Hoheikan Sapporo

The Hoheikan is one of Sapporo’s founding treasures: a graceful blue and white timber hall built in 1880 as a Western style hotel for the young city, where the Meiji Emperor himself lodged. Now restored in Nakajima Park, it stands as an elegant Important Cultural Property you can wander at leisure.

A hotel for a new frontier

Hokkaido’s development era produced buildings unlike anything further south, and the Hoheikan is among the finest: American influenced clapboard architecture, arched windows and a hint of ballroom grandeur, raised by pioneer carpenters translating foreign pattern books. Inside, restored rooms and exhibits recount its lives as imperial lodging, public hall and beloved wedding venue for generations of Sapporo couples. The blue trimmed facade against winter snow or summer park green is one of the city’s best quiet photographs.

In Nakajima Park

The surrounding park earns the trip on its own, with ponds, lawns and the city skyline rising beyond the trees; in winter its paths become a cross country skiing circuit. The Hoheikan visit is short and calm, an ideal counterpoint to Sapporo’s beer halls and ramen alleys.

Getting there

Take the Namboku subway line from Sapporo Station to Nakajima-Koen Station, three stops south, and the building appears across the pond a few minutes into the park. Susukino’s dining district sits within walking distance for afterwards.

We may earn a commission when you book through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Details and inclusions can change, so always check the booking page for the latest.