The botanical garden opened in 1886 as one of the first modern botanical gardens in Japan. More than 4,000 species of plants can be seen, some of them growing in a primeval forest.

Despite its location in central Sapporo, the garden is very quiet. Large Japanese elm and Siebold’s beech thrive here. You can see the remains of pit dwellings from the Jomon Era (14,000BC – 400BC), a rock garden where rocks from around the world are exhibited, the Batchelor Residence, which was the first museum in Sapporo and the last Western-style building to be built during development period, and the Memorial Hall of Dr. Kingo Miyabe, the first curator of the garden.

Address: North 3-jo West 8-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
Open: Year-round (But from Nov. 4 to Apr. 28, only the greenhouse is open.)
Hours: 9AM – 4PM from Apr. 29 to Sep. 30
9AM – 3:30PM from Oct. 1 to Nov. 3
10AM – 3PM (– 12PM on Sat.) from Nov. 4 to Apr. 28 (greenhouse only)
Closed: Mon. from Apr. 29 to Nov. 3 (if the Mon. is a nat’l holiday, then closed that Tue. instead)
Sun. and nat’l holidays from Nov. 4 to Apr. 28.
Dec. 28 – Jan. 4
Admission: 400 yen for adults (330 yen for groups of 30 or more)
280 yen for high schoolers and junior high schoolers (220 yen for groups of 30 or more)
110 yen between Nov. 4 and Apr. 28 (admission to the greenhouse only)
Access: A 10- min. walk from JR Sapporo Sta. or Sapporo Subway Sta. (Namboku and Toho lines)
Parking: None
Contact: 011-221-0066 (Botanical Garden, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University)