Sapporo Clock Tower, Heritage tower in central Sapporo, Japan
Sapporo Clock Tower is a two-story wooden building with a steep red roof and a central square clock tower topped by a small red gabled roof and spire. The cream-colored horizontal siding, multi-paned windows, and a triangular gable with three red stars above the entrance are visible. A dark plaque with gold characters hangs below the gable, and a covered porch projects from the front. The clock face has dark hands on a light dial.
Built in 1878 as the drill hall of Sapporo Agricultural College, it hosted military training, physical education and ceremonies; Inazo Nitobe and Kanzo Uchimura graduated here. The building was moved about 100 metres in 1906 when roads were realigned. The clock, made by E. Howard & Co. of Boston, was installed in 1881. In 1966 the city council chose permanent preservation on site, and in 1970 it was designated an Important Cultural Property.
The building's name comes from the clock added in 1881, and its bell is heard in Takao Takahata's 1922 song "Tokeidai no Kane." Since 1963 the Sapporo Citizens' Charter has opened with the line "We are the citizens of Sapporo, where the clock tower bell rings." The second-floor hall, once the drill hall, is now rented for concerts and events, including the PMF international music festival.
The building is a five-minute walk from Odori subway station, with the city hall across the street to the south. It is closed on Sundays and over the New Year period. The ground floor holds exhibition rooms and a shop, while the second-floor hall can be rented for events and concerts.
The clock's pendulum is driven by two weights—one of 50 kg and one of 150 kg—made from wooden boxes filled with pebbles from the Toyohira River. Winding them takes about two hours every four days. The bronze bell, 73 cm tall and 226 kg, was cast from copper, tin and zinc. In 1933, local watchmaker Kiyoshi Inoue volunteered to repair the stopped mechanism; his son Kazuo took over in 1982.
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