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Sapporo, the fifth-largest city in Japan by population and the third-largest by geographic area, is best known outside Japan for hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics. In addition, every year it hosts the Sapporo Snow Festival, which draws more than 2 million tourists from around the world; for seven days in February hundreds of beautiful snow statues and ice sculptures line the streets and parks. The city is also home to the famous Sapporo Breweries, and is but a 30 minute train ride from New Chitose Airport.
Sapporo
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Just down from our ryokan (in the opposite direction from the Old Hokkaido Government Building) was the Hokkaido University Botanical Garden, the second oldest botanical garden in Japan. It is 13.3 hectares in area and maintains over 4000 species of plants. In addition to the various native and research gardens, there is a Natural History Museum built in 1884 by the Hokkaido Development Commission. Inside are exhibits of aboriginal (Ainu) artifacts, local archaeological and biological specimens, and even the stuffed body of Taro, one of the two surviving sled dogs from Japan's 1958 mission to Antarctica.
This and the following three pictures are of some of the trees in the botanical garden.
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