Sapporo

Sapporo is the beer city of Japan — the birthplace of the country's oldest surviving beer brand, and home to a brewing tradition that stretches back to 1876. But beyond the Sapporo Beer Museum and the Ōdōri beer gardens, the city has quietly grown a genuine independent craft beer scene of its own, driven by a handful of small Hokkaido breweries and the bars that pour them. Susukino, the entertainment district south of Ōdōri Park, is the natural centre of gravity. One of Japan's three great nightlife quarters alongside Tokyo's Kabukichō and Fukuoka's Nakasu, Susukino packs thousands of bars, izakaya and jingisukan grills into a compact grid — and craft beer has found its place among them, including a microbrewery founded in 2022 that brews specifically for the neighbourhood it is named after. Hokkaido's brewing advantage is real: locally grown hops from Kamifurano, cold clean water, and a food culture built around seafood, lamb and dairy that pairs unusually well with beer. Whether you are in town for the Snow Festival, passing through on the way to the ski fields, or simply working your way down a tap list on a summer evening, Sapporo rewards drinkers who look past the big brewery.