Dog Runs and Dog-Friendly Parks in Sapporo: Rules to Check

In short: in the City of Sapporo pages I checked, I did not find a citywide list of dog runs, so check each park’s own page. Tonden Nishi Park (屯田西公園, Kita Ward) has had a dog run: a 2014 report on the city’s website says it started on July 15, 2012 and was run with volunteers. Its park managers’ current page is mixed: one part says a dog run is open from May to October, while its facility table lists the dog run (free) as closed for renovation work (改修工事のため利用中止). Maeda Forest Park (前田森林公園, Teine Ward) opened a dog run as a two-day trial in 2020, and its posted rules turned away dogs without registration and a rabies shot within one year, and asked for a leash outside the run. Moerenuma Park’s page asks you to walk dogs on a leash of 2 meters or less and take the poop home. In parks in general, the city asks you to keep your dog on a leash and take the poop home, and it says off-leash or a leash longer than 2 meters in public places is banned by ordinance. Rules can change, so check the park’s current page before you go.

If you are looking for a place where your dog can run off-leash in Sapporo, the official information is scattered across the city’s pages and each park’s own management site. This post sums up what those official pages say, park by park, in plain English.

Please read this first: this post is a plain-English summary of official City of Sapporo pages and official park management pages. It is not about my own dog, and I don’t work for the city or any park. Rules can change. The rules that apply are the ones on the park’s current page and the instructions of park staff, so please check the park’s own page, and contact the park if anything is unclear. Where the pages I checked did not say something, I have written “check with the park” instead of guessing. The details below are given as the pages stated them when I checked on October 8, 2026.

The rules at a glance

	What the official page says	Where it says it
A citywide list of dog runs	I did not find one on the City of Sapporo pages I checked	—
Tonden Nishi Park dog run	Listed as free, but “closed for renovation work” in the facility table; another part of the same page says it opens May to October	Park managers’ page (みどりみらいプロジェクトグループ)
Maeda Forest Park dog run	A two-day trial on February 29 and March 1, 2020	Maeda Forest Park notice
Leash in public places	Off-leash or a leash over 2 meters is banned by ordinance	City poster and leaflet (citing the animal welfare ordinance)
Dogs in city parks	Keep your dog on a leash and take the poop home	City page on using parks
Moerenuma Park	Leash of 2 meters or less, take the poop home, no pets at the Glass Pyramid or Moere Beach	Moerenuma Park page on park rules
Registration tags	The dog license tag (鑑札) and rabies shot tag (注射済票) must be attached to the dog’s collar or similar	City page on dog registration

Does the city list dog runs?

In the City of Sapporo pages I checked, I did not find a page that lists dog runs across the city. The city’s page on using parks gives manners for all parks: when you walk your dog, keep it on a leash (つな, リード) and take the poop home, and it points to the animal welfare ordinance. That page does not mention dog runs.

Many larger parks are run by park managers (指定管理者) with their own websites, so the best place to look is the park’s own page. If you can’t find what you need there, check with the park.

Tonden Nishi Park (Kita Ward)

What the city’s pages say

The City of Sapporo’s page on Tonden Nishi Park (屯田西公園) describes it as a sports park (運動公園) at Kita Ward, Tonden 4-jo 9–10-chome, and says renovation work has been under way since fiscal 2020 because the facilities are aging. It says you can’t enter areas under construction while work is going on, and it points to the park managers’ website for which facilities can be used. That city page does not mention a dog run.

A 2014 report by the park managers, posted on the city’s website, gives the dog run’s history:

• Start date. It began on July 15, 2012, after requests from park users.
• Who runs it. Setting it up, managing it, and advising users were done together with volunteers.
• That year’s season and hours. In fiscal 2014 it ran from May 11 to October 31, from 8:00 to 17:00 (until 16:00 in October).
• Limited opening. The report listed as an issue that the dog run opened only while a manager was on site, so opening days and times were limited.

These details are from 2014, so don’t treat them as the current schedule.

What the park managers’ page says now

The park managers (みどりみらいプロジェクトグループ) run Tonden Nishi Park, Shin-Kotoni Green Park, and Taihei Park. Their current page says two different things:

Part of the page	What it says
Park highlights (みどころ)	“May to October: we open a dog run, good news for dog lovers” (5月～10月：犬好きの方には嬉しいドッグランを開設しています)
Facility table (施設案内)	Dog run: free (無料), closed for renovation work (改修工事のため利用中止)

Because the page doesn’t agree with itself, check with the park before you go. The page lists the Tonden Nishi Park management office (屯田西公園管理事務所) at 011-771-0219. The same page also says that start dates for the season may change depending on snowmelt.

The managers’ page also asks owners in their parks never to let pets off-leash, to keep pets under control on a leash or similar as the city ordinance says, and not to let pet poop or urine dirty the park. It says owners who don’t follow this may be asked not to walk their pets there.

Maeda Forest Park (Teine Ward): a 2020 trial

Maeda Forest Park (前田森林公園) has its page on the website of the Sapporo Park Greening Association (札幌市公園緑化協会). The park’s notice dated February 16, 2020 says a dog run would be set up and opened on a trial basis in the park’s south area for two days only, Saturday, February 29 and Sunday, March 1, 2020, run by the park office and a volunteer group. The pages I checked did not say whether there are any later dog runs there, so check with the park.

