Sapporo Odori Park in Sapporo is covered in snow in this Nov. 18, 2025, file photo. (Mainichi/Ayako Morihara)
SAPPORO — The local government and transportation authorities in Sapporo are working with 22 convenience stores in the city to allow bus passengers to wait inside stores to escape the icy winter temperatures.
With snowfall being particularly common in Japan’s northernmost prefecture Hokkaido, outdoor bus stops can be harsh places to wait. This prompted a new initiative by the Sapporo Municipal Government and Hokkaido District Transport Bureau’s Sapporo Transport Branch Office to make waiting more comfortable.
According to the city, there were 7,153 bus services operating per day in Sapporo in 2024, a decrease of 24% since 2019 due to a chronic shortage of drivers. As maintaining and improving the convenience of bus services has become a challenge, the initiative seeks to improve the environment for waiting passengers.
However, few bus stops in the city provide shelter from snow or cold. And so, the city turned its attention to convenience stores as waiting areas. Seven-Eleven, Seicomart and Lawson answered the city’s call for cooperation and agreed to participate at some locations starting Dec. 1.
A sticker to show passengers can wait inside for buses, displayed at the entrances of convenience stores and elsewhere, is seen. (Image courtesy of the Sapporo Municipal Government)
All participating locations, including 17 Seven Elevens, four Seicomarts, and one Lawson, already have a bus stop in front of them. Yellow stickers reading “Bus waiting OK!” are displayed at store entrances and other visible locations.
Even if passengers do not intend to make a purchase, they are allowed to enter and wait inside the stores, although there is no designated waiting space. Additionally, since bus drivers don’t check whether passengers are waiting inside, buses may pass by if no one is at the stop. The city recommends using information services such as Sapporo Eki-Bus Navi, a website that allows users to check the current location of buses.
According to the Sapporo Transport Branch Office, a demonstration experiment conducted in the prefectural city of Asahikawa in fiscal 2016 was well received by passengers. Similar initiatives are also being implemented at some convenience stores in the city of Tomakomai.
(Japanese original by Kenichi Mito, Hokkaido News Department)
AloJapan.com