Did you know that Hokkaido is home to numerous spots where you can enjoy sculptures and art installations amidst its magnificent nature? In this article, we'll introduce 10 inspiring art destinations perfect for a visit during the 'season of arts'—autumn.

This is a hub for the arts, featuring museums, workshops, an outdoor stage, and music practice rooms. The park includes the Sapporo Art Museum, which hosts various exhibitions, and the Outdoor Sculpture Garden, which reveals different expressions with the changing seasons. Dotted throughout the forest are various craft workshops where visitors can enjoy hands-on experiences, such as woodworking and glassblowing.

Throughout its vast grounds, facilities such as mountains, fountains, and play equipment, all featuring geometric shapes, are systematically arranged, allowing visitors to enjoy a beautiful landscape where nature and art merge. In spring, cherry blossoms bloom, and in summer, facilities that color Sapporo's refreshing summer, like a wading pool and fountains, open. The park offers attractions for every season, with autumn foliage in the fall and cross-country skiing and sledding in a winter wonderland.

Four buildings, constructed in the first half of the 20th century when Otaru was at its peak of prosperity, now house and display outstanding works of art and crafts from Japan and around the world that adorned that era. You can enjoy art while immersing yourself in a space that exudes history.

This is an art plaza where everyone living today can spend their time freely and as they please. You can enjoy various works of art while surrounded by nature, such as the "Water Plaza" with its white marble sculptures "Myomu" and "Tenmu," a stone stage, and a pond, and the "Trifoglio Plaza" where the marble sculpture "Ten" lies as if to welcome children.

Against the backdrop of the majestic Hidaka Mountains, this rich natural environment is home to 100-year-old elm trees and a clear stream. The wildflowers familiar from the floral wrapping paper of Rokkatei Confectionery Co., Ltd. are grown here, and there is also a shop and cafe called "Rok'café." The site includes the Naoyuki Sakamoto Memorial Hall, which displays sketches of wildflowers and paintings of Hokkaido's mountains; the Silo 50th Anniversary Hall, where the cover art of the children's poetry magazine "Silo" covers the walls and ceiling; and the Masami Mano Works Hall.

This is a private museum of all things, established in 2001 by sculptor Shigenari Onishi. It's deep, yet peaceful! Escape from the everyday, engage with the artworks scattered across the grounds, and take a stroll through the otherworldly Shigechan World.

The towns of Toyako and Sobetsu, which surround Lake Toya, have created an "outdoor sculpture park where people and nature meet," placing a total of 58 sculptures along the lakeside. Enjoy the harmony between nature and sculpture art as you tour the artworks.

This park, selected as one of the "100 Hometown Cultural Treasures," combines nature and art. It consists of a "North Block," a relaxing place for citizens with an observation terrace and tennis courts, and a "South Block," which features artistic landscapes utilizing the exposed, steep rock faces of a former quarry. The fusion of natural stone formations and art creates a highly artistic space unlike any other.

This giant object was co-created in 1983 as part of the "Drift Ice Art Festival" project by sculptor Toshi Nagasaki, Hisao Kuwabara of the Mombetsu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the citizens of Mombetsu. It has become a popular photo spot for tourists in Mombetsu.

This gallery exhibits works of art in the underground concourse connecting Odori Station and Bus Center-Mae Station on the Sapporo Municipal Subway. It utilizes the underground space, a characteristic feature of Sapporo, as a venue for local artists to present their work, promoting Sapporo's culture and arts both locally and internationally.

*All information is current as of October 2024.
*Please note that all information is subject to change. Please check official websites for the latest details.

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