The trial’s posted rules (前田森林公園ドッグラン利用規約) are a useful example of what a dog run in Sapporo may ask. Some of them:

Rule	What the 2020 rules said
Fee	Free
First visit	Fill in a consent form and tell the staff
Dogs per person	One dog per owner
Watching your dog	Never take your eyes off your dog
Toys and food	No balls or other toys, food, or treats
Trouble between dogs	If your dog fights or you can’t control it, put the leash on and leave the run
Toilet	Let your dog relieve itself beforehand; if it does go, clean up and take it home
Outside the run	Keep your dog on a leash
Accidents	Trouble between dogs or with people is the owner’s own responsibility

The rules also listed dogs and people who could not enter, including:

• Dogs without registration and a recent rabies shot. Dogs not registered and not given a rabies shot within one year under the Rabies Prevention Act.
• Sick dogs or females in heat.
• Aggressive dogs. Dogs, such as fighting dogs, that could frighten other users.
• Very young children. Children aged three and under.
• Other animals. People bringing animals other than dogs, and people without a dog.

These were the rules for one trial in 2020. A dog run you visit may set different rules, so check its current page.

Moerenuma Park

Moerenuma Park’s page on park rules (快適な利用のために) says:

• Leash and poop. When you walk a dog, keep it on a leash of 2 meters or less, and always take the poop home.
• Paths, not restricted areas. You may walk with your dog on the paths, but please stay out of restricted areas (the lawns marked in orange on the map).
• No pets in two places. Pets are not allowed in the Glass Pyramid, and Moere Beach does not accept pets.

The page I checked did not mention a dog run, so if you are looking for one there, check with the park.

The city’s leash rule

The City of Sapporo’s poster on its leash rule says that keeping a dog off-leash or on a long leash (over 2 meters) in public places is banned by ordinance. The city’s leaflet for dog owners also says to walk your dog on a leash of 2 meters or less, with a person who can control the dog. My post Dog Waste and Garbage Rules in Sapporo: What Dog Owners Should Know covers this rule and the poop rules in more detail.

So outside a dog run, keep the leash on. Inside a dog run, follow that run’s own rules.

Registration tags

The city’s page on dog registration says owners of dogs aged 91 days or older must register their dog and have it vaccinated against rabies every year under the Rabies Prevention Act. It says the dog license tag (鑑札) and the rabies shot tag (狂犬病予防注射済票) must be attached to the dog’s collar or similar. The 2020 Maeda Forest Park trial turned away dogs without registration and a rabies shot within one year, so carry proof if a dog run asks. My post Living with a Dog in Japan: Basic Rules and Manners explains registration and rabies shots.

A short checklist before you go

Before you go	Why
Read the park’s current page	Rules, seasons, and closures can change, and Tonden Nishi Park’s page lists its dog run as closed for renovation in one place and open May to October in another
Call the park if the page is unclear	Park offices can tell you what is open now
Check your dog’s tags	The city says the license tag and rabies shot tag must be on the collar
Bring a leash of 2 meters or less	Outside a dog run, off-leash or a longer leash is banned in public places
Pack poop bags	The city and the parks ask you to take the poop home
Let your dog relieve itself first	The 2020 Maeda Forest Park rules asked for this
Leave toys and treats at home unless the run allows them	The 2020 Maeda Forest Park rules banned them

For walking habits on the way to the park, my post Leash Walking Manners in a Busy City: Habits for Small Dogs has tips for crowded sidewalks.

Read the park’s current page, keep the leash on until you are inside a dog run, and take every bag of poop home. When a page doesn’t answer your question, ask the park before you go.

FAQ

Does Sapporo have public dog runs?

In the City of Sapporo pages I checked, I did not find a citywide list of dog runs. A 2014 report on the city’s website says a dog run at Tonden Nishi Park in Kita Ward started on July 15, 2012. Its park managers’ current page lists the dog run as closed for renovation work, while another part of the same page says it opens May to October. Check with the park before you go.

What rules might a dog run in Sapporo have?

Each dog run sets its own rules. As one example, the rules for Maeda Forest Park’s two-day trial in 2020 asked for one dog per owner, no toys or treats, a leash outside the run, and cleaning up after your dog, and turned away dogs without registration and a rabies shot within one year. Check the current rules of the dog run you visit.

Can my dog be off-leash in a Sapporo park?

Not outside a dog run, as far as the pages I checked say. The city says keeping a dog off-leash or on a leash longer than 2 meters in public places is banned by ordinance, and its page on using parks asks you to keep your dog on a leash and take the poop home. Inside a dog run, follow that run’s own rules.

Sources checked: City of Sapporo, 公園の利用について (using parks) (Japanese), City of Sapporo, 屯田西公園 (Tonden Nishi Park) (Japanese), City of Sapporo, 屯田西公園の取り組み2014年度 (Tonden Nishi Park report, fiscal 2014, PDF) (Japanese), みどりみらいプロジェクトグループ, 公園情報 (Tonden Nishi Park managers’ park information) (Japanese), 前田森林公園, 「ちょっとだけドッグラン」のお知らせ (Maeda Forest Park trial dog run notice) (Japanese), モエレ沼公園, 快適な利用のために (Moerenuma Park rules) (Japanese), City of Sapporo, 犬の登録と狂犬病予防注射 (dog registration and rabies shots) (Japanese), City of Sapporo, 「うちの子は大丈夫」と、思っていませんか？ (leash poster, PDF) (Japanese), City of Sapporo, 犬・猫の飼い主の皆さんへ (leaflet for dog and cat owners, PDF) (Japanese). Checked on October 8, 2026. Rules can change, so please check each park’s current page and ask the park if anything is unclear.