Hokkaido’s freshest seafood Famous restaurant at Sapporo Central Wholesale Curb Market

The Sapporo Central Wholesale Curb Market is packed with about sixty shops and they offer the freshest seafood bought directly from the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market next door at very reasonable prices every day.
It is a nine-minute walk from the closest JR Soen Station and a seven-minute walk from the Niju-yonken Station on the subway Tozai Line. You cannot miss the huge sign that says “Jogai Shijo” Curb Market (which means “outside market”).
All the seafood is so fresh and very reasonable at this famous place that offers northern delicacies and it is open seven days a week.

High-spirited voices echo in the Curb Market

When you walk around the Central Wholesale Sapporo Curb Market and pass the big sign that says “Jogai-Ichiba (Curb Market)”, you hear high-spirited voices, “Want some Hokke-fish (Atak mackerel)?! We’ll give you a great deal!!”
This is Kaisen-Ichiba Kitano Gourmet (Seafood Market Northern Gourmet Food). The Kitano Gourmet started its business in 1949 and had the first shop when the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market opened, and that lead to the Curb Market.
Professionals’ discerning eyes provide the best quality Hokkaido seafood in season in the market. What makes this market more popular is that you can eat what you buy right there at the Kitano Gourmet-tei restaurant.

Lively conversation with store staff, friendly market

The spacious Kaisen-Ichiba Kitano Gourmet has a wide variety of fresh seafood in season. If you say “ Hair crabs look delicious.”, the staff may say “Wanna try some?” And then they say, “This year’s hair crabs have a lot of meat and they are very delicious.” They are very friendly and tell you more about crabs –where they are caught and how you should cook them.

Tangle shavings demonstration sales

There is a demonstration sale of natural Kenjo Ma-konbu sea tangle shavings at the back of Kaisen-Ichiba Kitano Gourmet and natural Ma-konbu sea tangle is a rare product from Hakodate and a shaving demonstration is fun to watch.
The 90% of Konbu sea tangle in Japan is from Hokkaido and you can say Konbu is a synonym of Hokkaido.
A word “Kenjo” means a “gift” to the Imperial Court and Shogun and this sea tangle was presented as the gift and it is named after that. Freshly made “Kenjo Konbu” is so soft that it melts in your mouth and very tasty. It is loved among a lot of people from all ages.
880 yen (tax included)

Hungry for seafood? Go to Kitano Gourmet-tei

The Kaisen-Ichiba Kitano Gourmet has the Kaisen-Ichiba Kitano Gourmet-tei restaurant. The restaurant is spacious with 320 seats and caters to your needs from small to big groups.

The Kaisen-Ichiba Kitano Gourmet-tei restaurant has a lot of menu items among the restaurants of the Central Wholesale Sapporo Curb Market. They have their special Ikura-don (salmon raw rice bowl), ikura & uni-don (salmon & sea urchin rice bowl) and Ke-gani & ikura-don (hair crab & salmon raw rice bowl) and they use salmon raw marinated in soy sauce. There are about sixteen different rice bowls that you can enjoy fresh seafood in season.
Among them, a gorgeous Kaisen-don (seafood rice bowl) that has ten different ingredients at 3.210 yen (tax included) is the most popular bowl.
You can eat all the seafood specialties from Hokkaido such as sea urchin, ikura salmon raw, scallop, shrimp, squid, Neptune whelk, Sakhalin surf clam and red king crab in one bowl. This is something very extravagant that you definitely want to try when you come to the Sapporo Curb Market.

The popular grilled fish is Atka mackerel. This surprisingly big mackerel is grilled over Binchotan charcoal (high grade charcoal produced from ubame oak), only the good fat remains in the fish meat and smells so great. It has a prefect texture and is superbly tasty.

Full line-up of great gifts that make everyone happy!

The Central Wholesale Sapporo Curb Market is open seven days a week and there is a free shuttle bus service from the north exit of the Sapporo station.
You can visit for sightseeing or stop by just to eat lunch. The market offers a more fascinating look of Hokkaido.


Fresh food from the ocean and the mountain is packed and shipped to all over Japan on the day you purchase it. It is going to be a great gift to your family and friends, and of course to yourself!