Exploring Hakodate

After a couple of fascinating days exploring Sapporo, it was time to jump on the train and continue our exploration of Hokkaido - the next stop on our trip was Hakodate, located on the Southern shores of the island. Hakodate used to be the most important city on Hokkaido, and actually the most important port of Northern Japan. In fact, it was the first port in Japan that opened up to foreign trade in 1854.

We started off by checking in at our hotel, your average business hotel, conveniently located near the train station. We then headed off to explore Hakodate. Our first stop was the warehouse district by near the harbour area. The old warehouses have been converted into a shopping complex, in rather good taste. Plenty of interesting little & quirky shops to be explored (they also had a nice ice cream shop where we had a break).

We next headed off to the Motomachi historic district, built on the slopes of Mount Hakodate. It's a great place to explore the history of Hakodate - the historic and international past of Hakodate really becomes evident here. The architecture is an interesting mixture of Japanese and Western styles. There are also a couple of interesting churches here, including an Orthodox one (makes sense - Russia isn't far away from Hokkaido).

Another interesting building is the Old Public Hall, an imposing western-style wooden building. This is where the imperial family used to stay when they visited Hakodate. Due to its status as a major international part, there used to be a lot of embassies and consulates in Hakodate. We also quite liked the old Brittish Embassy building, with its traditional Englisth tea room, and shop, where one can find all sort of things tacky & English!

From Motomachi, we headed downhills, stopping by at the Hakodate Museum of Northern people. I was quite keen to check it out, hoping to find out a bit more about the Ainu culture, but this place was a bit of a disappointment, I must say. It's all a bit ran-down and old-fashioned, and as often in Japan, explanations are often only in Japanese.

For dinner, we decided to try Lucky Pierrot - Hokkaido's answer to McDonald's. We rather enjoyed our experience of Japanese fast food (well, we actually waited half an hour before being able to bite into our burgers...). The interior decoration definitely beats McDonald's, and so does the food!

The next day, we decided to visit what is possibly the main attraction of Hakodate, the Goryokaku fort. The place is located a bit outside the town centre, so we decided to borrow some bicycles form the hotel and pedal down there. A good hour or so later, we arrived. There is a nice panoramic view tower just next to the fortress, which we decided to check out. And a good choice it was - the views from up there are just splendid!

Goryokaku is quite a rarity - a Vauban-style fortress situated in Japan! The star-shaped fortress is very impressive indeed, especially when seen from the tower! It was built in 1855 to protect the Tsugaru strait against Russian invasion. The last battle between the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji forces was actually fought here (so the shogunate rule can be said to have ended here).

Having checked out the view from the top, we had a walk around the fortress, great little park to walk around when the sun is out (which is was, thankfully, in our case!). Apparently it's a prime spot for Sakura-watching during the Cherry blossom season.

That brought an end to our visit of Hakodate, time to jump on the train and head back towards the North. All in all, a very interesting little city. One of those rare cities in Japan which have managed to retain evidence of their historic past as well. Too many cities in Japan have left progress obliterate old historic districts (world war II didn't help either in this respect, obviously...)