When it comes to planning a vacation, I always worry about how much I can spend while I’m away. Luckily, my time in the military has taught me to open numerous rewards accounts for chain hotels and airlines, which has been beneficial during my tour of duty in Japan.

I had a ton of points to book a stay in Sapporo and not burn a hole through the pocket. Sapporo is in Hokkaido, and it’s been on my bucket list of areas to travel to. My fiancée and I heard many great things about their seafood and yakiniku, so we decided to escape Tokyo for a much-needed vacation.

I learned a lot about Hokkaido during my trip and it is our new favorite travel destination.

Tokyo to Hokkaido

The flight from Haneda to Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport took around 90 minutes. As soon as we got our bags, we followed the signs to the train station located inside the airport. We simply used our Suica Cards for a one-way ticket (1,150 yen per person) to Sapporo Station. Forty minutes later, we were in Sapporo.

Arriving at Sapporo Station

Unlike Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, Sapporo Station was very easy to navigate. Our first stop after getting out of the station was to our hotel. I used my points to book the IHG ANA Hotel, which is centrally located in Sapporo. Being in such a good location meant we didn’t have to spend money on a rental car.

Stellar Palace

It’s hard to describe Sapporo. It’s like a melting pot of popular Tokyo districts. It felt like Ginza for the food (but not the price), Shibuya in its appearance, the shopping centers were like Roppongi, and the nightlife is like Shinjuku. The thing I found interesting about exploring Sapporo is that everything is within walking distance! There are so many shopping centers, attractions and lots of restaurants and bars that are open throughout the day.

One of the many shopping centers we visited was Stellar Palace, which is connected to Sapporo Station. It’s a 9-story tall building with basement-level floor. I did some window shopping and it felt like a normal high-end mall on each floor.

My favorite shops to visit were the supermarkets located on 1F and 1B. Hokkaido Prefecture has rich grasslands and water resources that make it an ideal location for dairy farming. I would

• Address: 2-5 Kita 5-jo-Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-0005

• Hours: Mon.-Sun. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Website

Shojuen Garden tea shop

Since moving to Japan, I’ve started investing more into purchasing quality green tea. On Sapporo’s main road, we found Shojuen Garden, a nice tea shop.

I learned a lot during my visit here since the owners take pride in customer satisfaction. I was not upsold on any items, instead served plenty of samples to help my taste buds decide.

We sat and drank a variety of teas that were freshly brewed and learned my palate for favors of dark green tea, which was fortunately on the cheaper end of the teas you can purchase. I really enjoyed the hospitality and learned a lot.

• Address: Minami 3-jo Nishi 4-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo (Street level)

• Hours: 10 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (Open daily)

• Note: Using Google translate to translate green tea into kanji and paste it into your maps app will allow you to locate many tea shops.

• Website (Japanese)

Nemuro Hanamaru Sushi

For our first dinner in Sapporo, we chose sushi. There were many options for restaurants, but we ended up going to Nemuro Hanamaru inside the Daido Life Sapporo Building.

Without a reservation, our wait was 30 minutes, and it was worth it. The restaurant was family friendly and gave off a fun vibe with a mix of conveyor belt bar stool tables that can host small groups. They also have tables for families and larger parties. For the most part, people were focused on the delicious fresh food, not the drinks. The sounds of chefs communicating and people talking were mellow and calm.

There is an English and Japanese menu available and the options to choose from were amazing. The menu had a good selection, from premium tuna and salmon to sea urchin, shrimp and crab.

I ordered a lot of food, but my favorites were the premium tuna sushi, crab gelatin, fried squid and eel. On my first bite, I knew the seafood here was incredibly fresh. Our dinner was delicious and didn’t break the wallet.

• Address: Kita 3 Jo Nishi 3-1, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-0003, (Floor B1 of the Daido Life Sapporo Building)

• Website

Odori Park & Sapporo TV Tower

We agreed on visiting Sapporo TV Tower to enjoy a 360-degree view of the city and walk off some of the sushi calories. Located at the edge of Odori Park, the tower draws big crowds throughout the day. Depending on the time of day, you may see some buskers playing music or other live performances at the park.

We enjoyed a walk through the park to the tower and found it a great place for relaxing and eating snacks! The base of the tower will sometimes host beer gardens and food. It seemed like a great place to also pre-game before the bars for those who want to grab a drink.

The tower is accessible from the third floor which has a neat gift shop. Here you can pay 1,000 yen to ride an elevator to the top and watch the nightlife consuming the city. I would love to come here during the snow festival and watch the snowball fights from a bird’s-eye view.

Night life

Sapporo in the daytime is quite peaceful. The sidewalks are filled with people walking to work or exploring. Once it starts getting dark, however, Sapporo turns into a party town, even on weekdays. I would say it’s more adult-activity focused and not child-friendly. It’s still safe to walk out at night, but the crowds of drunk locals and bar advertisements might not be suitable for kids. It does seem like a great area for friends who want to bar hop.

Yakiniku sushi

We found a sushi-style yakiniku restaurant called Skirt Steak Yakiniku Meat Tomeshi Meat Sushi (yes, it’s a mouthful). There were many Yakiniku restaurants around, but this one caught my attention by offering Wagyu sushi.

When we entered, it felt like we were in a 5-star restaurant. The staff was incredibly nice and quickly had a table ready. The menu is in Japanese, but most items have a photo so choosing can be easy without a translator. Our seat was by the chef’s station, so we ordered away and had the opportunity to see a master at work.

Japan prides itself in perfection, and we had front row seats to our chef preparing special items like our Wagyu sushi and yakiniku meats. We ordered a lot and nothing disappointed us. The meat may look raw, but it was incredibly delicious. It’s slow cooked until the core temperature is 63 degrees Celsius (145.4 degrees Fahrenheit). This was the most expensive restaurant we went to, but totally worth it.

• Address: 4-minami 5 Jonishi, Chuo ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 064-0805, 20th Katsura Building 1F

• Hours: Monday closed, Tues. - Sat., 6 p.m. to midnight. Sun. 5 p.m. - midnight, Last order is 11 p.m.

• Website (Japanese)

Point and reward system

Most chain hotels and airlines have free membership accounts that can offer points or miles to use. If you are a frequent flyer or traveler, take advantage of it. I have IGH, Marriott and Hilton membership accounts, which were free to make and have collected points over the years. I even collected points from my TDY’s when I was traveling for work!

Whether you are a DOD civilian or military member, you can use the system according to Joint Travel Regulations. Just be careful not to abuse it. Here is what I found in JTR 2-6 (page 36) that helps explain the rules if you plan to collect points through TDY:

“G. Frequent-Flyer Miles or Other Promotional Benefits. A traveler can keep any frequent-flyer points or miles, hotel rewards, or rental car upgrades accumulated during official travel, as long as those promotional items are available to the general public or to a class consisting of all civilian employees or Service members. If a traveler voluntarily gives up a seat on an airplane, then the traveler is responsible for any additional costs incurred, such as additional lodging or meal expenses. Also, a traveler cannot select specific flights or hotels to earn points if it will cost the Government additional money”

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