Historical Village of Hokkaido

Hokkaido was settled from the mainland in the second half of the nineteenth century, and this open-air museum collects fifty-two buildings from that period - moved here from across the island or reconstructed, and grouped into four zones: a town of shops, a newspaper office, a photographic studio and an inn; a farm village of houses and barns; a fishing village with a herring fishery owner's house; and a mountain village of a logging camp and a mine office. The architecture is a mixture of Japanese carpentry adapted to deep snow and imported American frame construction brought in with the colonisation programme, which is the interesting part - you can see the two idioms next to each other and sometimes in the same building. A horse-drawn tram runs the main street in the warmer months and a horse sleigh replaces it in winter.

What to look for

• Fifty-two historic buildings - moved from across Hokkaido or reconstructed, and grouped into four districts.
• Two building idioms - Japanese snow-country carpentry beside imported American framing.
• A herring fishery house - from the industry that built the western coast.
• The horse tram - running the main street, replaced by a sleigh in winter.

When to go

May to October; winter for the sleigh and snow. Half a day.

Practical notes

The site is large and spread out, with a lot of walking between zones. Some buildings are closed in winter. Explanation is largely in Japanese. It is a fair distance from central Sapporo.

Nearby

Sapporo is west; the Hokkaido Museum is on the same site.

Key facts