Ōdōri Park

Ōdōri Park
Park in Sapporo
View from the television tower
Basic data
place	Sapporo
District	Chūō-ku
Created	1871
Surrounding streets	Nishi 1-17 chome
Buildings	Sapporo TV tower
Technical specifications
Parking area	7.9 ha
43 ° 3 '35 "  N , 141 ° 20' 47"  E Coordinates: 43 ° 3 '35 "  N , 141 ° 20' 47"  E

The Ōdōri Park ( Japanese 大通 公園 , Ōdōri kōen ) is a public park in the Japanese city ​​of Sapporo . It is 1.5 kilometers long, 105 meters wide and has an area of ​​almost 7.9 hectares . The word ōdōri means "great road". The park in the central district of Chūō-ku is the location of the Sapporo TV tower . Numerous events take place here, including the annual Sapporo Snow Festival in winter.

layout

The intersecting streets divide Ōdōri Park into rectangular blocks, each measuring 65 meters from north to south and 110 meters from east to west. According to the Japanese address system , it is not the streets but the blocks in between that are named. They range from Nishi-1-chôme in the east to Nishi-13-chôme in the west. Streets and four-meter-wide sidewalks surround each block, and pedestrians must cross zebra crossings between each block. The area of ​​the block Nishi-1-chōme adjoining the Sōsei Canal is slightly smaller than that of the other blocks, the blocks Nishi-8-chōme and Nishi-9-chōme are interconnected. A landmark is the Sapporo TV tower in the Nishi-1-chōme block; it is 147 meters high and has a viewing platform at a height of 90 meters.

In the remaining blocks there are elaborately designed flower gardens, monuments and an open-air stage. A special feature is a maypole in the Nishi-11-chōme block, which is reminiscent of the twinning between Sapporo and Munich .

history

In 1869 the government sent the judge Shima Yoshitake to Sapporo to prepare for the establishment of a centrally located city in Hokkaidō . He developed a development plan in which a large street divided the city into a north and south half. The northern part would have been intended for public servants and offices, while the southern part would have been a residential area. The location of the dividing road was still different from that of the present park. After Shima's dismissal for mismanagement, Iwamura Michitoshi oversaw the town planning of Sapporo. In 1871 he changed the original plan and set up the Kabō-sen ( 火 防線 , German "fire protection line") at the point where the park is today . This was a 105 meter wide firebreak on largely undeveloped land.

The street running there was named Shiribeshi-dōri ( 後 志 通 ) in 1872 , but this turned out to be not particularly popular and was changed to Ōdōri in 1881 . In the Meiji period , the Nishi-1-chōme and Nishi-2-chōme areas of Ōdōri Street were slightly narrower than the other areas. Both the Hōheikan , a hotel in western architectural style, and the later switchboard protruded beyond the building line . With the hosting of an agricultural fair in May 1878, Ōdōri Street established itself as an important venue for all kinds of events. The western end of the street served for a time as a parade ground for the Tondenhei , a unit of military border colonists .

Snow festival

With the exception of a flower garden created in 1876 in the Nishi 3/4-chōme area, the wide aisle had no design and the residents complained about the generally neglected impression. Ogawa Jirō, a student of the agricultural school, put in 1907 in the area Nishi-2-chōme to Nishi-4-chōme at his own expense flower beds. Other landscapers followed suit and the road gradually began to look like a park. In 1923 the city administration took over the maintenance. Towards the end of the Second World War the park served as a potato field, after the end of the war it was temporarily used as a garbage and snow dump. The American occupation forces used part of the park for baseball fields and tennis courts .

After the occupying power had returned the park to civil administration, the Sapporo Snow Festival took place for the first time in 1949 . In 1950, restoration of the flower beds began according to a five-year program. Summer festivals, exhibitions and garden shows were soon added. The Sapporo TV tower was built in 1957 and has been a symbol of the city ever since. Little by little, the areas between all the intersecting streets were designed in a park-like manner.

Events

Hokkaidō marathon

All kinds of events, large and small, take place in Ōdōri Park all year round. The best known internationally is the Sapporo Snow Festival with numerous snow and ice sculptures, which each February attracts around two million visitors. The Sapporo Lilac Festival in late March, the Yosakoi Soran Festival in early June, the Flower Festival in late June, the Sapporo Summer Festival from mid-July to mid-August, the Hokkaidō Marathon in late August, and the Sapporo Autumn Festival from mid-September also attract many visitors until the beginning of October and the “Munich Christmas Market” during Advent.

After several athletes suffered health problems at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha due to the climatic conditions, the IOC announced in October 2019 that it would move the marathon and walking from Tokyo to Sapporo at the 2020 Summer Olympics . The Ōdōri Park is intended to serve as a start and end point.

Web links

• Information about the park (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 札幌 の ま ち と と も に 歩 ん だ 公園. (PDF, 4.2 MB) City of Sapporo, pp. 3–4 , accessed on May 20, 2020 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} さ っ ぽ ろ 文庫. City of Sapporo, February 15, 2019, accessed May 20, 2020 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ 札幌 の ま ち と と も に 歩 ん だ 公園. P. 5.
4. ↑ 大通 花壇 史 (そ の 1): 大通 公園 の 歴 史 と 植物. Sapporo-shi kōen ryokka kyōkai, archived from the original on January 1, 2015 ; Retrieved May 20, 2020 (Japanese). 
5. ^ Sapporo Snow Festival. Japan Guide, accessed May 20, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Events. Ōdōri Park information page, accessed May 20, 2020 (Japanese). 
7. ↑ Ryusei Takahashi: Tokyo Gov. Koike gives up fighting IOC's decision to move Olympic marathon to Sapporo. The Japan Times , November 1, 2019, accessed December 1, 2019 .