Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens, University botanical garden in Sapporo, Japan.
Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden in central Sapporo, featuring outdoor plant areas, a tropical greenhouse, and several museum buildings on the same grounds. The collection covers alpine plants, native Hokkaido trees, and a range of species that reflect the natural diversity of the island.
The gardens were founded in 1886 as part of what was then the Sapporo Agricultural College, making them the second oldest institution of this kind in Japan. Their origins in agricultural research shaped an early focus on the plants and natural resources specific to Hokkaido.
The Natural History Museum on the grounds displays objects from the Ainu people, including tools, clothing, and everyday items that reflect the life of Hokkaido's original inhabitants. This collection is one of the most accessible ways in Sapporo to learn about Ainu heritage through physical objects.
The garden lies in Chūō-ku, about ten minutes on foot from Sapporo Station, Ōdōri and Nishi-11-chōme subway stations, and five minutes from the Nishi-8-chōme tram stop. It closes on Mondays (the next day when Monday is a holiday), on winter Sundays and holidays, and over the New Year period. The grounds are open in winter, but the garden shuts for the season, so plan around the warmer months.
The garden holds the oldest lilac in Sapporo, and a section replants the forest that covered the Ishikari Plain before settlement. Trees transplanted from Harvard University's botanic garden also grow here, a link to Kingo Miyabe's studies in the United States.
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