I made the trek to Sapporo for the November 2024 Hudson Night talk show event, all about Hudson’s 1999 Dreamcast title Kita E (北へ。). While I was there, I decided to check out some locations from the game. Below are the photos I took, together with comparison shots from the Dreamcast original or its PS2 sequel.
(Game screenshots are from the to the north. ー北へ。聖地巡礼旅行記ー fan website.)
Odori Park
(Beautiful park! I’d love to come back in winter.)
Former Hokkaido Government Office
(The ongoing building construction was a bummer, but I’m happy to see this historical location being preserved.)
Sapporo TV Tower
(Lovely view!)
4-chome Plaza (4pla)
(This area has completely changed over the years, making it one of the most difficult to locate on the trip.)
Ganso Sapporo Ramen Yokocho
(I don’t know what it looked like inside 25 years ago to draw any comparisons, but the Ramen Yokocho still seems to be alive and well. A friend and I went for a butter corn ramen lunch at one of the many ramen shops within.)
Nijo Market
(Largely unchanged and still in use, amazingly!)
Rosehill Minami-Hiragishi
(This is just a regular old apartment/condo building, interestingly only a short walk from the former Hudson office. I guess they changed the name in-game to prevent people from seeking it out in real life…which is exactly what I did. Oops?)
Sapporo Clock Tower
(One of Sapporo’s most iconic landmarks, thankfully unchanged. Hudson fans may recognize the design, as Hudson mimicked it with their Tokyo office building.)
Sapporo Station
(Sapporo Station looks nothing like it did in 1999!)
Sawanobori
(Unfortunately, this sushi place just closed down within the last few years…)
Susukino
(The unchanged Nikka sign made this an easy spot to find.)
Tanukikoji Shopping Street
(This shrine seems to have been majorly shrunk down in size, with the lost space now used for whatever business/restaurant is located in the same building on the first floor.)
Bonus Pictures
Here are a few pictures of former Hudson locations and the Hudson Night event itself.
CQ Hudson
The old Hudson shop. More info on the Hokkaido Shinbun’s website (from which the reference screenshot below was taken).
Former Hudson Building
More info on the Hokkaido Shinbun’s website (from which the reference screenshot below was taken).
Hudson Night
STELLA☆MARIS, a cake shop featured in the Kita E PS2 title, baked the dessert served at the event. I also grabbed a selfie with retro YouTuber and former Hudson employee Masked Z.
Overall a wonderful trip! I look forward to making it up to Sapporo again!