Susukino is Evidently the Red Light District of Sapporo

Yes, I am staying in the red light district of Sapporo, Susukino.  This does explain the many nudey bars scattered around.  And not just discreetly placed on out of the way side streets.  It seems like every block there is at least one nudey bar, as advertised by pictures of the supposed entertainers within.  Some of these adverts are pretty in your face, so... No pictures as this is a family blog.  Plus, I really don't want to be standing on the street taking pics of pics of naked chics.

I do want to note, however, that I came across a quaint looking place (on last night's search for yakitori) with two women dressed in kimonos outside.  Frankly, I kind of thought this might be a house of ill repute, so I didn't linger.  And of course my camera defaults to flash ON, so when I took this picture it wasn't as discreet as I had planned.  They both turned to look at me, and I casually strolled away...  Waiting for some sort of hullabaloo behind.  A few quick turns and I was out of sight!

It's a little dark, sorry.  I guess it would have been better sans flash?  The traffic cone looks cool, though.

To me, "red light" district means seedy, sketchy and dark.  That is *not* the case here.  Wide avenues, bright lights and tons of people.  I guess it's just a mix of entertainment (adult and otherwise), and red light is kind of a catch-all label for that?

A few more shots taken while walking around.

Few streets still have snow banks.  I guess they've got better snow removal than we do.  I only see snow banks in front of vacant lots (not many downtown) or construction sites. This is in front of a construction site.  This is what things SHOULD have looked like back home last month, but luckily we only got like 2 inches of snow!!!

Kind of a typical storefront.  This isn't even on one of the main avenues!

One of the main avenues at a less crazy intersection.  Even though it's huge, this area is actually not always crazy.  Kind of like a bigger Boylston St back home.  But with more adult shops, I guess.

Another intersection, a little later in the evening.  The lights are starting to be noticeable.

I don't know why, but Sapporo also has an Eiffel Tower copy, though much smaller than the one in Tokyo.  Again, I am incapable of taking a good nighttime shot.  I think there's a camera setting for that, which I should explore.  Maybe tonight.  The tower's not exactly in the Susukino area, but I wandered over there so here are some shots.

And the tower turns blue!  Again, sucky shot, but you get the point.

Just outside of the red light district there is the former Hokkaido Government Office building which I ran across.  It's got a cute little pond out front, currently edged in snow and ice.  There was a hardy little duck swimming around, so I thought he deserved to be immortalized in the art that is my photography!  You can kind of see him (or her!) in the top right (ish).

This could really be a pond anywhere!  Very enjoyable to walk around.