Nishi is a ward

Wards of Japan

A is a subdivision of one of the cities of Japan that is large enough to have been designated by government ordinance. Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance...

 of Sapporo composed of residential neighborhoods mostly arranged in grid patterns, with some areas of farmland and forested mountainous terrain mostly near its western and southern edges. It is located the west part of Sapporo city and the second largest of Sapporo's 10 wards. Neighbourhoods within Nishi-ku include Kotoni (琴似), Hachiken (八軒), Nijuyonken (二十四軒), Yamanote (山の手), Nishimachi (西町), Nishino (西野), Fukui (福井), Heiwa (平和), Hassamu (発寒), Miyanosawa (宮の沢), and Kobetsuzawa (小別沢).

Statistics

Area:74.93 km²

Population: 208,949

Households: 93,633

Nishi-ku Ward Office:
2 Jo 7 Chome, Kotoni
Nishi-ku, Sapporo-shi,

Zipcode:063-8612,
Phone: +81 11 641 2400,

(Mar.1,2008)

Outline

The administrative offices of Nishi-ku are located in the Kotoni neighbourhood. Primary public transportation services are the Sapporo Municipal Subway

Sapporo Municipal Subway

The is an underground rapid transit system in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is operated by the Sapporo City Transportation Bureau.-Lines:The system has 3 lines; the first, the Namboku Line, was opened in 1971 prior to the 1972 Winter Olympics.-Technology:...

, JR Hokkaidō

Hokkaido Railway Company

The is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group , and thus often known as . It operates intercity rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart card ticketing system, from autumn 2008....

, and bus services including JR Hokkaidō Bus and Hokkaidō Chūō Bus. The last four stations of the Tozai subway line's western end are located here, two of which were added in 1999. Japan Highway's Sapporo-Otaru expressway section passes through Nishi-ku, with two interchanges (Nishi and Shinkawa) serving the ward.

Sapporo Municipal Teine Memorial Museum (手稲記念館), Kotoni Tonden Historical Archives (琴似屯田歴史館資料室), and Mitobe Memorial Museum (三戸部記念館) are sites of historical interest whose focus is on the era of Japanese 'pioneers' in Hokkaidō.

The eastern part of Nishi-Ku is flat with many residential and commercial areas, but the western part slopes into mountains. Sankaku-yama (Mt.Triangle), located in the western part of the ward in the Yamanote area, is a 311.3m high triangle-shaped mountain and is a popular and easy hike. It leads to Okura jump stadium in Chuo-ku.

Consadole Sapporo

Consadole Sapporo

is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 2. The team is located in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaidō....

's practice field is also located in Nishi-ku, and is a popular site for the team's fans. Major parks in Nishi-ku are Noshi Koen and Miyagaoka Koen. Numerous other parks may be found, many located along the banks of the Kotoni-Hassamu-gawa and its tributaries

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

. Hiking trails abound. One of the most popular begins from near the Heiwa-no-taki waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

 and leads to the summit of Sapporo's famous mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

, Mt. Teine in which the Olympic game was held in 1972 has some ski ground and an amusement park, located on the division line of Nishi-ku and Teine-ku, the city's northwesternmost ward.

In the less built-up neighbourhoods of Nishino, Heiwa, Fukui, and Kobetsuzawa, it is not unusual for wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

, such as red fox

Red Fox

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

es (Vulpes vulpes schrencki) and Asiatic brown bear

Brown Bear

The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...

s (Ursus arctos yesoensis) or their spoor, to be observed.

1972 Winter Olympics

At the 1972 Winter Olympics

1972 Winter Olympics

The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...

, the ward hosted the figure skating events

Figure skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Figure skating was contested at the 1972 Winter Olympic Games . The competition took place at the Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink.Results of both the men's and ladies' singles events were dominated by placements in the compulsory figures, which at this time were nominally worth 50% of the total...

.

Reference