Mt. Moiwa Summit Observation Deck

This is the official feed from the summit observation deck on Mt. Moiwa, operated by the ropeway company. It looks out over Sapporo from 531 metres, with the grid of the city laid out below and Ishikari Bay beyond it.

Sapporo was planned on a grid, so from up here the streets run in dead-straight lines to the horizon. After dark that grid becomes a pattern of light, which is what earned the view a place among Japan's three great new night views.

The best window is the half hour after sunset, when there is still colour in the sky behind the lit city. Sapporo's sunset shifts a lot through the year — around 19:20 in late June, just after 16:00 in late December — so check before planning a trip up.