This article examines the historiography related to the 1876 founding of Sapporo Agricultural College, the first institution of its kind in Japan. Focusing specifically on the involvement of William Smith Clark, who previously served as the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, it argues that the nascent imperial ambitions harboured by both the United States and Japan are essential to a full understanding of Sapporo's founding, curriculum and subsequent history. Drawing on both primary and secondary sources as well as theoretical perspectives on empire, this article depicts Sapporo as one small part of a larger campaign of westernisation.