Sapporo: Christmas Market, Being in the Sky and Adult Entertainment

This weekend, I took a flight to Sapporo (Hokkaido), one of the most beautiful cities of Japan. Let's see how I got to this conclusion:

The day started early, because my flight went at 12am and I needed about 2 hours with the train to the airport. Plus the 2 hours one should be there before the flight, made me take the train about 8, so I got up at 6:30.
The way to Sapporo itself wasn't so spectacular, just the woman at the check-in looked a bit strange, because I checked only 3kg in (20kg was my limit). But I stayed only one night, so there wasn't the need of other things than additional clothes and washing stuff.

Streets of Sapporo

When I arrived in Sapporo, I already saw the first snow on the landing area. Man, this was my first snow this year ^^ Actually, this is the reason, I wanted to go to Sapporo: To see snow. In Tokyo and the other areas I visited, it was getting colder, but not enough for snow :(

So I went to the Youth Hostel I stayed the night over and did the check-in procedure. By the way, the Hostel was very clean and comfortable, the staff was very friendly and you could take showers during the whole night. So I can really recommend this, if you are in Sapporo (Link).

The International Youth Hostel of Sapporo
I just paid 2.600 Yen for one night :)

But because it was still afternoon (about 4pm), I just put the most of my stuff in the locker, grabbed the camera and went outside. Of course, I had already made a plan for my time here with points of interests I wanted to visit. So I went to the main station and walked to the Clock Tower. Or at least I planned to :D

The reason I wandered of ;)

White Illumination

Because, I actually saw this beautiful streets, covered with trees and lights. I was fascinated by this and juts followed the lights. So I came accidentally and luckily to the Odori Park. And it was the 1st weekend where the Christmas Market of Sapporo took place! So I forgot my old plans and headed out to the scenery.

Before the Christmas Market, there was a so called "White Illumination". I interpreted it as little light show, not with lasers but with structures made of lamps. For example, they had this area of blue lights in which birds made out of white lights stand. Really a great atmosphere with the Tower in the background. Actually, I don't know the name of the tower. The "Clock Tower" would fit, but it's another one and the Sapporo Tower is also another one. Maybe "Panasonic Tower"?

Birds above the Ocean
maybe the title of this one ;)

After watching the illumination, I went to the Christmas Market. Funny things that they called it "Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo". Is the Christmas Market in Munich cancelled this year and they transported the booths to Sapporo? ;)

Christmas Decoration
... but my luggage is already full :(

The (small) Christmas Market didn't really differ from the ones I know from Germany. You have this wooden booths, you can buy Christmas decoration and food (for expensive prices), there are many people and it's hard to walk because the ways are full and tight :D

Booth with roasted almonds

I bought some roasted almonds and enjoyed the view. So many people ... was really a nice atmosphere. Again it's nice what happens if you just walk straight into a city you don't know ^^

(Munich) Christmas Market in Saporro
maybe I see it next year too? ;)

 After I walked away from the Market, I wondered where I should go next. So I first went back to the station to drive to another station. But as always, another thing caught my attention: The JR (Japan Railway) Tower.

Not the JR Tower, but the Christmas Tree at the Market
at least, I would interpret it in this way :D

When you go back to the main station, you have the choice to go to the upper levels. From there you get also into the JR Tower, or better said on the 38th floor (with a lift) where you can watch over Sapporo. And at what better time could you do this than at night?

View in direction of the Odori Park

So I spontaneously went up and ... was just stunned. Because it was already dark, only a few people were around here. It was very quiet and peaceful. In the background was also light Jazz music which just invited to relax. And of course the best was the view itself. You have just gigantic windows and on some were even seats. So I spent maybe about two hours just watching the city. Because you could view in 360 degrees, there was so many to discover from above :)

What's the thing in the background? Must be huge oO

And of course I took photos. Tons of photos. It nice to play in a while with your camera, because shooting at night within a lighted city can be tough. At least for the advanced users like me :D
I also got the time (between the shootings) to think about many things. I really enjoyed this atmosphere. When I come again, this will be a must-visit for me. Of course, just at night ;)

But thinking at this magnificent view was also hard for me, because whenever I looked into the city I found within a few minutes something that caught my eye, so I just broke the focus on my thoughts oO But anyway, it was good to re-think the past events and my next steps. It's like they say: "There is a time to act and there is time to think". By the way, the quote works with every opposite word constellation ;)

Seems like the streets meet all in one spot ;)

After getting down (not mentally), I finally followed my plan. Or better said, I skipped a few steps and went to Susukino, the night and entertainment district of Sapporo. What better place to end a day than here? ;)

Okay, to make it clear, I wasn't doing the "adult entertainment", although many possibilities were available :D But where I started were only restaurants, bars and gaming centers. So  went through the streets, shoot many photos and enjoyed again the atmosphere of this place.

There were so many people laughing, coming out or going in or just wandering like me. But it wasn't hectic or some kind of stressful, it was just enjoyable ^^

But I have to make a confession: In lost orientation in these streets after a while and then just wandered off to random streets and places. I don't know why but after a (bigger) while, I noticed that the area where I walked in had many posters of men. From the way the looked like, I knew, your in the "adult entertainment area", in this case for women.

Definitely not my place oO

So I finally knew that I was at the right place. But I hadn't a clue where the next Subway station could be, so I walked further. Then the posters changed from men to gorgeous women. So I stayed a ... I mean, I walked even faster to find my way ;)
After passing the love hotels (a really quiet area, offside the main streets), I found the Subway station of Susukino. It turned out that the red light area was close to the station. I just had to turn right instead of left, which I did in the first place.

Last Picture of this Day :D

So it was about 11pm, so I went to the Hostel. After a shower, I just went into bed. Maybe one negative aspect at the end: One of the other people within the room snored :D

Can't wait for the next day!