Sapporo, Japan

As the days began to lead up to my exciting journey to Japan, I thought it would be a good idea to get a little background on the physical geography of Japan.  Japan is an island nation made up of over 3,800 minor and four major islands.  It stretches for approximately 1,860 miles from Siberia in the north to Taiwan in the south.  It is the approximately the size of California.  Geographically speaking, if Japan were to be placed onto top of a map of the eastern half of the United States it would look like this.

Well, 2 plane rides and 24 hours later, I'm in the beautiful city of Sapporo, Japan.  The city of Sapporo is located on the northern most island of Japan called Hokkaido.  It has a population of nearly two million people and is the fifth largest city in Japan.  It is considered by the Japanese to be their frontier island, having only been settled by the Japanese at the end of the Edo Period in 1866.  Prior to that time it was home to the indigenous Ainu people.

Odori Park & The Clock Tower

Odori Park is an urban area that stretches from east to west through the city of Sapporo.  It features lovely gardens and water fountains, providing locals a place to relax.  Annual festivals and events take place here including the Yuki Matsuri or the Sapporo Snow Festival.  Too bad I missed that!  Although it's the summer time here in Sopporo, the temperature is comfortable with temperatures in the 70s. I was told that Hokkaido always has a cooler temperature being up in the north.  It's climate is similar to that of state of Maine.

William S. Clark in Odori Park

The city of Sapporo was founded in 1868 and in 1870 the Meiji Government asked for assistance from the American government to help develop the land.  Sapporo's city design is very similar to the grid plan in US cities as a result.  This close advisory relationship continued in education as well and in 1876 William S. Clark, president of the the University of Massachusetts Amherst came to Sapporo and helped found Hokkaido University.  "Boys Be Ambitious" was Clark's advice given to the students of Hokkaido University when he was Vice-president.  Those words are still recited by school children today.

Hokkaido Government Building

The Hokkaido Government Building was built in 1888 and symbolizes the importance that the Meiji Government placed on developing Hokkaido.