The Namboku Subway Line for Sapporo, Odori, Susukino, and Nakajima-Koen

The Namboku Line is a subway line in Sapporo that runs between Asabu Station in the north of the city and Makomanai Station in the south. Along the way this line connects important areas of the city such as Sapporo Station, Odori Park, the Susukino entertainment district, and Nakajima Park. Most of this line is underground, but after Hiragishi Station the stations and tracks are above-ground.

This is one of three Sapporo Municipal Subway lines operated by the Sapporo City Transportation Bureau. The others are the Tozai Line and the Toho Line. The Namboku Line connects with the Toho Line at Sapporo Station, and all three lines meet at Odori Station. On station maps and signs, the Namboku Line is color-coded green.

Destinations

The Namboku Line runs through the Kita, Chuo, Toyohira, and Minami wards of Sapporo and has 16 stops.

Asabu – Kita-Sanjuyo-Jo – Kita-Nijuyo-Jo – Kita-Juhachi-Jo – Kita-Juni-Jo – Sapporo – Odori – Susukino – Nakajima-Koen – Horohira-Bashi – Nakanoshima – Hiragishi – Minami-Hiragishi – Sumikawa – Jieitai-Mae – Makomanai

The key destinations are listed below with example fares and journey times given from Asabu.

Asabu Station

This station is convenient for Sapporo Asabu Baseball Stadium.

Shin-Kotoni Station on the JR Gakuentoshi Line is a 10 minute walk from Asabu Station.

Kita-Nijuyo-Jo Station

This station is a 15 minute walk from Mikaho Gymnasium. Located inside Mikaho Park this indoor sporting arena holds an ice rink in the winter months and has a variety of fitness classes and sporting facilities available in the rest of the year. Courts are available for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and badminton. The park also has tennis courts and a baseball field.

Kita-Juni-Jo Station

This station is convenient for the Sapporo Campus of Hokkaido University and for Hokkaido University Museum. The university campus is famous for its leafy tree-lined ground and historic buildings and the museum has exhibits related to both the history of the university and to the general history and culture of Hokkaido. Both the campus grounds and the museum are completely free to enter.

Sapporo Station

Daimaru Sapporo and Sapporo Stellar Place are directly connected to the station, while Tokyu Department Store and Bic Camera are nearby. A major attraction in this area is Sapporo JR Tower, which is directly connected to the station building. Its T38 Observation Deck, on the 38th floor, offers wide views over the city.

The Former Hokkaido Government Office Building (Red Brick Building) reopened in July 2025 after restoration work. It is about eight minutes from the West Concourse South Exit of JR Sapporo Station. The building opens from 8:45 to 21:00, with final entry at 20:30. General admission is 300 yen, university and high school students pay 200 yen, and younger visitors enter free. Check for special closure dates before visiting.

Transfer here to the Toho Subway Line. Sapporo Subway Station is also directly connected to JR Sapporo Station by an underground passageway. At JR Sapporo Station transfers can be made to the Hakodate Main Line, Gakuentoshi Line, Chitose Line and to Limited Express services bound for Hakodate, Asahikawa, Wakkanai, Abashiri, Obihiro, Kushiro, Noboribetsu and Muroran.

Odori Station

Odori Station serves Sapporo’s central business district, with hotels, shops, and restaurants nearby. Beside the station, Odori Park is both a green space and a venue for major events. It hosts one of the official Sapporo Snow Festival sites each February, when the park is filled with giant snow statues.

The Lilac Festival takes place here in May, and beer gardens open during the summer. Inside the park, a short walk from the station, the 150-meter-tall Sapporo TV Tower has an observation deck with views over the park and city.

Sapporo Clock Tower, a famous 19th century wooden building, is a 3 minute walk north of Odori Station. Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade and Nijo Fish Market are both located a 4 minute walk to the south.

Transfers can be made at Odori Station to the Tozai and Toho subway lines. Exit 10 of the station is a 1 minute walk from the Nishi-Yon-Chome Stop of the Sapporo Streetcar.

Susukino Station

Susukino is a brightly lit entertainment and nightlife district packed with bars, clubs, and restaurants. During the Sapporo Snow Festival each February, the area is filled with ice sculptures.

Ganso Ramen Yokocho and Shin Ramen Yokocho are two alleys of small noodle shops serving versions of Sapporo’s specialty miso ramen. Ganso Ramen Yokocho is 2 minutes south of Susukino Station, while Shin Ramen Yokocho is 1 minute to the east.

Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade is a 4 minute walk north of the station.

Hosui-Susukino Station on the Toho Subway Line is a 5 minute walk from Susukino Station. Susukino Station is also convenient for the Susukino Stop of the Sapporo Streetcar.

