Odori Park

Odori Park
View of the Odori Park during the Sapporo Snow Festival from the observation deck of the Sapporo TV Tower
Type	municipal
Location	Sapporo, Japan
Area	78,901 m²
Created	1869
Operated by	Sapporo City
Status	Open all year

Odori Park (大通公園, Ōdōri Kōen^?) is a park located in the heart of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Ōdōri (大通^?) means "large street" in Japanese. It stretches east to west through Nishi 1 chōme, Ōdōri to Nishi 12 chōme, Ōdōri ("Nishi" means west, and "chōme" is a block in Japanese), and divides the city into north and south sections. Odori Park spans about 1.5 km and covers 78,901 m². During the urban planning of Sapporo, it was originally designated as the main street but it eventually became a park. Throughout the year, many events and ceremonies such as the Sapporo Lilac Festival and the Sapporo Snow Festival are held in the park, and local landmarks including the Sapporo TV Tower and the Sapporo City Archive Museum are located within its boundaries.

In 1869, Yoshitake Shima, a judge sent by the government as the commissioner responsible for founding a central city in Hokkaido, came to Sapporo and developed a city plan that divided Sapporo City into North and South sections by means of a large street. In his plan, the northern part of Sapporo would have been set aside for public servants and offices, while the southern part would have been a residential area. In his plan the location of the dividing street was different from the current location of Odori Park.

After Shima's dismissal for misgovernment in Hokkaido, Michitoshi Iwamura supervised the urban planning of Sapporo. He remodelled the original plan in 1871, and Kabō-sen (火防線^?) was constructed in the place where Odori Park is currently located. The Kabō-sen was a firebreak consisting of 105 metres of largely vacant land, which often prevented the progress of fire during the Meiji period.