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This Weekend
This is the weekend the salmon come home — in Chitose a water-wheel scoops them straight from the river, and in Ishikari they're grabbed by hand for a thousand-person hotpot. Sapporo's doing something completely different: JAEJOONG and a lineup of international EDM DJs take over a dome for Hokkaido's first-ever Music Circus festival.
今週の一言 · WORD OF THE WEEK
遡上
Sojō - so-joh
"To swim upstream" — the specific word for what salmon do every autumn, fighting their way back to the rivers where they were born to spawn. It's the whole reason Chitose and Ishikari throw festivals this exact weekend — stand at the water's edge and you can watch it happen in real time, no metaphor required.
SAPPORO
Featured
SBI MUSIC CIRCUS HOKKAIDO
Sat Sept 26 - Daiwa House Premist Dome — First time this festival brand has ever come to Hokkaido. DAYBREAK (13:00–21:00) is a K-pop/J-pop hybrid festival with a genuinely international lineup — JAEJOONG, Kep1er, ME:I, izna, and more. AFTER DARK (21:30–6:00) turns the same dome into an all-night megaclub headlined by internationally touring EDM DJs KSHMR, Showtek, and TJR. AFTER DARK is 18+ with mandatory photo ID.
Mon Sept 21 – Sun Sept 27, 10:00–19:00 (Sept 21 & 25 until 18:00) - Craft Gyoza Fest Hokkaido 2026 · ES CON FIELD HOKKAIDO, glass-wall front special venue, Kitahiroshima — A dumpling festival. Runs alongside Fighters home games Sept 21–24.
Sat Sept 26, 10:00–17:00 – Sun Sept 27, 10:00–16:30 - NATURE BEAT JAM 2026 in F VILLAGE · ES CON FIELD HOKKAIDO — Hokkaido's largest outdoor culture festival, held at F Village for the first time. ~80 brands and booths across outdoor gear, apparel, food, and lifestyle. SUP, balance bikes, bonfire activities, craft-making, free entry for elementary-age kids and under. Live music (Nisshoku Natsuko, sorato) and talk stages with camping-scene personalities. Advance ¥900, door ¥1,100.
Tue Sept 29 – Wed Sept 30, 18:30 (doors 17:30) - KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR 2026 · Sapporo Cultural Arts Theater hitaru — One of Japan's most famous duos.
Mon Sept 28 – Wed Sept 30 - Glass Sculpture Exhibition — Asanuma & Oyama Classrooms Joint Show · SCARTS — Sparkling cut-glass sculpture work from two local glass-art classrooms.
Ongoing through Nov 8 - Tatsuya Tanaka Miniature Calendar Exhibition, Part 2 · Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, 9:30–17:00, closed Mondays (except Sept 21) and Sept 24, Oct 13 — A globally followed miniature photographer — a new diorama photograph posted daily since 2011, combining tiny figures with everyday objects. ~180 works on display.
BEYOND SAPPORO
Featured
61st Ishikari Salmon Festival
Sat Sept 26 – Sun Sept 27 - 61st Ishikari Salmon Festival · Bentenrekishi-dori, Ishikari, free, 2,500 free parking spaces — Running since 1956 — fresh salmon straight off Ishikari's own boats, a "Senninnabe" (1,000-portion salmon hotpot cooked in one giant pot), and the festival's signature moment: hand-grabbing live salmon out of the water. Local entertainment and horseback riding too.
CHITOSE
Sat Sept 26 – Sun Sept 27 - Indian Waterwheel Festival (47th edition) · Michi-no-Eki Salmon Park Chitose — The Chitose River is the birthplace of Hokkaido's salmon-hatchery program. Every autumn, a massive water-powered wheel — current alone, no motor — scoops salmon straight from the river as they run upstream. Salmon nabe, ikura bento, a log-cutting race, trout fishing.
SHIRAOI
Sat Sept 19 – Mon Nov 23 - "Kosonte" — Ainu Formal Dress Exhibition · National Ainu Museum (Upopoy), main galleries — Named for its link to "kosode," the prototype of the modern kimono — a focused look at Ainu textile and formal-clothing tradition.
Through Sun Oct 4 - "Tradition and Innovation" — Upopoy × Lake Akan Ainu Kotan Exchange Exhibition · Upopoy, Shiraoi — 5th annual exchange exhibition centered on the fuchi and ekashi — the elders who founded the Lake Akan Ainu Kotan community — with music, oral storytelling, and workshops.
KITAMI|OKHOTSK
Fri Sept 25, 17:00–20:00 (venue open till 21:00) – Sat Sept 26, 10:00–20:00 (venue open till 21:00) – Sun Sept 27, 10:00–17:00 - 3rd Kitami Autumn Festival — Okhotsk Marche 2026 · Kitami Station Plaza and surrounding area — One of the largest food festivals in the Okhotsk region — premium Okhotsk ingredients gathered in one spot, curated craft beer from across Japan, hands-free "Kitami Yakiniku" BBQ. A pumpkin-and-chrysanthemum display built for photos, plus night illuminations Fri 17:00–24:00 and Sat–Sun 16:00–24:00.
NISEKO
Closes Sun Sept 27 - HANAZONO Summer Gondola sky walk · Niseko HANAZONO Resort — Ride the gondola up for an elevated walk through the mountain air — its final weekend before the season ends.
Standing through Oct 12 - 1.3km Illumination Walk · HANAZONO Resort — An illuminated night walk through the resort grounds.
ASAHIKAWA
Standing, Aug 22 – Oct 4 - Asahikawa Digital Stamp Rally — Asahiyama Zoo × Ainu-related facilities · A self-guided rally connecting the zoo with sites tied to Ainu culture around the city.
Sun Sept 27 - 2026 Asahikawa Half Marathon · Starts/finishes at Michi-no-Eki Asahikawa — A road race through the city.
NEMURO
Sat Sept 26 – Sun Sept 27 - Nemuro Sanma (Pacific Saury) Festival · Nemuro Port special venue — Nemuro lands more saury than anywhere in Japan — free charcoal-grilled sanma at the "quayside hearth corner," discount box sales, YOSAKOI performances.
TOYAKO | NOBORIBETSU
Standing, nightly, 20:45–21:05, through Oct 31 - Lake Toya Long-Run Fireworks — 45th year running.
CHITOSE - WEEKEND PICK
Indian Waterwheel Festival: watch salmon fight upstream at arm's length
If Ishikari's festival is the big communal one, Chitose's is the intimate one. The Indian Waterwheel is a genuinely striking sight — a wooden wheel powered by nothing but the current, scooping salmon straight out of the river as they run upstream toward the same waters where they hatched. Salmon nabe and ikura bento on-site, a log-cutting race for anyone who wants to compete, and a trout-fishing pond for kids. Forty minutes from Sapporo, and a much smaller crowd than the big city festivals.
See you out there. · 今週末も楽しんで。
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