Tag - sapporo

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SAPPORO

The members of TV Tairiku Ondo — (from left) Harea Togari, Ryuji Chiyotani, Kotaro Suzuki and Hiroto Yanagawa — met as high school students in Sapporo and went viral in 2024 with an energetic 90-second track.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 12, 2026
TV Tairiku Ondo channels the chaotic creativity of youth
After going viral with a 90-second track in 2024, the rock quartet from Hokkaido has been hitting stages big and small and working hard on a debut album.
A box of two Yubari melons sold for a record-high ¥5.8 million at the season’s first auction in Sapporo on Friday.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2026
Yubari melons fetch record ¥5.8 million at first auction of season
The melons will go on display at Keio Store’s Sakuragaoka supermarket in western Tokyo before tasting events begin next week.
Hokkaido police arrested a 46-year-old woman, Yukie Kamii, on Tuesday on suspicion of strangling her 6-year-old son, Yusho, to death at their home in Sapporo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 5, 2026
46-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of strangling son
According to Hokkaido police, the mother admitted to killing her son before later denying the allegations.
Sapporo Station, which is set to be the terminus of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line extension.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2026
Panel questions profitability of Hokkaido Shinkansen project
Rising prices, which are one of the reasons for the increase in the project’s cost, may also push profitability upward through an increase in fare and real estate income.
In recent years, the combination of a surge in tourism to Hokkaido and the operations of the Rapidus semiconductor plant has led to congestion at New Chitose Airport’s train station and on express trains.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Apr 13, 2026
Amid travel boom, Hokkaido struggles to improve airport rail link
Express trains arriving at and departing from New Chitose Airport are congested, creating concern.
North Safari Sapporo, a now-closed zoo in Hokkaido, in March 2025
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2026
Sapporo zoo operator accused of unauthorized development
The zoo, North Safari Sapporo, opened in 2005 and closed last year after the allegations came to light.
The front page of The Japan Times on March 3, 1976, carries the news of a terrorist attack in Sapporo.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Mar 6, 2026
Japan Times 1976: Bomb explosion in Sapporo claims 2 lives, injures 85
A note left after the terrorist attack at a government building cited “imperialists” as the target.
The Austrian team at this year’s International Snow Sculpture Contest — (from left) Michelle Steinmetz, Karl Pont and Daniel Nachbaur — pose with their creation.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 27, 2026
In Sapporo, snow becomes a shared language
Working in temperatures as low as minus 6 degrees Celsius, artists from around the world convened in Sapporo this February to continue a tradition 50 years running.
Visitors to the Sapporo Snow Festival take pictures on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2026
Sapporo Snow Festival opens with 210 sculptures
The 76th Sapporo Snow Festival, which runs until next Wednesday, is expected to attract over 2 million visitors, with free admission.
Shohei Ohtani and his pet dog made an appearance at last year's Sapporo Snow Festival — not in person but as some of the snow sculptures that make the event an international draw.
LIFE
Jan 31, 2026
How to enjoy the Sapporo Snow Festival like a local
Snow, cold and crowds make Sapporo’s marquee winter event, running this year from Feb. 4 to 11, a must-see for travelers everywhere.
Deep snow at Iyahiko Shrine in central Sapporo on Monday
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2026
Heavy snow continues to batter northern Japan
Thousands of travelers have been left stranded by transportation disruptions caused by above-average snowfall.
Tourists from abroad take souvenir photos in Sapporo's Susukino district, a popular sightseeing and entertainment spot, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2026
Japan has a tough road ahead to achieve 60 million visitor goal
Japan still needs to overcome mounting challenges to achieving its goal of 60 million annual visitors by 2030, although the number of inbound tourists topped 40 million for the first time ever last year with their consumption growing to around ¥9.5 trillion.
Workers in Sapporo's Odori Park prepare for the annual Snow Festival, which will take place during next month's Lower House campaign and Feb. 8 election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 20, 2026
Snap election in February presents wintry challenges in Hokkaido
Subfreezing temperatures and snowfall may prevent candidates from meeting voters in person, while a snowstorm on election day could mean a low voter turnout.
Open from Oct. 1, the InterContinental Sapporo is the first international luxury brand in the Hokkaido capital.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 6, 2025
InterContinental Sapporo kicks off Hokkaido capital’s MICE push
The Hokkaido capital’s first luxury international hotel signals a high-end future for the Nakajima Park area.
The transport ministry has proposed extending the runway at Sapporo's Okadama Airport from 1,500 meters to 1,800 meters to support longer routes amid rising inbound tourism.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 17, 2025
Two plans proposed for runway extension at Sapporo’s Okadama Airport
A longer runway will increase commercial flight capacity, attract more business jets and facilitate medevac flights.
Hokkaido Prefectural Police on Thursday seize items during a search of locations linked to the now-closed North Safari Sapporo zoo.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2025
Police raid closed Hokkaido zoo for unauthorized land development
As of Oct. 4, 312 animals, including tigers and lions, still remain at the zoo.
The Sapporo Family Court on Friday ruled that a legal provision requiring individuals to undergo genital surgery to change their legal gender is unconstitutional and invalid.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2025
Court rules sex change appearance requirement unconstitutional
A court said that the world has made advances in medicine since the law was established, so genital surgery may not be necessary in some cases.
A rendering of the "big right whale of Sapporo," whose fossils have been found to be a new type of right whale
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2025
Fossils unearthed in Hokkaido revealed to be of new whale species
The fossil bones were first discovered by a local citizen along the Toyohira River in Sapporo in October 2008.
Sapporo’s Susukino district. Hiroko Tamura, the mother of a 31-year-old woman suspected of killing and beheading a man in the district in 2023, was sentenced on Wednesday to one year and two months in prison, suspended for three years, for aiding in the mutilation and concealment of a corpse.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 7, 2025
Mother of suspect in Sapporo beheading case sentenced for role in cover-up
Hiroko Tamura was sentenced to one year and two months in prison, suspended for three years, for aiding in the mutilation and concealment of a corpse.
A recently enacted ordinance aimed at respecting individual differences in Sapporo has not been without controversy.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Apr 28, 2025
Sapporo enacts ordinance to foster diversity and inclusion
The number of foreign residents in Sapporo has doubled over the past decade, despite an overall population decline in the city.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER