Sapporo

This article is about the city in Japan. For other uses, see Sapporo (disambiguation).

Sapporo 札幌市 サッ・ポロ・ペッ(Ainu) Sat Poro Pet
Prefecture capital and Designated city
City of Sapporo
Sapporo skyline from Asahiyama Memorial Park Sapporo Clock Tower Sapporo TV Tower in Odori Park Sapporo Beer Museum Susukino area Historical Village of Hokkaido Former Hokkaidō Government Office
Flag Seal
Interactive map outlining Sapporo
Sapporo Location in Japan
Coordinates: 43°03′43″N 141°21′16″E
Country	Japan
Region	Hokkaido
Prefecture	Hokkaido (Ishikari Subprefecture)
Establishment of the Hokkaidō Development Commission in Sapporo	1869
Granted city status	1922
Founder	Shima Yoshitake
Government
• Mayor	Katsuhiro Akimoto
Area
• Prefecture capital and Designated city	1,121.26 km2 (432.92 sq mi)
Population  (2025)
• Prefecture capital and Designated city	1,964,034
• Estimate  (2026)	2,066,420
• Rank	5th in Japan
• Density	1,751.63/km2 (4,536.70/sq mi)
• Urban	2,646,000
• Metro	2,650,000
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	2-1-1 Kita-ichijō-nishi, Chūō-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido 060-8611
Climate	Dfa
Website	www.city.sapporo.jp/city/english
Symbols
Bird	Common cuckoo
Flower	Lily of the valley
Tree	Lilac

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Sapporo
"Sapporo" in kanji
Japanese name
Kanji	札幌
Hiragana	さっぽろ
Katakana	サッポロ
Transcriptions Romanization Sapporo

Sapporo is a designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture and Ishikari Subprefecture. As of August 1, 2026, the city has a population of 1,962,596, making it the largest city in Hokkaido and the largest north of Tokyo. It is the fifth-most populous city in Japan and is Hokkaido's cultural, economic, and political center.

Originally a plain sparsely inhabited by the indigenous Ainu people, the area contained a few trade posts of the Matsumae domain during the Edo period. The city began as an administrative centre with the establishment of the Hokkaido Development Commission headquarters in 1869. Inspired by the ancient cities of Kyoto and Heijō-kyō, it adopted a grid plan and developed around Odori Park. After World War II, it replaced Otaru as Hokkaido's commercial hub, and its population surpassed one million by 1970.

After being unable to host the 1940 Winter Olympics due to World War II, Sapporo hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics ever held in Asia, and the second Olympic Games held in Asia after the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The Sapporo Dome hosted three matches during the 2002 FIFA World Cup and two matches during the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Additionally, Sapporo has hosted the Asian Winter Games three times, in 1986, 1990, and 2017, and also hosted the 1991 Winter Universiade.

The annual Sapporo Snow Festival draws more than 2 million tourists. Other notable sites include the Sapporo Beer Museum and the Sapporo TV Tower located in Odori Park. It is home to Hokkaido University, just north of Sapporo Station. The city is served by Okadama Airport and New Chitose Airport in nearby Chitose.