Nijo Market Morning Route

What Nijo Market is

Nijo Market sits in central Sapporo, between Odori and Susukino. It is said to have begun when sellers of fish caught off the Ishikari shore gathered here in the early Meiji years, and it is still centred on fishmongers, with dried-goods and produce shops lining both sides of the narrow lanes. It is not large, but roofed by an arcade, so you can walk it dry on a day of rain or snow. Seafood-bowl shops cluster in and around it, and from early morning tourists and locals mingle. It is a market for shopping and, at once, a place to come and eat breakfast.

The bounty of the northern sea

Hokkaido is ringed by sea on three sides, known for the quality of seafood raised in cold water. The morning's leads at Nijo Market are first sea urchin and salmon roe: in summer the ezo-bafun urchin of Rebun and Rishiri is sweet, and in autumn salmon roe comes round. From winter into spring, crab — hairy, king and snow — comes forward, while scallop and oyster sit at the storefronts year-round. Put them over rice and it is a seafood bowl; on charcoal, hamayaki; into miso soup, crab soup. The same market has a different best plate by the season you visit, so setting your timing and going is one good approach.

How to walk this route

Start at Odori station. A few minutes' walk into Nijo Market, begin with a seafood bowl topped with urchin and roe at Oiso; the morning's catch is freshest early, so the sooner you come the more you can choose. Next, the hamayaki grilled at a fishmonger's storefront — scallop and oyster, hot on the spot. Close by slurping a crab soup at Donburi Chaya to warm a body gone cold. The market's shops centre on the morning and many start closing by early afternoon, so move in the forenoon. The lanes are narrow and delivery carts pass, so mind where you stop as you walk.