Sapporo Clock Tower

The building went up in 1878 as the drill hall of the Sapporo Agricultural College, designed in the American balloon-frame timber style that colonists brought to Hokkaido, and the clock - a Howard tower clock from Boston - was installed in 1881 and has run with weights wound by hand ever since, making it one of the oldest working tower clocks in Japan. It is a designated important cultural property and the emblem of the city. It is also, by common local admission, a disappointment in person: modern office buildings were built right up against it on three sides, so the white wooden tower now sits in a well of glass and concrete and there is nowhere to stand that gives it any space. Sapporo residents include it in half-joking lists of Japan's underwhelming sights. Inside is a small museum on the college and the clock mechanism, which is the better part of the visit.

History

The tower, built in 1878, is all that remains of the drill hall of the Sapporo Agricultural College, now Hokkaido University, and it is the oldest building standing in Sapporo. The clock, by E. Howard & Co. of Boston, was installed in July 1881 and put to use on 12 August 1881 (Wikipedia, Sapporo Clock Tower).

What's there

• An 1878 timber frame - American balloon-frame construction from the colonial college.
• An 1881 Boston clock - hand-wound weights, running continuously since installation.
• The setting - office blocks pressed against three sides with no space to stand back.
• The interior museum - the mechanism and the history of the agricultural college.

When to go

All year. An hour. Weekday mornings are quietest.

Before you go

It is genuinely hemmed in and the photograph everyone wants does not exist. The building is small and the visit is short. Entry is charged for the interior. Expectations set by its emblem status are usually not met.

Nearby

Odori Park is a block south; the old Government Building is west.

Key facts