There are two ticket gates at Sapporo Station, at the East Exit and West Exit. This is where to get food in Sapporo Station.

The ekiben shops lie outside the front of East Exit ticket gate, and near the coin lockers and souvenir shop by the West Exit. The ticket gates are on the first floor concourse, and the second floor platform.

Because the shop front and lunch menu is written in Japanese, it can be a bit challenging for foreign tourists to navigate. However, most food shops in Sapporo Station also have samples on display that you can refer to.

Which Hokkaido ekiben come most recommended? We put together a list of the top 10 sellers. As you'll see, there's a delicious bento box for every taste!

The top pick would have to be "Kaisen Ezo Shomi," a sushi rice lunch with crab, uni (sea urchin), ikura (fish roe), and salmon. This popular Hokkaido ekiben sells over 60 per day, and holds the best number in sales since 1983.

A luxurious style of Hokkaido ekiben that allows you to experience several of Hokkaido's most popular seafoods in a single bowl. Included is pickled crab and rice. Highly recommended for those who want to enjoy the authenticity of the seas of Hokkaido! The name "Ezo" actually comes from the Hokkaido's old historical name, and means "delicious seafood of Hokkaido."

· Main Contents:
Pickled crab, pickled salmon, steamed uni, boiled scallops, soy sauce pickled ikura (roe), and vinegar rice.

Next up is the only Makunouchi type of ekiben sold at Sapporo Station, the "Makunouchi Bento Ishikari." This style of Hokkaido ekiben is a classic Japanese lunch box with white rice and small varied dishes. Common foods include vegetables, eggs, fish, and meat. They are often accompanied by umeboshi, which is a dried pickled plum.

It is especially recommended to those who prefer to eat nutritious balanced meals, as the meat, fish, and vegetables included in the lunches are both well balanced and filling.

· Main Contents:
Boiled beef, baked salmon, fried eggs, boiled scallops, etc.

The third most popular Hokkaido ekiben is "Ishikari Shake-meshi," a long-time selling ekiben which began in 1923. This ekiben gets its name from the salmon it was made from, which was fished from the Ishikari River near Sapporo, and still stands to this day.

The rice is prepared with kombu dashi (kelp broth) and topped with shredded salmon and ikura (fish roe). The salmon is thoroughly cooked for 20 min, the bones removed by hand, and then boiled in ginger soy sauce. The flavor of the kombu in the rice, the soy sauce in the salmon, and the mellow taste of the fluffy melting ikura creates a delicious balance which allows you to experience the delicious taste of the sea in luxury.

· Main Contents:
Kombu broth prepared rice, shredded salmon, pickled ikura, kelp-wrapped salmon maki, fuki nimono (a type of vegetable), kamaboko (processed Japanese seafood), and oshiko (pickled vegetables).

Next in line is the easy-to-eat sushi lunch. Along with the Ishikari Shake-meshi, the sushi has also been sold at Sapporo Station for about 100 years.

This Hokkaido ekiben is one of the traditional styles of Japanese sushi, "sukeroku-zushi," and packed with rolled sushi and inari-zushi (tofu-rolled sushi). Recommended for when you just want a light meal, or when you want to buy a meal that can be easily shared with friends!

· Main Contents:
Sushi rolls, inari-zushi, hosomaki (thinly rolled sushi)

Standing in fifth place is the Sandai Kani Aji Kurabe Bento, a true representative of the deliciousness the seas of Hokkaido have to offer, and contains three different types of crab you can enjoy and compare: red king crab, snow crab, and horsehair crab.

From the right, king crab, snow crab, and horsehair crab. Crushed crab tops the kombu-cooked rice, and a stick of crab meat is also included. In this way, you can enjoy trying and comparing the different kinds of crab!

· Main Contents:
Kombu broth rice, king crab, snow crab, horsehair crab (minced crab and stick of crab meat)

There are plenty of seafood ekiben all throughout Hokkaido, however the one we will introduce now is actually made with chicken. It is by far the most popular meat-based ekiben.

Shiretoko teriyaki chicken is the main in this dish. Shiretoko chickens are raised in the natural environment of Shiretoko, which is designated as a World Natural Heritage Site, and features a soft and juicy taste. The sweet and sour taste of the chicken is in perfect balance with the rice, which is prepared with chicken broth, further enhancing the flavor. It is an ekiben that truly showcases the flavor of Shiretoko.

· Main Contents
Shiretoko chicken teriyaki, Shiretoko chicken broth cooked rice, boiled eggplant, salmon kamaboko

Placing at number seven is a lunch packed with four different types of Hokkaido ekiben, the Sapporo Bento Yokubari-zen. Recommended for those who want to try several different ekiben, or those who just plain can't decide!

Not only does it include a taste of our #1 popular Kaisen Ezo-shomi ekiben, but also Ishikari shake-meshi, Shiretoko tori-meshi, and even a beef dish, equally divided into fours. A luxurious yet gluttonous example of ekiben which allows you to try not one, but four, different lunches at once!

· Main Contents:
Kaisen Ezo-shomi, Ishikari shake-meshi (salmon), Shiretoko tori-meshi (chicken), beef dish

Number 8 is “Higuma no Zeitaku Onigiri,” a bento box of assorted rice balls. Perfect for when you need something easy to eat, or easy to share!

From the right, the types of rice balls included are scallops, crab, and salmon. A representative seafood of Hokkaido, the rice in these onigiri are prepared with either scallop or kombu (kelp) stock, allowing you to fully experience the taste of the sea.

· Main Contents
Onigiri (scallop, crab, salmon), fried egg, boiled dishes

The "Irankarapte" bento is an authentic Ainu style lunch box just released in 2018. This traditional Ainu cuisine comes from the indigenous tribe of Hokkaido and the surrounding islands. "Irankarapte" means "Hello" in the Ainu language.

You may be unfamiliar with these dishes, such as millet rice and imomochi. Imomochi is a potato mochi (rice cake), prepared in the fire with starch, then cooked and shaped like a regular round rice cake. Ainu cuisine features a simple and rich natural taste, and is highly recommended to try out!

And finally we have "Yanagi Mochi," a type of Japanese confectionary that is just a bit smaller than an egg. This is the only sweets shop in the station.

Yanagi mochi is a rice cake made from Hokkaido's glutinous mochi rice, "Hakuchomochi," and is wrapped in koshian, a bean paste made from Hokkaido azuki beans. Koshian is slightly sweet and its moderate size makes it easy to eat. There are ten in one piece, and it is delicious and easy to eat!
Yanagi mochi was first made in 1906, and is a traditional item made by hand, one by one, even to this day. It is only fresh until the day after purchase, so eat it quickly! Recommended as a dessert on the train or as a snack to enjoy back at your hotel!

Which of these Hokkaido ekiben would you like to try the most? Be sure to taste a new one each time you board the train to enjoy as you travel throughout Hokkaido!