Introduction

Sapporo’s Tanukikoji and Susukino districts sit side by side in the heart of the city, and together they cover two very different sides of a night or day out. Tanukikoji is a fully covered shopping arcade dating back to the earliest days of Hokkaido’s settlement, while Susukino, just a short walk away, is one of Japan’s three great entertainment districts, known for its neon-lit crossing and round-the-clock energy.

Visited together, the two areas make for a compact but varied stretch of central Sapporo: century-old storefronts and a modern aquarium tower on one side, ramen alleys, bowling, and darts on the other. Neither district requires more than a short walk from the nearest subway station, making them an easy pair to explore in a single afternoon and evening.

Overview of Tanukikoji and Susukino

Tanukikoji traces its roots back to around 1869, when the Meiji government established the Hokkaido Development Commission in Sapporo and merchants began setting up shop nearby. By the mid-1870s, the area had taken on the name Tanukikoji. It has operated as a shopping street ever since, making it one of Hokkaido’s oldest commercial districts. Today the arcade runs roughly 900 meters across seven blocks, numbered one-chome through seven-chome, sheltering close to 200 shops beneath a fully covered roof that keeps out rain, snow, and summer sun alike.

Susukino’s history runs in a different direction. The district was established in 1871 as a licensed pleasure quarter under the Hokkaido Development Commission, and it took its name from the susuki, or Japanese pampas grass, that once covered the open land here. The pleasure quarter closed around 1920, after which the area gradually developed into the restaurant and entertainment district it is today, eventually growing into one of Japan’s three great nightlife districts alongside Tokyo’s Kabukicho and Fukuoka’s Nakasu.

Despite this shared origin story with other major entertainment districts, Susukino carries a somewhat different reputation. It is frequently described as one of the more comfortable nightlife districts in Japan to walk through, even for visitors unfamiliar with the area, thanks to a relatively low crime rate for a district of its size and a genuine mix of everyday restaurants alongside its bars and clubs.

Key Features

• A fully covered shopping arcade spanning seven blocks and roughly 900 meters
• Close to 200 shops, from century-old stores to a modern aquarium tower
• Susukino, one of Japan’s three great entertainment districts
• The neon-lit Susukino Crossing, anchored by its landmark Nikka Whisky sign
• A 24-hour entertainment complex offering bowling, darts, and karaoke

The two districts sit close enough that the line between them blurs in practice. Tanukikoji’s western blocks lead almost directly into Susukino’s northern edge, and an underground passageway connects the newer Moyuk SAPPORO complex to Susukino without ever stepping back outside. Many visitors treat an evening here as one continuous route: shopping and a bite to eat in Tanukikoji, followed by drinks, ramen, or a few games at an entertainment complex once the sun goes down in Susukino.

Each district also keeps its own yearly rhythm. Tanukikoji holds its Tanuki Matsuri festival each summer, tied to a small shrine partway along the arcade, while Susukino draws crowds each winter for its own ice festival, held alongside the citywide Sapporo Snow Festival. Both events add a burst of color and crowds to districts that already feel lively on an ordinary day.

Best Things to Do in Tanukikoji and Susukino

A visit here works well as a loop: shopping and snacks through the arcade in the afternoon, then a shift toward food, games, and neon as evening sets in.

Browse the Historic Tanukikoji Arcade

Walking the length of Tanukikoji means passing under nearly 900 meters of continuous roofed arcade, with shops ranging from decades-old tea merchants and tailors to discount chains, thrift stores, and plush toy shops. The arcade’s seven numbered blocks each have a slightly different character, with the western blocks toward seven-chome keeping more of an old-fashioned, retro feel compared to the busier, more modernized blocks closer to Susukino.

Large discount retailers such as MEGA Don Quijote sit alongside secondhand fashion chains as well as 100-yen and variety shops, and small specialty stores selling everything from dried seafood to st￭ animal keychains, giving the arcade a genuinely mixed character rather than a single tourist-oriented theme. Because the entire street is covered and closed to ordinary vehicle traffic, it stays comfortable to walk through regardless of Hokkaido’s weather, whether that means shielding shoppers from summer sun or winter snow.

Longtime shop owners in the seventh-chome block, in particular, describe a noticeably different pace from the newer, brighter storefronts closer to Susukino, with small tea shops, tailors, and secondhand record stores that have operated in the same spots for decades. Wandering this end of the arcade gives a clearer sense of what Tanukikoji looked like before large chains and modern towers like Moyuk SAPPORO arrived nearby.

