A butterfly flaps its wings, and a storm rises far away.

CHAIN 01

One canal decided every address in Sapporo

1. 1866Otomo Kametaro digs the Otomo CanalA single channel dug by an agricultural administrator to water his fields.
2. 1870sThe Commission adopts it as the town’s east–west baselineAn existing man-made straight line was a perfect axis for designers drawing a city on the wilderness.
3. 1881The “jo/chome” address system beginsUsing Odori and the Sosei River as axes, coordinate-like addresses such as “Kita X-jo Nishi Y-chome” are born.
4. TodayAddresses in a city of 1.96 million are counted from that canalThe “4” in “Nishi 4-chome” means the fourth block from a pre-Meiji farm canal.

What if Otomo had dug his canal a little farther east? Sapporo Station’s address might not be “Nishi 4-chome.”

CHAIN 02

One official’s objection made “Sapporo” a world-famous name

1. 1875Murahashi Hisanari proposes building the brewery in HokkaidoOne official challenges the plan to build the government brewery in Tokyo.
2. 1876The Commission’s brewery is completed in SapporoBarrels bear the red star; the next year “Chilled Sapporo Beer” wins acclaim in Tokyo.
3. 1964The company is renamed Sapporo BreweriesAfter mergers and a split, the city’s name becomes the name of the company and brand.
4. Today“SAPPORO” and the red star are known worldwideMany people learn the name “Sapporo” from the beer before they ever hear of the city.

What if the brewery had been built in Tokyo as planned? The label would never have said “Sapporo.”

CHAIN 03

A bowl in Susukino reached kitchens across Japan

1. 1954Miso ramen is perfected at Aji no SanpeiOwner Omiya Morito creates a ramen suited to Japanese tastes.
2. 1955Featured in the magazine Kurashi no TechoReaders nationwide learn that Sapporo has a miso-flavored ramen.
3. 1960sIda Takeshi of a Gunma food company (later its president) is moved by the tasteThe bowl he would call “a work of art” inspires a new instant noodle.
4. Today“Sapporo Ichiban” and the image of “Sapporo = miso ramen”One shop’s ingenuity created all of Japan’s memory of “the taste of Sapporo.”

CHAIN 04

Six student snow statues became a festival of two million

1. 1950Students build six snow statues at Odori 7-chomeA small event to cheer up a subdued postwar winter city.
2. 1955The Self-Defense Force joins—the era of giant statues beginsStatues over ten meters tall appear, and crowds surge.
3. 1972The Sapporo Olympics put the city on the world mapThe Winter Games turn the Snow Festival into an international event.
4. TodayOver two million visitors and 6,000 truckloads of snowA shift in thinking turned snow from a nuisance into a tourism resource.

CHAIN 05

A returned Olympics gave birth to “underground Sapporo”

1. 1938Japan returns the 1940 Winter GamesWith the war escalating, the Sapporo Olympics become a phantom.
2. 1966Sapporo wins the 1972 GamesGiven a second chance, the city launches a sweeping urban makeover.
3. 1971A rubber-tired subway and underground malls openA quiet subway modeled on the Paris Métro and shopping streets untouched by snow.
4. 2011Chi-Ka-Ho opens, joining the underground city into oneEven in snow, you can now walk from Sapporo Station to Odori and Susukino without an umbrella.

CHAIN 06

An eruption 40,000 years ago built a Meiji townscape

1. c. 40,000 years agoThe giant Shikotsu caldera eruptionPyroclastic flows reach southern Sapporo and harden.
2. 1870sForeign advisers notice “Sapporo soft stone”Soft, easy to work and fire-resistant; the Commission encourages quarrying.
3. Meiji–ShowaWarehouses, shops, churches and offices are built of itThe quarry district is named “Ishiyama” (stone mountain); about 300 soft-stone buildings have been identified in the city.
4. TodayQuarries become parks; the stone becomes bread ovens and homewareThe volcano’s gift lives on in new forms in Sapporo life.

CHAIN 07

Students’ microcomputer fever became “Sapporo Valley”

1. 1970sA microcomputer research group thrives at Hokkaido UniversityAt a time when personal computers were rare, researchers and students were hooked on microcomputers.
2. 1973–Software companies spring up in SapporoHudson Soft, later a giant of home video games, was also founded in Sapporo.
3. 1990s–The cluster is dubbed “Sapporo Valley”Named after Silicon Valley, Sapporo drew attention as a model of regional IT clustering.

CHAIN 08

Defeat in the Boshin War gave Sapporo “Shiroishi Ward”

1. 1868The Sendai domain is defeated in the Boshin WarRetainers of the Katakura family, lords of Shiroishi Castle, lose their stipends.
2. 1871They cross to Hokkaido and clear land east of SapporoImpressed by their work, a Commission official names the village “Shiroishi” after their home.
3. TodayShiroishi Ward, Sapporo—about 210,000 peopleThe hometown of a defeated domain lives on as the name of a ward in a northern metropolis.