Built in 1957, the Sapporo TV Tower stands 147 metres at the eastern end of Odori Park, its red-and-white lattice frame a fixture of the city's skyline since the first decade of the postwar boom. The observation deck sits at 90 metres and gives a clear panoramic view over the city grid, which from above is even more striking than at street level — long straight avenues running to the mountains in every direction, the product of the Meiji-era planners who laid out Sapporo on paper before building it. Entry costs around 900 yen.
Whether the climb is worth the money depends on what you want. The view is genuinely good, particularly on clear days when you can see far into the surrounding mountains and coastline. But the tower is actually best as a subject rather than a viewpoint — standing in Odori Park and looking east, with the tower framing the park's long axis, is one of the better photographs in Sapporo. Avoid the climb on overcast days; the observation deck loses most of its appeal in low cloud.