With its wide roads laid out in a neat grid, an abundance of greenery and its sleek, modern subway system, Sapporo at first feels more like somewhere in America than in Japan.
The capital of Hokkaido and the nation's fifth-largest city, northerly Sapporo is normally several degrees cooler than the Kanto region in summer. In winter, it's positively freezing — but that's when February's annual Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) draws 2 million visitors to gawp at gigantic sculptures hewn from snow and ice. Beneath Sapporo's cool exterior, though, lies a genuine warmth of heart.
I was in Hokkaido in August to cover a music festival close to the capital, and my free time in Sapporo consisted of two nights and one day, in that order. I knew not a single soul when I got there; I left with plenty of friends.