Air quality comparison · Japan, 833 km apart
Sapporo vs Tokyo Air quality index (AQI) today
Sapporo has cleaner air than Tokyo right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 55 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sapporo averaged AQI 38 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Sapporo has lost more forest since 2001. Tokyo has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Sapporo33Tokyo55
Head to head
Sapporo vs Tokyo at a glance
Sapporo and Tokyo are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Sapporo | Tokyo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 33 (better) | 55 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 6 (better) | 11 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 38 (better) | 73 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 106 ha | 4 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 10.1% | 12.7% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 62.2K | 53.8K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Sapporo and Tokyo right now?
Sapporo has cleaner air than Tokyo right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
SapporoTokyo
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Sapporo: Ground station · 札幌市中央区北１西２, 600 m away · median of 11 stations. Data: OpenAQ · Ministry of the Environment Air Pollutant Wide Area Monitoring System, World Air Quality Index Project, Sapporo atmospheric environment observation data breaking system (札幌市大気環境観測データ速報システム), Japan Atmospheric Environmental Regional Observation System (環境省大気汚染物質広域監視システム).
Tokyo: Ground station · 渋谷区本町6-6-2, 1.4 km away · median of 30 stations. Data: OpenAQ · Ministry of the Environment Air Pollutant Wide Area Monitoring System.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sapporo averaged AQI 38 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Sapporo7Tokyo0
- Average AQI
- Sapporo38Tokyo73
- Worst day, AQI
- Sapporo51Tokyo107
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Sapporo | Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 51 | 72 |
| Nov 6 | 17 | 107 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 61 |
| Nov 8 | 34 | 68 |
| Nov 9 | 34 | 68 |
| Nov 10 | 44 | 63 |
| Nov 11 | 48 | 74 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Sapporo and Tokyo today?
Sapporo (AQI 33, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Tokyo (AQI 55, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Sapporo
- A good day to be active outside.
- Tokyo
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Sapporo
- Open them to air the house.
- Tokyo
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Sapporo
- Not needed.
- Tokyo
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Sapporo
- Not needed.
- Tokyo
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Sapporo and Tokyo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Sapporo's air is cleaner than 76% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Tokyo's is cleaner than 54%. Within Japan, that is 49% and 2% of its 207 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Sapporo
- Beats 76%
- Tokyo
- Beats 54%
More tree cover than…
- Sapporo
- Beats 21%
- Tokyo
- Beats 28%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Sapporo or Tokyo?
Sapporo has lost more: about 106 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 4 ha around Tokyo. 29 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2004, with 40 ha lost.
Worst year: 2012, with 1 ha lost.
| Sapporo | Tokyo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 106 ha | 4 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1.6% | under 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 29 ha | under 1 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (63%) | Towns and roads (23%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Sapporo
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Tokyo
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Sapporo or Tokyo?
Tokyo has more tree cover: 12.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.1% around Sapporo, or about 39,499 trees against 31,571.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Sapporo | Tokyo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 31.6K | 39.5K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 62.2K | 53.8K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 695K kg | 869K kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Sapporo vs Tokyo: your questions answered
Is Sapporo cleaner than Tokyo?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sapporo reads AQI 33 against 55, a gap of 22 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sapporo averaged AQI 38 against 73, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Sapporo and Tokyo today?
In Sapporo, at AQI 33: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Tokyo, at AQI 55: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Sapporo or Tokyo?
Sapporo has lost more: about 106 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 4 ha around Tokyo. 29 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Sapporo or Tokyo?
Tokyo has more tree cover: 12.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.1% around Sapporo, or about 39,499 trees against 31,571. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Sapporo and Tokyo need?
Sapporo needs about 62,205 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Tokyo about 53,806 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Sapporo and Tokyo measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Sapporo vs Tokyo comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 8, 2026 and Jul 25, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Sapporo with somewhere else
This place
Sapporo