Highlights

• Nearly 900 meters of fully covered, weatherproof arcade
• Close to 200 shops spanning discount chains, thrift stores, and old-fashioned specialty shops
• A retro, old-Sapporo atmosphere concentrated around the western blocks
• The summer Tanuki Matsuri festival, tied to a small shrine along the arcade

Details

• Time required: 1 to 2 hours for a relaxed walk with stops
• Access: directly served by the Tanukikoji streetcar stop, or about a 3-minute walk from Odori Station
• Season: the Tanuki Matsuri festival runs for several weeks each summer, with a lively night bargain event partway through*

Notes: pedestrian-only within the arcade, so it stays comfortable to walk regardless of weather

Explore Moyuk SAPPORO and Its Urban Aquarium

Near the Susukino end of the arcade, at Tanukikoji three-chome, the complex Moyuk SAPPORO opened in 2023 on the site of a former discount store, and its name comes from the Ainu word for tanuki, a fitting nod to the neighborhood it sits in. The building’s lower floors hold shops, a fruit stand with roots reaching back to the site’s earlier days, and a dining floor connected directly to the underground Pole Town passageway toward Susukino.

The building’s signature draw is AOAO SAPPORO, an urban aquarium spread across the fourth through sixth floors. Rather than a traditional aquarium layout, it leans into an immersive, garden-like design meant to highlight the connections between ocean, river, and everyday city life, with exhibits covering everything from local Hokkaido marine life to penguins. A rooftop garden on the seventh floor adds an open-air stop above the aquarium itself.

Because the aquarium occupies a mid-rise tower rather than a ground-level building, its exhibits are arranged more vertically than a typical waterfront aquarium, with the route winding upward through themed sections rather than spreading out across a single floor. This layout makes it a practical option regardless of the weather outside, since the entire visit takes place indoors within a building already connected to the arcade and the underground passage toward Susukino.

Highlights

• AOAO SAPPORO, an immersive urban aquarium across the fourth to sixth floors
• A seventh-floor rooftop garden open above the aquarium
• Direct underground access to Susukino via the Pole Town passageway
• Shops and a dining floor connecting straight into the arcade at ground level

Details

• Time required: 1.5 to 2.5 hours for the aquarium alone
• Access: directly on the Tanukikoji arcade, about a 3-minute walk from Odori Station
• Hours: aquarium 10:00 to 22:00, last entry 21:00; shopping floors generally 10:00 to 20:00*
• Entry: around ¥2,200 for adults, ¥1,100 for elementary and junior high students*

Taste Sapporo’s Own Kinotoya Bake

Kinotoya is a Sapporo confectionery brand founded in 1983, and its baked cheese tart has become one of the city’s most recognizable sweets. KINOTOYA BAKE, a specialty offshoot of the main brand, focuses on this single item, baking cheese tarts fresh in an in-store oven alongside other rotating items such as a custard apple pie and a notably tall, smooth soft-serve.

Sapporo dessert fans sometimes point out that Kinotoya’s cheese tart has an unexpected connection to a much larger name: BAKE, the now-international cheese tart chain, was founded separately in Tokyo by the son of Kinotoya’s chairman, drawing inspiration from his father’s original recipe. While BAKE expanded worldwide, Kinotoya itself has stayed a Sapporo-only brand, making a stop at one of its shops a genuinely local experience rather than something replicated elsewhere.

Highlights

• Fresh-baked cheese tarts made in an in-store oven
• Rotating seasonal items such as custard apple pie
• A tall, smooth soft-serve popular as a second treat
• A Sapporo-exclusive brand with no locations outside the city

Details

• Time required: 15 to 20 minutes
• Access: multiple locations in and around central Sapporo, including branches near the arcade and underground passageways
• Notes: seasonal items sell in limited quantities and can sell out earlier in the day
• Entry: no admission fee; items purchased individually

Play the Night Away at an Entertainment Complex in Susukino

Susukino is home to a large, round-the-clock entertainment complex offering bowling, darts, karaoke, billiards, table tennis, and a wide floor of arcade and crane games, all under one roof a short walk from Susukino Station. The darts area alone includes multiple electronic dartboard machines, drawing both casual visitors and more serious players working through ranked games.

Because the complex operates 24 hours a day, it works equally well as an early-evening stop before dinner or a late-night destination after the bars and restaurants nearby start winding down. Large-format screens above the bowling lanes and a constantly rotating lineup of crane game prizes keep the space feeling current even for repeat visitors.

Groups traveling together often find this kind of complex easier to plan around than individual bars or restaurants, since bowling, darts, and karaoke rooms can each hold several people at once, and pricing is typically structured by time rather than by individual game, making an open-ended few hours simple to arrange without much advance planning.

