Hello Kitty Shopping Adventure Episode 2: Sapporo

Back in my hotel at Hokkaido’s capital of Sapporo, I began wondering again where I would go next, having already fulfilled my goals of visiting Mount Moiwa and Otaru and that day was also my last full day in Hokkaido. It was already lunch time, so I said I’ll figure out my next plan while having lunch.

It was after having some nice tacos somewhere near the Sapporo TV Tower that I decided to go up to the top of that tower. If you plan to visit the Sapporo TV Tower in the future, the entrance ticket to the tower peak can be bought at the 3rd floor. As of this writing, the entrance ticket costs 800 JPY. However, entrance to the 3rd floor souvenir shop is absolutely free.

After seeing Sapporo from the peak of Mount Moiwa, my expectations for the view from the TV Tower observatory were not that high anymore, and it was fine. My pleasant surprise, though, came after I went back down to the 3rd floor, where I saw LOTS of Gotochi Kitty (ご当地キティ) or area-limited Hello Kitty merchandise.

If you have read my music box shopping adventure in Otaru (if you haven’t, you can read it here), you probably know what happened next. You guessed it: one phone call to my friend Lara from TokuDeals and not before long, I was piling up cart after cart of Gotochi Kitty stuff – from pens and keychains to T-shirts and bags. I left the shop having spent double of the amount I spent in Otaru – with absolutely no regrets. Sure, it was a bit of a challenge heading back to the hotel with all those purchases in all that snow but I assure you, I was happy doing that and I definitely would love to have the chance to do it again – though perhaps without the pile of snow.

Back at the hotel, Lara and I decided to have all the Hello Kitty purchases shipped to her ahead of my departure because I wasn’t returning to Tokyo just yet. After Hokkaido, I would be flying to Kanazawa via Haneda. Side note: landing in Haneda Airport on a lay-over was definitely a first for me.

After finally closing the box and making the shipping arrangements through the hotel, I really thought my Hello Kitty shopping in Hokkaido was done. When I reached the New Chitose Airport, I quickly realized I spoke too soon. More on that in the next article, which you can read here.

Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/. They are also on Facebook and Instagram.