Hoheikan
- Published on : 27/12/2012
- by : Japan Experience
- Youtube
The Hoheikan in Nakajima Park in Sapporo is the oldest wooden building of its type in Japan, built in 1880.
Hoheikan 豊平館
The Hoheikan located in Nakajima Park in Sapporo, south of Sapporo Station, is an historic guest house/hotel built in 1880 by the Hokkaido Development Commission (kaitakushi) to both accommodate and impress visiting foreign dignitaries.
As well as high-ranking foreigners, the Meiji, Taisho and Showa Emperors all stayed here on their state visits to Sapporo and Hokkaido.
The western-style wooden building was designed by architect Kiko Adachi, who commissioned the master carpenter, Sukeumon Oka, to construct the building and its ornate wooden interior furnishings.
The Hoheikan is the oldest such wooden building of its type in Japan. Originally the building stood in the Odori area of Sapporo but was moved to its present location in 1958. A plaque marks where the Hoheikan originally stood.
The Hoheikan's interior has wonderful spiral staircases, Corinthian columns, chandeliers, plaster work and original furnishings, Lapis lazuli inlaid window frames and ceramics from the late 19th century.
Today the building is open free of charge to visitors and is also used as a restaurant, a venue for weddings, seminars and other meetings.
From 2012 the building was closed for maintenance and renovation and reopened in 2016.
The Hoheikan built in 1880 as a guesthouse for visiting dignitaries in Nakajima Park, Sapporo is the only hotel built by the Meiji government
The Hoheikan is a western-style residence in Sapporo, Hokkaido
Access - Hoheikan
The Hoheikan is a short walk from Nakajima Koen Station on the Namboku Line of the Sapporo subway or from the Nakajima Koen Dori stop of the Sapporo street car.
120 Nakajima Park, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, 064-0931
Open: 9 am-5 pm closed second Tuesday of the month excluding June through October
Tel: 011 511 0985
Other Sapporo Attractions
Old Hokkaido Government Building (akarenga)
Sapporo Beer Museum
Sapporo Clock Tower
Hokkaido University Botanical Garden
The Hoheikan is located in Nakajima Park in Sapporo, Hokkaido
