Sapporo History, Japan

The land today on which the city of Sapporo is situated was under the control of Ainu settlements. This land was then known as Ishikari Plain. This was during 1857. Later on by 1866 construction work had started near the canal. This was the reason why so many settlers started to flock the city of Sapporo.

The word Sapporo means a large river which runs through a flat area. This is exactly what the land of Sapporo was during those days and hence the name Sapporo was the best suited for this newly formed village.

It was somewhere in the year of 1866 when the government under the Meiji Emperor felt that port of Hakodate wasn’t the best suited place for their army and this was the time when a new capital city for Hokkaidō prefecture was required. As the settlement of Sapporo was located on a flat land hence it was the best choice for the government to call it the new capital city.

Sometime around1870, the local government took help from the American government for the development of Sapporo City. The Secretary of Agriculture for US during those days was Horace Capron and he was appointed as the official for helping the administrative office of Sapporo in the growth of the city. The American style of right angle cities and grid plans were followed for the design of this new city. That’s why the city of Sapporo reflects the touches of metropolitan cities of America.

The first railroad was laid down i8n 1880. This railroad connected the city of Sapporo to Temiya. The Sapporo City was also renamed to Sapporo Ku during this year itself. This name returned to the normal Sapporo in the years to come.

1907 brought the first university for the city of Sapporo. The foundation for Tohoku Imperial University was laid during this year itself. Many neighboring villages of Sapporo City were integrated into the city by the year 1910. The Hokkaidō Imperial University (which was the 5th imperial university for Japan) was established somewhere in 1918.

The city of Sapporo hasn’t looked back since then and it has grown very quickly to be one of the most important metropolises on this planet.

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