With about businesses ranging from bars and restaurants to soaplands and brothels, Sapporo has one of the best nightlife districts in Japan, and due to the cold winter a substantial part of it is covered.
It has the largest collection of seedy businesses north of places such as Kabuki-cho in Tokyo, but it is mostly just a place to have eat, drink and have fun โ the fastest money spinners are definitely karaoke and noodles โ the latter made famous by Ramen Yokocho, but available everywhere else as well.
There is even a gaijin bar called Gaijin Bar, though it is a bit of a dump. There are quiet jazz clubs and noisy live houses, somewhat odd places such as Voodoo Dance and Bar, as well as interesting but pricey beer pubs like Mugishutei.
Susukino is a fairly easy place to pick up a Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend, though the relationships are likely to be somewhat fleeting. Susukino is quite safe and well lit. Ask almost any Japanese what they would like to eat in Sapporo and invariably one of the first answers is the ubiquitous Ramen. The oldest is Rai Rai Ken โ one of the first encountered on the left hand side if you enter the alleyway from the north.
The owners have been running the shop for more than 40 years. They work in to shifts running the shop until 3am each morning. The miso and shio ramen is perfect, and the butter corn takes a little time to get used to. In between vigorous slurping we had an interesting discussion about noodle shops in Canberra.