Highlights

• Bowling lanes with large-format video screens
• Multiple electronic dartboard machines for casual or ranked play
• Karaoke rooms, billiards, and table tennis under one roof
• A large arcade and crane game floor with a frequently rotating prize selection

Details

• Time required: 1 to 3 hours depending on activities chosen
• Access: about a 1-minute walk from Susukino Station, or roughly 3 minutes from the Tanukikoji four-chome exit at Odori Station
• Hours: open 24 hours daily*
• Notes: pricing varies by activity and time of day, with separate rates for bowling, darts, and karaoke*

Walk Susukino After Dark

Susukino Crossing, marked by the towering Nikka Whisky sign on the Susukino Building, is the district’s visual anchor and one of Sapporo’s most photographed nighttime scenes. Around the crossing and the blocks nearby, dense clusters of neon signage advertise everything from ramen shops and Genghis Khan grill restaurants to bars, karaoke lounges, and late-night eateries.

Susukino’s ramen alley is a particular draw for food-focused visitors, packing a run of small ramen counters into a single narrow lane. Despite its reputation as a nightlife district, Susukino is also known as one of Japan’s safer entertainment areas, commonly cited as a place where visitors can walk and eat comfortably even late into the evening.

Travel Tips for Visiting Tanukikoji and Susukino

Walk the Arcade End to End at Least Once

The character of Tanukikoji changes noticeably from block to block, so walking the full seven blocks rather than stopping partway gives a better sense of both its modern and retro sides.

Time a Summer Visit Around the Tanuki Matsuri

The festival’s night bargain event draws large, cheerful crowds and inexpensive food and drink stalls, making it worth checking the current year’s dates before a summer trip.

Book Aquarium Tickets in Advance

AOAO SAPPORO can get busy, particularly on weekends, so purchasing timed tickets online ahead of a visit helps avoid a wait at the entrance.

Use the Underground Passage in Bad Weather

The Pole Town passageway connects Moyuk SAPPORO to Susukino without needing to step outside, a useful option during heavy snow, rain, or simply Hokkaido’s colder months.

Keep an Eye on Belongings in Crowded Stretches

Susukino is considered one of Japan’s safer entertainment districts, but the usual precautions around crowded nightlife areas still apply, particularly near the busiest blocks late at night.

Be Selective About Late-Night Touts

Around Susukino, it is common to encounter street touts directing passersby toward bars or restaurants. Sticking to recommended or clearly signed establishments avoids any confusion over pricing.

Carry Some Cash for Smaller Shops

Many of Tanukikoji’s smaller, older shops and some Susukino food stalls still prefer cash over cards, so keeping some on hand makes for smoother transactions.

How to Get to Tanukikoji and Susukino

From Sapporo Station

• By subway: Namboku Line to Susukino Station
• On foot: roughly 15 to 20 minutes south along the underground passage or street level

From New Chitose Airport

• By train: JR Rapid Airport service to Sapporo Station, about 35 to 40 minutes, then subway as above
• By car: approximately 1 hour to central Sapporo, depending on traffic

Within the Area

• By streetcar: the Tanukikoji stop serves the arcade directly
• By subway: Odori Station connects to the Tanukikoji four-chome exit; Susukino Station sits at the heart of the entertainment district
• On foot: the two districts are connected by a short walk or an underground passage via Moyuk SAPPORO

*Prices, hours, and seasonal event dates are subject to change. Please check official venue and event websites for up-to-date information.

Summary

Tanukikoji and Susukino offer two connected but distinct sides of central Sapporo: a covered shopping arcade with roots in the earliest days of Hokkaido’s settlement, and one of Japan’s three great entertainment districts, still anchored by its landmark NIKKA neon whisky sign. Between them sit a modern aquarium tower, a Sapporo-only bakery with ties to a global dessert chain, and a 24-hour entertainment complex that keeps the area lively at any hour.

Each district also carries its own seasonal traditions, from Tanukikoji’s summer Tanuki Matsuri to Susukino’s winter ice festival, giving repeat visitors a reason to return at different times of year for a different atmosphere.

Since festival dates, aquarium tickets, and entertainment complex hours can all shift throughout the year, having an eSIM on hand makes it easier to check current schedules while moving between the arcade and the neon streets of Susukino.

Whether visited for an afternoon of shopping or a full evening into the night, Tanukikoji and Susukino together offer one of the most walkable introductions to central Sapporo’s everyday life after dark.