In 1868, the officially recognized year celebrated as the "birth" of Sapporo, the new Meiji government concluded that the existing administrative center of Hokkaido, which at the time was the port of Hakodate, was in an unsuitable location for defense and further development of the island.
1868 m. (šie metai oficialiai laikomi Saporo „gimtadieniu“) naujoji Meidži vyriausybė padarė išvadą, kad tuometinis Hokaido administracinis centras, Hakodatės uostas, netinkamas gynybai ir tolesniam salos vystymuisi.