A number that blooms.

Japanese loves to hide words inside numbers — a playful tradition called goroawase. Read aloud, 8 becomes “ha” and 7 becomes “na”. Together they say ha-na — 花, the word for flower. So e87 simply means flower, written in numbers.

City of snow, flowers & quiet shrines.

Sapporo, the heart of Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, was chosen to host the Winter Olympics twice — 1940 (cancelled by war) and 1972 (held — Asia’s first Winter Games). As settlers gathered here, temples and shrines took root across the city, and their seasonal festivals live on.

北海道・札幌。冬季五輪の開催地に2度選ばれた街（1940年＝中止／1972年＝アジア初の冬季五輪を開催）。街に根づいた寺院と神社、四季の祭事をご案内します。