City history
From its Ainu roots as a sandy coastal area to its role as a modern winter Olympic host, explore the timekeeping and development of Sapporo.
Chapter one
Indigenous name
"Dry, sandy beach"
The area was originally inhabited by the Ainu people, who named the local landscape based on its specific geographical features and soil.
Dry, sandy beach
The original Ainu name for the region, which historically described the local topography as a dry or sandy beach area.
Sapporo
The name was formalized during the Meiji era as the city was developed into a central administrative and economic hub.
Chapter two
Japan officially adopted a unified standard time based on the longitude of 135 degrees east, which is currently used in Sapporo.
Following World War II, Japan implemented daylight saving time to conserve energy, though this practice was later abolished in 1952.
Chapter three
The Development Commission was established to modernize and cultivate the Hokkaido frontier, which fundamentally shaped the city's grid-based urban design.
Built as part of the Sapporo Agricultural College, this iconic structure remains a symbol of the city's early scientific and temporal history.
Sapporo hosted the XI Olympic Winter Games, bringing international recognition and accelerating the development of major metropolitan infrastructure.
The first line of the Sapporo municipal subway system began operations, fundamentally changing urban transit and connectivity within the prefecture.