Visiting Hakodate City - Hokkaido, Japan (part 2)

 This is part 2 of our Hakodate adventure. After a wonderful day of sightseeing we decided to go out and see what the nightlife was like near our hotel.

At our age the nightlife starts while it's still light outside.

The izakaya district is very close to our hotel.

The hardest thing about going out is picking a place to go into. It seems like there are well over 100 izakaya's to choose from.

We finally made our choice.

Kanpai! (Cheers!). We had good food and plenty to drink but we decided that one night out like this was enough. For the next few nights we'll eat and drink in our hotel room.

Next day: Today we're going to visit the Goryokaku Tower, Goryokaku Park and the Hakodate Museum of Art.

The first step of todays adventure starts with a ride on a streetcar.

We get of the street car at the Goryokaku-koen-mae tram stop and from there it's a short walk to Goryokaku Tower. This tower is no joke! it's huge. It's 107 meters (351 feet) tall. The Official Tower Website

It's an amazing view from the observation deck.

Looking down at Goryokaku Park.

A view of the harbor.

The observation deck has a lot of information about Goryokaku Fortress

We are not alone on the observation deck.

Looking down on the tour bus parking lot. It's a good thing that we came here early, the parking lot is filling up with buses very quickly.

After visiting the tower we went to the Hakodate Museum of Art. The MOA was across the street from the tower. Photography is prohibited inside the Museum so I have no pictures. Howerver, one can check out their website "here".

After the MOA we walked to Goryokaku-koen. Emi took a tour of the historical Hakodate Magistrates office (pictured here) and I walked around the park which is the former sight of the fortress.

There's a nice view of the tower from the park.

After spending about an hour at the park we ate a late lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant and then we returned to our hotel location for some free-time walking around and some shopping for food and drinks for consuming in our room. 

Next day: It's raining! That's not good because today's the day we're going to take a ferry from Hakodate, Hokkaido to Aomori Prefecture, Honshu. The purpose of the trip is to visit Oma Point, the northern most point of Honshu Island.

The view from our hotel window. It's raining but according to the weather report port it should stop in time for our ferry trip. There is a special bus that will take us from the bus terminal (the big parking area in the picture) to the Hakodate Ferry Terminal.

Fast forward: We have arrived at the Ferry Terminal and Emi is buying our round-trip tickets.  Tsugarukaikyo Ferry Global website

This is the Ferry that will take us to Oma in Aomori. It's still raining.

After all the trucks, cars and motorcycles are loaded onto the ferry we are allowed to walk onboard. We enter the ferry using the same loading ramp as the motor vehicles use.

We are underway and it looks a bit scary! 

And, after a couple of hours we arrive safely at Oma Ferry terminal in Aomori.

Inside the Oma ferry terminal. Emi poses with a fish.

Motorcycles drive out of the ferry's bow ramp and we start our walk from the terminal to Oma point.  

It's supposed to be about a 3 kilometer walk from the terminal to the point. Should be no problem if we don't get lost (guess what). It's not raining but it sure looks like it wants to.

Walking through the fishing port village. It looks deserted. We don't see any people.

The waterfront scenery is nice... nice and dark that is.

Passing by the main fishery.

We have come to a fork in the road. One way is the right way and the other is the wrong way. Think carefully, check and recheck google maps on our cell phones. The correct way is the left fork... we took the right fork.

After walking for what seemed like forever we finally happened upon a gas station and the station attendant very politely told us we were heading in the wrong direction. He got us headed in the right direction and eventually we saw a sign pointing us to Omazaki (Oma Point).    

We have arrived at the northern most point on Honshu Island! This is a view of a lighthouse on a small island just off the coast.

Proof that we really made it to Oma Point.  Now all we have to do is walk back to the ferry terminal and catch the ferry before it departs. 

On the way back to the ferry it started to rain. We had folding umbrellas with us but the rain was so heavy that the umbrellas we almost useless. We were lucky to find a store on the way to the ferry landing that sold us obento's for our lunch. We made it back to the ferry terminal intime to catch our scheduled ferry. 

We are underway and heading back to Hakodate! My shoes and socks are soaking wet, but that's okay, we're on our way and we are happy for that!

Land Ho! I can see Hakodate in the distance.

Now we're back in front of the Hakodate Ferry Terminal waiting for our bus back to town.

Here comes the bus! Here comes the bus! We're so excited... I need a drink!

The view from our bus as we depart the ferry terminal area and head back to our hotel.

That's the end of part 2. Part 3 is coming soon!