Nakajima-Koen Station

Nakajima-Koen Station is immediately beside Nakajima Park, a large green space with a pond, streams, a Japanese garden, and around 5,000 trees. The park also contains a puppet theater, Sapporo Astronomical Observatory, Hokkaido Museum of Literature, Sapporo Concert Hall, and Nakajima Sports Center.

At the northern end of the park, about 5 minutes from the station, Hoheikan is a historic 19th century wooden hotel building that visitors can tour for an admission fee. Hotels are clustered around the park, and several overlook its greenery.

The Yamahanakujo Stop of the Sapporo Streetcar is a 6 minute walk west of Nakajima-Koen Station.

Horohira-Bashi Station

Horohira-Bashi Station is located at the south-western edge of Nakajima Park and is named after nearby Horohira Bridge which crosses the Toyohira River. Gokoku Shrine is a pleasant shrine located inside Nakajima Park and just 3 minutes’ walk from the station. The shrine traces its origins to memorial rites for Tondenhei soldiers who died in the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. There are many cherry trees on the shrine grounds, so it is a popular cherry blossom viewing spot in the spring.

The Seishugakuen-Mae Stop of the Sapporo Streetcar is a 7 minute walk from Horohira-Bashi Station.

Hiragishi Station

South of this station the Namboku Line tracks are above ground, but covered with shelters to protect them from heavy snowfall. The four stations south of Hiragishi Station are also located above-ground.

Minami-Hiragishi Station

The upper parking-area entrance to Tsukisamu Park is about a 16-minute walk east of this station. The park has a children’s playground, woodland trails, a boating pond, baseball grounds, a “park golf” course, and tennis courts.

Sumikawa Station

Sapporo Museum Activity Center is a small natural history museum located about 10 minutes on foot from Sumikawa Station. Exhibits include taxidermy specimens and a reconstructed skeleton of the approximately 7-meter-long Sapporo Sea Cow. Its fossil remains were discovered in the nearby Toyohira River in 2002 and date to about 8.2 million years ago. The museum is free and opens Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00. It closes on Sundays, Mondays, national holidays, and from December 29 to January 3.

Jieitai-Mae Station

Sapporo City Transportation Museum is about a 5-minute walk from this station. It reopened with renewed exhibitions in May 2024. Indoor displays use models, photographs, uniforms, and tickets to trace the history of Sapporo’s public transportation, while preserved buses, streetcars, and subway passenger cars are displayed outside. The museum opens from April 15 to October 31, from 9:30 to 16:30, and admission is free. It normally closes on Wednesdays, although the schedule changes around national holidays and during the city school summer break. Check the calendar before visiting.

Makomanai Station

Exit here for Sapporo Art Park, a complex of facilities set in a forest that includes a museum displaying the art of local, national and international artists, an outdoor sculpture garden, craft studios, an outdoor stage for musical performances, a restaurant, and café. To reach Sapporo Art Park, take a Chuo bus from Bus Stop 2 outside the station. The bus ride takes around 15 minutes.

The Edwin Dun Memorial Hall is about 720 meters from Makomanai Station exit 4. This former livestock-farm office was built in 1887 and is open as a free museum. It opens from 9:30 to 16:30. From April through October it normally closes on Wednesdays; from November through March it opens only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and closes over the year-end and New Year period.

Makomanai Park is a large park which is a 14 minute walk from Makomanai Station. The park is popular for cherry blossoms in the spring, maple leaves in the autumn and also features some sporting facilities including the tennis courts at the Makomanai Open Stadium and the indoor ice skating rink at Makomanai Ice Arena. Also in the park is Sapporo Salmon Museum, which has educational exhibits, an aquarium, and an observation pond.

Tickets

Tickets on the Sapporo Municipal Subway system cost between 210 and 380 yen for adults and 110 and 190 yen for children. There is also a One Day Ticket that allows one day of unlimited rides on the subway, which costs 830 yen for adults and 420 yen for children. On Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and from December 29 to January 3, passengers can buy the cheaper Donichika Ticket, which costs 520 yen for adults and 260 yen for children.

All of these tickets can be bought from ticket machines outside the ticket gates of each subway station. IC cards such as the local SAPICA card or other regional cards such as Kitaca, Suica, PASMO, and TOICA, can be used on the subway as well as on Sapporo’s streetcars and bus networks.

Supported contactless credit and debit cards, smartphones, and wearable devices can also be tapped at designated readers at all subway stations. The system automatically caps one day’s subway fares at 830 yen on weekdays and 520 yen on Donichika-valid days when the same card or device is used throughout. Contactless bank-card payment charges adult ordinary fares only; use a ticket or IC card for child fares, welfare discounts, or transfer discounts.

Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved. Last updated 24-Aug-2026.