Hokudaisai is an annual festival held in Hokkaido University, a top university in Hokkaido well-known for its engineering and agriculture department. And it is currently ranked no.8 university in Japan and no. 173 in the world! This festival is well-known for its international food section, in which foreign students gather together and sell foods from each of their respective countries. The festival is usually held for three days during weekend, so it was really crowded! It is one of Sapporo main activity in the summer. Do not forget, If you need help arranging private tour in Hokkaido, you can use our trip planner!

Starting point: Hokudaisai 2024

This festival is held inside Hokkaido University, and since the campus area is big, it is recommended to start from one part of the campus and then proceed to one end. I have been to this festival many times, and in my opinion, it is better to start from the northern part of campus, and then proceed to the south part of the campus near Sapporo Station. In the northern part, there are some tents made by Japanese students that offer various activities other than selling foods, like shooting games, cultural exhibition, and even “future letter”.

Indoor Activities: Engineering Department

Not only tents outdoor, but each department in the campus also offered various activities inside. We had limited time so we decide to get inside engineering department since it was on our way.

International Food Section

After exploring the engineering department, we were really hungry so we proceeded to the international food section to grab something to eat. There were so many options so it took us a while to finally get some foods. That day we decided to eat something we have never tried before; Ethiopian bread, South African couscous rice and meat, Uzbekistan meat bread, and Indonesian “Happy Soda”.