4-Hour Private Sapporo Tour with Hokkaido Shrine and Fish Market

• Meet your tour guide and start by visiting the Red Brick Building, the former Hokkaido Government Office building.
• Learn about the history of Sapporo and the frontier spirit of farmer soldiers as you see the red stars on the wall of a roof cresting. The guide will also show an old picture and the red star used as a label for Sapporo Beer.
• Visit the Clock Tower, where the guide will talk about its history. Some tourists are surprised to find this building smaller than they expected, and you will get to know why.
• Move to Odori Park, where the TV Tower stands.
• Head to Nijiyo Fish Market. The guide will talk about its history and show you many kinds of fresh seafood. Walk around the market, and you will see food models of 'Kaisen Don', or rice bowls topped with sliced raw fish.
• Continue to Tanuki Koji, the oldest shopping street in Hokkaido. This shopping district accommodates 200 shops, including restaurants.
• See the Raccoon Shrine, and the guide will explain the origin of the place. You will also see a Japanese kitchen knife shop, ramen noodle restaurants, an amusement arcade, a pachinko parlour, and more.
• Proceed to the final destination of the tour, Hokkaido Shrine. The guide will take you on a 5-minute subway ride, followed by an 11-minute walk through beautiful Maruyama Park.
  • This is the biggest shrine in Hokkaido. Hokkaido Shrine enshrines three deities for the reclamation of Hokkaido. The reclamation of Hokkaido began when the Meiji Restoration succeeded. In 1869, about 150 years ago, Emperor Meiji selected those three protecting deities and decided to enshrine them in this shrine. Many people visit the shrine to celebrate special occasions.
  • During the Japanese New Year holidays, about 800,000 people visit here. Roughly speaking, about half of Sapporo's citizens come to pray for good luck in the coming year and buy a good charm. The first visit of the year is one of the annual events in Japan. Also, when a baby is born, parents bring the baby here and pray for the baby's healthy growth. Even wedding ceremonies are conducted here. Some owners of new cars also pray for safe driving.
  • During cherry blossom season, the grounds of the shrine are crowded with many people enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms in bloom.
  • From June 14th to 16th, the main festival of Hokkaido Shrine is held. People wear traditional clothes and walk in procession with a portable shrine through downtown.
  • The shrine has four gateways. The first gateway is 8.7 meters high. These gateways can exorcise evils from people, so visitors can be purified before praying by passing through them.
• Before ending the tour, you will also see the statue of Yoshitake Shima. He is called the father of the reclamation of Hokkaido and was the commissioner of the Hokkaido Colonization Commission. This bronze statue is 4 meters high. He selected the site of Hokkaido Shrine, was given the sacred mirrors of the three deities by Emperor Meiji, and brought them to Sapporo when Hokkaido Shrine was established. He contributed greatly to the development of Sapporo.

Tour ends.