probably go to Loco tonte less often if I hadn’t worked out a way of getting in for free.

 

VIVA BAR - is next to loco tonte, it’s a small gaijin bar with a good atmosphere and the regulars are always friendly so it’s a good place to chill out before heading to one of the clubs in the area. A friendly Australian guy who is quite a good cook runs it, so if you feel like some western style food at around 2 in the morning I would recommend heading there. - (Kireru)

 

 

 


LOVE-HOTELS

 

Haha..Well, they are difficult to find in a new town!


BRIEF EXCURSIONS

 

LAKE SHIKOTSU - About 1 hr 20 mins out of Sapporo by bus you can find this most magnificent of scenes tucked away in the middle of nowhere, a caldera crater that is now a lake. On a good day you can see the encompassing mountains clearly reflected in the water. Well, I'm not saying it's really worth blowing a day on to go and see if you're on a tight schedule, but hell, if you do have time it's certainly worth cracking out the camping gear and spending a night there. Certainly makes an impression on you when you see stuff like that after you open your eyes in the morning.

 


EXTRAS

 


WHERE TO STAY


LINKS

 

Xene - Sapporo English magazine


Page Contributors - Kris, Kireru

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