Sapporo's most recognisable landmark is a modest white clapboard building with a red star on its clock face, looking strikingly out of place among the surrounding office towers. Built during the Meiji-era development of Hokkaido, it is one of the few remaining Western-style buildings from the city's founding period. The interior houses a small museum on Sapporo's history. Expect a quick visit rather than a long one, but it is worth seeing for the sheer incongruity of a New England-style hall in the middle of a Japanese city.
Sapporo Clock Tower
Meiji-era New England-style hall with an 1881 clock
A story
The Clock Tower was built in 1878 as a drill hall for what is now Hokkaido University. The Howard clock mechanism, imported from Boston, has been ticking continuously since 1881 and has never been replaced.