Mount Moiwa

Sapporo was laid out from 1869 on a grid, unusually for a Japanese city, and that is what makes the view from Moiwa work: from 531 metres the lit streets run in straight parallel lines to the horizon with the dark of the Ishikari plain beyond and the sea somewhere past that, and the regularity is the thing people remark on. The ascent is in two stages, a ropeway and then a small cable car on rails, from a base station reached by a free shuttle from the tram stop. At the top are an observation deck, a restaurant and a planetarium. The forest on the mountain is protected primeval woodland - it was the first natural monument designated in Hokkaido - so the slopes below the cable line are genuinely wild. Winter gives the clearest air and the coldest deck; the ropeway closes for maintenance for a period each year.

What you actually see

• A grid city lit - Sapporo's straight parallel streets running to the plain.
• A two-stage ascent - a ropeway then a small rail cable car to the summit.
• Protected forest - primeval woodland on the slopes, Hokkaido's first natural monument.
• A summit deck - with a restaurant and a small planetarium.

When to go

All year; after dark, and winter for the clearest air. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

The ropeway closes in high wind and for an annual maintenance period. Sunset slots queue heavily. The deck is cold and exposed in winter. Total ticket cost for both stages is not small.

Nearby

Sapporo city centre is north-east; Odori Park runs through it.