Japan 2025 Photos Part 7 - Hakodate
Hakodate is a unique place. It's a city that is famous for the Western architecture built by the Dutch and British when it was the only port where Japan allowed Western trade. Today, it serves as a port for cruise ships to dock and has built up its waterfront with shops and trendy tourist attractions.
That is not to say there isn't any charm to the city. Our hotel was built inside an old Western-style bank, and the rolling hills of the city alone give it a unique feeling that I haven't experienced yet in Japan. The main public transportation being the old trolley line also gives the city a very classic, throwback feeling. But after getting off the super modern Shinkansen, dragging luggage onto a streetcar did not feel like traveling in style. And walking up those majestic hills after a day of travel did not leave me with much energy to do much else.
Still, Hakodate has some of its own charms. We only stayed the single night, and it wasn't long enough to even go and see any of the famous buildings because the travel and the few things we did do before nightfall wiped us out. So one more day would have been nice for that. They have their own famous ramen, which we tried: a simple salt-based broth that was very light and tasty. While I think a single day was enough time to see everything in Hakodate, we definitely arrived too late in the day to accomplish that... which I regret. But it being the first stop in Hokkaido makes it an easy stop-off before going deeper into the island.
Of course, the biggest attraction in Hakodate is what we hit up at night. After having a lovely ramen dinner and climbing one of the city’s famous hills, we boarded a cable car and rode it to the top of Mt. Hakodate.
The view from Mt. Hakodate is one of the "Three Major Night Views of Japan" and for good reason. You can see the outline of the entire peninsula lit up against the darkness of the ocean, and the contrast is really one of the most stunning sights I've ever seen. The ride up the cable car gives a nice view of some of those famous Western buildings on the way up, but it also gets terrifyingly close to the tops of trees and nearby apartment buildings. I would consider that both a sightseeing ride and a thrill ride, personally. But that might just be me...
I really did love being up on Mt. Hakodate. It wasn't just the view, but it was the entire vibe. Another extension of Japanese local pride being shown in full force. Hakodate loves this viewing platform, and they show it in how well kept everything is, including the area around it. They show it in the souvenirs available in the store. And it's 100% an amazing sight and worth the hype.
And you know who rules? Melon bear. I want to see more of Melon bear. I want to see Melon bear all the time everywhere.
The next day, we were leaving on the slowest train in Japan to go to our Ryokan, but we made two additional stops in Hakodate before we left. The first was the morning market, where we had breakfast, which was some of the cheapest, freshest, and most delicious fish I've had in Japan yet. Just... A++.
The next stop was a cool bit of history: the Goryokaku fort. The fort was modeled after Western forts from the mid-1800s as part of Japan's push to Westernize. The fort played a key role in the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, as it served as a last stand between the newly formed Empire of Japan and the final forces who were resisting Westernization and modernization (as well as the restoration of the Emperor, which was really orchestrated by Western agents in order to open Japan up to trade by making them buy up a ton of Western goods and technology but that's probably far too complicated of a topic for a quick photo travel post) at that point, who called themselves the Republic of Ezo. The Japanese forces crushed the forces of Ezo and, in that final battle, unified the island as part of the modern Empire of Japan.
It's also a cool star shape.
The views from the viewing platform were fantastic, and the city looked completely different during the day, a lot smaller and simpler, than the night view from atop Mt. Hakodate. I think one additional day in Hakodate would have been nice, but the little taste was enough for me, for now. If I ever return to Hokkaido, I will try to return, but it would never be a destination or reason to go back to the island on its own.
