In winter, snow falls on Sapporo and ski jumpers soar above the skyline.

This northern Japanese city embraces winter. Host to the Winter Olympics in 1972 and home to 2 million people, the city is packed with high-rises that look out to ski slopes and the Okurayama ski jump where everyone from world-class athletes to high-schoolers flies high. A public viewing lounge at the top gives visitors the ski-jumper's perspective.

Down in the city streets and parks, an avalanche of visitors tumbles into town each winter for the Sapporo Snow Festival. Hundreds of elaborate, glittering ice and snow sculptures fill streets and parks; musicians sing on outdoor stages constructed of snow; kids of all ages frolic on snow slides and in a snow maze.

Beyond snow, beer helped put the city on the map.

Sapporo Beer was first brewed in 1876 after the once sleepy fishing settlement was designated the capital of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Although now brewed elsewhere, the Sapporo Beer Museum and a bustling beer garden celebrate the brew.

As in all of Japan, the city's tourism tumbled after the March tsunami and nuclear crisis (although Sapporo was not directly affected by the catastrophe). Now Sapporo hopes that visitors, like the snow, will return this winter.

Kristin R. Jackson is the editor of The Seattle Times' NWTraveler section. Contact her at kjackson@seattletimes.com.