36 Hours in Sapporo, Japan

Sapporo was once synonymous with winter, thanks to its annual snow festival, its famed snow crab and the white powder that reliably blankets the surrounding mountains. But much has changed since the city hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics. Today the capital of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands, is proving itself to be fertile ground for homegrown creativity, with basements and passageways and crumbling old houses being transformed into galleries and shops and exciting new restaurants. Green urban parks, laid-back residents and an outdoorsy spirit have many comparing the city to Portland, Ore., Sapporo’s sister city on the opposite side of the Pacific. To judge for yourself, speed north on the new Hokkaido Shinkansen; the bullet train began service last year, making this newly dynamic city easier to reach in every season.