Hokkaido University — Attraction in Sapporo

Visited here during fourth week of August 2023. A beautiful campus with a lot of green spaces and historical buildings. About 7 minutes’walk from Sapporo station to its main gate and 4 minutes’walk from Kita Juni Jo Station to North 13 Gate (Kita-jusanjo Gate, near Ginkgo Avenue). Among places visited are Sakushukotoni River - SAKUSHU琴似川 (flows through the Hokkaido University campus, runs south-north through what is almost the centre of the campus),

Furukawa Hall - 古河纪念讲堂 (built in 1909 by the funds from Furukawa Zaibatsu. This is one of the University's Historical Buildings. Displaying the nobility of French renaissance architecture),

Central Lawn - 中央草坪 (12,000 square meters of greenery. A pleasant place to relax with its green lawns and ample shade from nearby trees. An artificial stream flows through the gently sloped lawn, a place popular with students who can often been seen lounging beneath the trees napping, reading, or eating),

Bust of Dr. William S. Clark - 克拉克像 (the first head of the Sapporo Agricultural School, the precursor to Hokkaido University, he exhorted his students with the phrase, “Boys Be Ambitious” (“少年啊，要胸怀大志！” )which is inscribed on the base of the bust),

Elm Grove - ELM之森 (is a spacious grassy space between the buildings of the School of Agriculture and the School of Science. The lawn has many elm trees as its name),

Entomology and Sericulture Hall, School of Agriculture农学部 (built 1901, 1-story wooden building, This building is the former Sapporo Agricultural College, Department of Entomology and Sericulture. It was renovated to house the Hokkaido Wine Education and Research Centre while preserving the original construction as much as possible),

The Hokkaido University Museum -北海道大学综合博物馆 (contains academic specimens and resources dating back to when it opened as the Sapporo Agricultural College and part of the museum is open to the public. Admission is free),

Ono Pond - 大野池 (lies almost in the centre of the campus. Mallard ducks are often seen swimming about. Lotus flowers and trillium can be seen around the pond in summer),

Flowering Tree Garden - 北海道大学 花木園 (located right next to a row of poplar trees, and is planted with flowers and trees from the north. There is a wooden path through the wetland and you can admire the flowers around the pond),

Monument in Honor of Dr. lnazo Nitobe - 新渡户稻造博士表彰碑 (renowned for his contributions internationally, he was a graduate of the second year of the Sapporo Agricultural College. He established the Enyu Night School so that poor children would be able to study),

Poplar Avenue - 杨林荫道 (a row of poplar trees. The pathway runs for 80 meters between the rows of trees and is covered with wood chips),

Ginkgo Avenue -银杏林荫道 (is a fantastic avenue of Ginkgo trees facing east, which leads towards Kita-jusanjo Gate. An epic about 380 metres long with majestic gingko trees lined on each side. The road turns golden in fall with the beautiful foliage),

Botanic Garden of Hokkaido University - 北海道大学植物園 (opened in 1886, occupies 13.3 hectares, located at North3, West8, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, a facility of Hokkaido University for botanical research and education, open to the public with admission fee charged)

Enjoyed breakfast at Seicomart - hot chef is available at this convenience store, the hot food menu is handmade in the kitchen inside the store, sold fresh and hot. It has an eat-in area on the 2nd floor, as well as terrace seating, it’s great to buy simple meals here and enjoy the campus scenery from the comfortable seats upstairs!, enjoyed lunch at Hokkaido University Central Cafeteria中央食堂 – one of the cafeterias on campus that offering nutritious foods at affordable prices, enjoyed Nishiokoppe-mura Soft Serve Ice Cream (soft-serve ice cream made with milk from Hegiwara Farm in Nishiokkope Village) at Museum Cafe Polus, enjoyed homemade gelato at Hokudai Marche...

There's a vast and straight street once entering the Hokkaido University Sapporo campus. We felt as young and happy as students. Snowdrift, tall trees, making it a large size world than outside. We entered the School of engineering, a simple building since I wanted to check the status of students in Japan. They were just like us except we didn't meet lazy and dirty looks I often met in China. The corridor was clean; the material and colour scheme was more like office style. The canteen smelled good. There're many evaluators but not often two or four in China in the same size. Diane told me the toilet was not automatic; we met just two on the whole trip in Japan. We wandered in the world of snow and trees and found the Hokkaido University Museum, which is a treasure. I like the building, a mix of old school and fairy tale as well. We bought the school made biscuits and then bought tickets for the museum. The demonstration method was considerate and very well designed. There were various kinds of exhibits in the three floors, among which agriculture and basic science kinds took significant roles. No wonder it used to be Sapporo Agricultural Collage before. In the way to the school gate, we saw a creek, which must be a beauty in summer as well. I wanted to buy some cloth souvenir in the shop at the gate but ended getting some sweets instead. When we were out of school again, the snow grew a lot, like rapid falling dandelions, which shocked me, how I want to live here for...

Hokkaido University is a major university of Sapporo and the whole Hokkaido. And actually it is the biggest university in Japan, in terms of area. Its campus is quite nice, you can wander around and enjoy some time in it. One of the great spots is the Ginkgo Avenue, which you can tell if its name, it an avenue with golden ginkgo packed along. In winter, those ginkgo will be dressed in white and formed a calm, quite scenery. Hokkaido University is also a historical site on its own. There is a museum about its history. Visiting it is free of charge and it is open to everyone, naturally. As this university was built by foreigners, its buildings are in western style so it makes you feel like you are inside an European university.

Getting there is easy as it is close to city centre. Since its covered area is so big, you can just hap off from one of the near train stations and you will find clear signpost guiding you. You can have meal in their canteen. The food is decent and the price is much cheaper than outside. The best way to visit the campus is by walking, or if you have...