Susukino 0-Banchi

Born in the sixties in the basement of the Second Public Market, opened in 1922, the alley now has 31 venues (70% of them snack bars), whose operators must close by 2:50 and sign the caretaker's register by 3 in the morning.

The entrance, at the bottom of the stairs, is marked by purple and yellow neon signs that the source describes as a plunge into the atmosphere of the Showa years (‘まるでタイムスリップしたような気分’). Several venues have been run by the same business for over fifty years. Although it lies beneath a public market that has been open for over a century, it remains little known even in the city.

An alley of venues in the basement of the building that also houses the street-level Susukino market, in Sapporo (北海道札幌市中央区南6条西4丁目11-1 薄野市場BF). Successor to Sapporo's price-controlled Second Public Market, opened in 1922 (大正11年): in the sixties (昭和40年代), on the basement floor, the alley of venues now called Susukino 0-Banchi came into being. Today 31 venues open onto it (70% of them snack bars), some in business for over fifty years. You reach it by going down the stairs of the building where the Susukino market is on the ground floor; from Susukino metro station it is about 3 minutes’ walk.

ℹ️ You can enter the venues in the evening: during the day the shutters are down. Operators must close by 2:50 in the morning and sign the register in the caretaker's booth by 3. Some venues are open to members only. Even among Sapporo residents it is a little-visited and little-publicised place.

🚉 Susukino · 4 min walk

Sources: tabizine.jp · magazine.sapporo.travel · office-navi.jp

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