Sneak preview: Tomorrow we're going to visit Onuma Koen. I hope my shoes are dry by then!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Mike
 

Visiting Hakodate City - Hokkaido, Japan (part 1)

 This time we're visiting Hakodate City in Hokkaido! Okay, I'm going to skip the part where we had a late flight from Haneda (Tokyo) to Hakodate Airport and we rode a bus from the airport to the front of JR Hakodate Train Station. From the station we walked to our hotel that was located next to the station, we checked in, went to our room, had a nightcap; and then went to bed.  Yes, I'm going to skip that stuff!

We're going to start with the first morning in Hakodate City. It's early morning and this is the view from our hotel room on the 10th floor. It's a view of the bus and taxi terminal in front of the JR Hakodate train station.

We stayed at the La'gent hotel (very nice) and in the morning we used the hotel's spacious public hot bath on the 2nd floor and then we enjoyed a wonderful buffet breakfast in the hotel's dining room. The buffet really was fantastic!

After breakfast we went out to explore the Hakodate Morning Market.

This is the front of the JR Hakodate Train Station. The Morning Market is right next to it.  

Per the internet: The Hakodate Morning Market (Asaichi) is held daily from 5am (6am from January to April) to noon, just a few steps away from JR Hakodate Station. The market area spans about four city blocks.

    Products on sale include various types of fresh seafood, such as crabs, salmon eggs and sea urchin, as well as fresh produce such as melons. Many restaurants can be found in the market area, offering fresh seafood breakfasts, such as uni-ikura domburi.

Somebody was buying a fresh crab.

The morning market is a popular spot for tourist and locals.

The next place on our list to visit was the Red Brick Warehouse area. It's not the far away so we decided to walk there.

    On our way there I saw my first streetcar! Hakodate is one of the few cities in Japan that still has an active streetcar system. This is one of the reasons I wanted to visit Hakodate.

I'm so excited! 

And, here's another one coming from the opposite direction! I'm looking forward to riding one.

We have arrived at the Red Brick Warehouse area

Per the internet:    Hakodate Port was among the first Japanese ports to be opened to international trade towards the end of the feudal era. Several red brick warehouses from past trading days survive along the waterfront in the bay area of Hakodate and have been redeveloped into an atmospheric shopping, dining and entertainment complex.

    Besides a typical range of trendy souvenir, fashion, interior and sweets shops, the complex also features a restaurant, a beer hall, a chapel for weddings and sightseeing cruises of the bay.

There are quite a few rickshaw operators offering tours of the Red Brick area. I don't know how much it costs but they did seem to be doing pretty good business. 

Emi standing next to the Jo Niijima Bronze Statue.

Now it's my turn.

In the distance we can see Midori no Shima (Green Island) and beyond that the ship and boat repair area cranes. We'll visit there another day.

From the Red Brick waterfront area we walk up the Hachiman Zaka Slope to visit the Motomachi district. This slope is steeper and longer than it looks

At the top of the slope we arrive in the historical Motomachi district. The first place to visit is the Hakodate Orthodox Church. 

It's a Circa-19th-century Russian Orthodox church. Photography was prohibited inside the church. Entry is free but they do except donations! 

Next door the the Russian church is the Hakodatesei John Church.  

And across the street from the John church is the Catholic Church Hakodate Motomachi. A Small, historic Roman Catholic church featuring Gothic architecture & a bell tower. That church was covered with scaffolding and tarps because it was under a major renovation so I didn't take a picture. Instead I took a picture of a group of seniors taking a break across the street.  

And, now it's time for the highlight of the hill top historical district! It's the  Old Public Hall of Hakodate Ward.

It's a renovated civic building from 1910, with a period interior & harbor views from its balcony.

This place is amazing!

Many of the furniture and furnishings are original.

Admission is 300 yen and it's worth it!

So impressive.

The view of the harbor from the second floor balcony.

A lot of people come here to have their picture taken.

A view of the main entrance. 

Another view of the harbor from in front of the Old Public Hall.

Well, as impressed as I am with the Old Public Hall, it's time to move on.

This is the Former Hakodate Branch Office of Hokkaido Government; now it's a restaurant.

This is the Former British Consulate of Hakodate.

Inside the Former British Consulate of Hakodate.

Is it tea-time? Actually, there is a nice little cafe inside the Former British Consulate of Hakodate for people that would like a cup of tea.

We headed back down the slope to the waterfront and now it's time to find a place to eat lunch. All this sightseeing has made us hungry!

The best place to eat and shop is "Hakodate Factory" website

We ate lunch here and it was cheap and delicious. 

After lunch we did some more walking around and we also visited the Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples website

    Then, it was time to ride a streetcar!!! We rode a street car from the museum back to the JR Hakodate train station. This is the streetcar stop in front of the train station.

Before returning to our hotel we stopped by the Hakodate Tourist Information Center (inside the train station) so that Emi could get some information for tomorrows adventures! 

This is a view of our hotel.

Part 2 is coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike