Sapporo

Sapporo (Japanese札幌 市, -shi, from Ainu sat poro (pet), dt "dry, large (river) " ) is the largest city of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands.

Sapporo is the administrative headquarters of Hokkaidō Prefecture, as well as the sub-prefecture of Ishikari.

  • 3.1 Town twinning

History

Sapporo was founded in 1869 as the seat of the colonial government of Hokkaido, which is part of Japan since the 19th century. Only in the 1950s, it sparked the nearby and much older than Otaru from populous city in Hokkaido. The city was, like Kyoto or many American cities, planned in a checkerboard pattern.

Sapporo Agricultural University, which was also founded in 1869 and was initially based in Tokyo, is primarily known by its first president, William Smith Clark. He was invited by the Japanese government as a consultant in educational matters. Above all, the parting words to his students, many of whom he had converted to Christianity, have left a lasting impression: Boys, be ambitious! (Eng. "Boys, be ambitious! ").

In Sapporo Winter Olympic Games took place in 1972, the first Winter Olympics in Asia. Since then connects Sapporo twinned with Munich, the venue for the Olympic Games the same year.

Geography

The city of Sapporo has many parks. For example, the Odori Park in the center of the city, which hosts over the years several annual events and festivals. One of the largest parks of the city is also the Moerenuma Park, which was built according to the plans of the Japanese- American artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi.

Boroughs

Sapporo is divided into 10 districts ( ku ):

  • Atsubetsu -ku (厚 别 区)
  • Chūō -ku (中央 区)
  • Higashi -ku (东区)
  • Kita- ku (北区)
  • Kiyota -ku (清 田 区)
  • Minami -ku (南 区)
  • Nishi -ku (西区)
  • Shiroishi -ku (白石 区)
  • Teine -ku (手 稲 区)
  • Toyohira -ku (豊 平 区)

Adjacent Cities and Towns

  • Ishikari
  • Kita Hiroshima
  • Ebetsu
  • Eniwa
  • Chitose
  • Otaru
  • Date
  • Kyogoku
  • Kimobetsu
  • Akaigawa

Climate

Politics and Administration

  • Fumio Ueda is the mayor of Sapporo since 2003, he was re-elected in the regional elections in April 2011 with the support of the Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party, New People's Party and the "Citizens Network Hokkaido " for a third term.
  • In the same time the newly elected 68 -member city council, the Liberal Democratic and Democratic Group with 24 and 23 seats equally strong, the Kōmeitō has nine, the Communist Party of Japan on five and the "Citizens' Network " about three mandates (as of July 5, 2011).

Twinning

  • United States Portland, United States (since 1959 )
  • Germany Munich, Germany (since 1972)
  • People's Republic of China Shenyang, People's Republic of China ( since 1980)
  • Russia Novosibirsk, Russia ( since 1990)

Odori Park in the city center is a symbol of partnership, a traditional Bavarian Maypole, a gift from the city of Munich.

Attractions

Sapporo is a relatively young city, a few historical sights betray the strong Western influence during the Meiji Restoration:

  • Regarded as the symbol of the city clock tower of the former assembly hall of the Agricultural University (see above). The charter of the city begins with the words: We are the citizens of the city of Sapporo, where the bell of the clock tower ringing.
  • That until the 1970s, serving as the official residence of the Governor of Hokkaido administration building converted from red bricks, today, for Sapporo Beer Museum.
  • Which was built in the same style, ivy-covered building in the old Sapporo Brewery of 1876, which have now been transformed into the largest beer hall in Japan.
  • The development of village (北海道開拓の村, kaitaku no mura ), an open-air museum in the restored old buildings to visit from all over Hokkaido.
  • The TV tower in steel truss design.
  • The Hokkaido - jingū, Hokkaido's largest Shinto shrine.

Regular events

Snow Festival

Sapporo's largest tourism event which takes place annually in February held Snow Festival (雪 祭り, yuki matsuri ), which in 1950 took its beginning, as students in Odori Park built statues of snow. Today, the festival lasts for a week, and there are a dozen huge and hundreds of smaller snow and ice sculptures built on three different sites that attract thousands of visitors. Huge in this context means: up to 10 m high and 30 m wide, consisting of 1000 or more truckloads of snow. The most common motif are more or less famous buildings from around the world that are often reproduced at a scale of 1:3 or even 1:2 with all the details, but just out of snow or ice.

The large sculptures are sponsored by companies, some are also built by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces as part of the winter training. The smaller snow sculptures are built by local clubs, where the demand is so great that the available plots will be drawn from among the candidates. In addition, an international competition is organized.

See also Moerenuma Park

Traffic

  • Subway Sapporo - 1971 put into operation, three lines
  • Sapporo Station on the JR Hakodate Main Line
  • Sapporo airport
  • Roads: Doo - highway
  • Sasson Expressway
  • National Road 5
  • National Road 12
  • National Road 36
  • National roads 230, 231, 274, 275, 337, 453

Sports

  • Makomanai Okunai Kyōgijō
  • Baseball - Sapporo is the home of the baseball club Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League, whose games are played at the Sapporo Dome.
  • Football - Sapporo is the home of the football club Consadole Sapporo of the J. League, whose games are played at Sapporo Dome.
  • Sapporo Half Marathon and Hokkaido Marathon
  • Ski jumping, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined: Nordic World Ski Championships 2007

1978 Sapporo failed in the attempt to host in 1984 a second time after 1972 Olympic Winter Games, only in the runoff election against Sarajevo. The originally planned bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics against the Japanese domestic competitors Fukuoka and Tokyo were Mayor Fumio Ueda on with reference to the high cost of 2006.

Universities and Colleges

  • University of Hokkaido
  • Hokkaido University of Education

Personalities

Sons and daughters

  • Masahiro Akimoto, ski jumpers
  • Yukitaka Fukita, ski jumpers
  • Yurika Hirayama, ski jumper
  • Ken Ishii, techno DJ and music producer
  • Satoru Iwata, contractor ( IT)
  • Yusuke Kaneko, ski jumpers
  • Emi Kawabata, Japanese alpine skier
  • Naoji Kimura, specialist in German and the Goethe- researchers
  • Nana Kitade, Japanese singer
  • Akitsugu Konno, ski jumpers
  • Kotoko, singer
  • Ryūichi Kurata, hockey player
  • Iou Kuroda, Japanese manga artist
  • Kaori Mizuhashi, Japanese voice actress
  • Chuhei Nambu, Japanese track and field athlete and Olympic champion
  • Shigeru Oda, lawyer
  • SOTA Okamura, ski jumpers
  • Shimaki Kensaku, writer
  • Tomi Shimomura, football player
  • Yoshinori Sunahara, techno DJ and music producer
  • Shō Tanaka, hockey player
  • Nana Tanimura, singer
  • Shohei Tochimoto, ski jumpers
  • Ayumi Watase, ski jumper
  • Izumi Yamada, ski jumper
  • Koji Yamase, football player
  • Takayoshi Yanagida, Japanese composer
  • Takahiro Yokomichi, politicians
  • Naoki Yuasa, skier
Tree Cities of Japan Ainu language Otaru, Hokkaido William S. Clark 1972 Winter Olympics Wards of Japan Ishikari, Hokkaido Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido Eniwa, Hokkaido Chitose, Hokkaido Date, Hokkaido Democratic Party of Japan Japanese Communist Party Portland (Oregon) Sapporo TV Tower Moerenuma-Park FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 1984 Winter Olympics Chūhei Nambu Akabira, Hokkaido Asahikawa, Hokkaido Ashibetsu, Hokkaido Bibai, Hokkaido Fukagawa, Hokkaido Furano, Hokkaido Hakodate, Hokkaido Kitami, Hokkaido Kushiro, Hokkaido Monbetsu, Hokkaido Muroran, Hokkaido Nayoro, Hokkaido Noboribetsu, Hokkaido Obihiro, Hokkaido Rumoi, Hokkaido Shibetsu, Hokkaido Sunagawa, Hokkaido Takikawa, Hokkaido Tomakomai, Hokkaido Utashinai, Hokkaido Wakkanai, Hokkaido
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