Sapporo White Illumination

The Sapporo White Illumination lights the centre of Sapporo each winter. It began in 1981 with about a thousand light bulbs on a plaza in Odori Park, and the organizers describe it as the first illumination event in Japan. It has since grown to six venues across the city centre.

Odori Park holds the large symbol objects made of light, a different one on each block of the park. Along Ekimae-dori, the main street from Sapporo Station to Susukino, the trees of the central reservation carry about 220,000 LEDs over roughly 1.5 km, and where the street meets Odori they are lit in Christmas colours. On Minami 1-jo Street, 46 ginkgo trees along both pavements make an avenue of light about 300 m long.

At Kita 3-jo Plaza, known as Akapla, a lit row of ginkgo trees stands in front of the red-brick former Hokkaido Government Office. The plaza outside the south exit of Sapporo Station has a program of sound and light that changes four times over the season. Nakajima Park joined as a sixth venue in 2026.

The Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo is held in Odori Park alongside the illumination, with stalls selling wine, Christmas food and Christmas goods.