Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill
licensed photographkanesue / CC BY 3.0

Southeast Sapporo · HitsujigaokaNo.1116★★Open in map →

Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill

localOff the trail — and worth it

A fenced pasture on Sapporo's south-eastern rim, where sheep graze with the city standing along the far edge and a bronze Clark points off the crest of the hill. The ground belongs to a national agricultural research station, not to a park.

  1. FromSapporo Station
  2. ~35 minToho Line + Chuo Bus
  3. Get off atFukuzumi Station (Toho Subway Line)
  4. From there
  5. Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is one of Sapporo's best-known sights, not a hidden one. What gets less attention is that the hill belongs to a working national research farm, and that the visitor half was carved out of it by negotiation. The version standing today also has a closing date, which changes what it is worth coming for.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

The sheep pasturekanesue / CC BY 3.0
  1. The Clark statuea bronze figure with the right arm thrown out, and a slot in the base for written pledges
  2. The sheep pasturefenced grazing land falling away from the plaza, with the skyline along its far edge
  3. Sapporo Snow Festival Museumpanels, photographs and snow-sculpture models tracing the festival's history
  4. The Austrian pavilionan alpine-style building moved here from the Sapporo Winter Olympics, now a Hokkaido souvenir shop

How to actually get there

  1. Sapporo Station → Fukuzumi Station (Toho Subway Line, about 13 minutes).
  2. Fukuzumi Bus Terminal → Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill (Hokkaido Chuo Bus, about 10 minutes, terminating at the gate).
  3. Pay at the window beside the terminus, then walk out to the Clark statue plaza and the pasture.
  4. Loop back through the Snow Festival museum and the Austrian pavilion to the same stop for the return bus.
Toho Subway Line, then a Chuo Bus from Fukuzumi
From Sapporo Station take the Toho Subway Line south to Fukuzumi, about 13 minutes. Transfer at the bus terminal above the station to the Hokkaido Chuo Bus service for Hitsujigaoka, which leaves from platform 4. The ride takes about 10 minutes and ends inside the grounds. Allow roughly 35 minutes door to gate, plus the wait between the two.
Return from the gate to Fukuzumi
The same route runs back from the gate to Fukuzumi Bus Terminal, where the Toho Subway Line returns to the city centre. Bus departures thin out late in the day and finish not long after the hill closes, so read the posted times at the gate before you settle in. The subway itself runs into the late evening.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The ground under this hill is not parkland. It is a slice of the Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center, a national institute that shares the same address, and the green in front of the statue is fenced grazing land rather than lawn. The Sapporo Tourist Association runs the visitor half of it. More than 32.3 million people have come through the gate since the hill opened, a figure the association published alongside its rebuilding plan. Sheep are put out on the slope through the warm months, and lavender is cut on the grounds in early summer.

How to enjoy it

The gate opens at 9:00 all year. Closing runs to 18:00 from June through September and to 17:00 in the other months, and there is no evening opening. Take the statue and the pasture first, while the light is still on the city side, then work back through the museum and the pavilion. Buses arrive and turn round at the same point, so the visit fits neatly between two rides.

Background & history

The name came from livestock. A government cattle station was founded here in 1906 and later took on sheep, which is how the plateau came to be called Hitsujigaoka, the hill of sheep. After the war so many sightseers arrived that the research station restricted entry, and only after the city and tourism bodies pressed their case did part of the land open as a viewpoint in 1959. The full-length Clark followed in 1976, cast from a model by the sculptor Ban Tando, with Boys, be ambitious cut into the granite base.

Before you go

Cash
Admission is charged. The rate posted by the operator is 1,000 yen for adults, 500 yen for elementary and junior-high school students, and free for preschoolers. Arriving by bus, you pay at the window beside the terminus rather than at a separate entrance. The bus takes cash or IC cards, including SAPICA, Kitaca and Suica.
Before you go
There is no regular closing day, but the whole site shuts on 1 April 2027 for a full rebuild, with reopening planned for around the summer of 2028; the Clark statue goes with it. From December to March the pasture is under snow and the walk from the gate is slower. There is no evening opening, so treat this as a daylight visit.
Another way
A second Hokkaido Chuo Bus route reaches the hill from Hiragishi Station on the Namboku Subway Line and takes about 26 minutes. It is slower than the Fukuzumi route, but saves a change if you are already on that line.
After you get off
The bus runs into the grounds and stops at the gate, so there is no walk from the stop. Pay at the window beside the terminus; the statue plaza is straight ahead, with the pasture opening out to the side.