Hakodate
Hakodate is a port city at the southern tip of Hokkaido, facing Honshu across the Tsugaru Strait, and one of the first Japanese harbours opened to foreign trade, in 1859.
Goryokaku, the star-shaped fort, Hakodate
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Journeys
- Two include Hakodate
overview
A harbour of churches, consulates and a star-shaped fort, between two shores of dark water.
Hakodate grew on a narrow isthmus between two bays, with the volcanic dome of Mount Hakodate at its southern end. Under the treaty Commodore Perry brought in 1854 its harbour was opened to American ships, and in 1859 it became one of the first three ports, with Yokohama and Nagasaki, opened to foreign trade. Consuls, merchants and missionaries from Russia, Britain, America and France settled on the slope above the water, and the churches they built still stand within a few minutes' walk of one another at Motomachi.
The city was also the scene of the last battle of the civil war that ended the shogunate. Officers loyal to the old regime occupied the star fort of Goryokaku and declared a short-lived Republic of Ezo, and in 1869 the fort surrendered to the imperial army, closing the war. Hakodate went on to become a great fishing port and the gateway to Hokkaido for the ferries across the strait, and later for the Seikan Tunnel beneath it.
For a traveller it is a city of evenings. The view from the summit of Mount Hakodate, the lit city narrowing between the two bays, is one of the most celebrated in Japan. The harbour has its red-brick warehouses, the morning market sells squid and crab caught that night, and at Yunokawa, on the shore east of the city, the onsen ryokan look out across the strait towards Honshu.
The city is small enough to know in two days. A tram runs along the harbour between Yunokawa, Goryokaku and the foot of Motomachi, and the slopes of the old foreign quarter, the warehouses by the water and the ropeway to the summit all lie within a short walk of one another. Its food is its own: the squid boats of the strait hang their lamps on the horizon at night, and the catch is at the morning market by the time the city wakes.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see in Hakodate
Goryokaku
A five-pointed star fort of earthwork and moat completed in 1864 to a Western plan. Its reconstructed Magistrate's Office stands at the centre, and from the Goryokaku Tower beside it the star can be read whole, its moats lined with cherry trees.
Mount Hakodate
The volcanic dome of 334 metres at the tip of the peninsula, reached by ropeway. From the summit the city narrows into a waist of light between Hakodate Bay and the Tsugaru Strait, the view for which Hakodate is known.
Motomachi
The slope above the harbour where the foreign community settled, its stone-paved streets running steeply up from the water, among them Hachiman-zaka, which climbs straight down towards the bay and the ships.
Hakodate Orthodox Church
The Church of the Resurrection, rebuilt in white stucco in 1916 with green copper domes, the successor to the first Russian Orthodox church in Japan. The Catholic Motomachi Church and the Anglican church stand a few steps away.
The Old Public Hall of Hakodate Ward
A colonial-style hall of 1910, blue-grey with yellow trim, at the top of Motomachi Park, its balcony looking down over the harbour.
Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses
The brick warehouses of the Meiji-era port along the harbour, now galleries and shops, beside the water where the ships once unloaded.
Hakodate Morning Market
Several hundred stalls beside Hakodate Station selling squid, hairy crab, sea urchin and salmon roe, with counters that serve the catch on rice, the squid so fresh it is cut to order.
Yunokawa Onsen
The hot-spring quarter on the shore east of the city, a few minutes from the airport, whose springs have been used for more than three centuries, its ryokan turned to the strait.
The Trappistine Convent
A convent of Trappist nuns founded in 1898 on the hills above Yunokawa, its red-brick buildings and quiet garden open to visitors in part.
Former British Consulate
The consulate of 1913 at Motomachi, white with blue window frames, with a rose garden and a tea room in the English manner.
Hakodate Museum of Northern Peoples
A museum in a former bank of 1926 at the foot of Motomachi, with robes, tools and carvings of the Ainu and of the peoples of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, among them coats sewn from salmon skin.
Cape Tachimachi
The cliffs at the southern foot of Mount Hakodate, where a short walk leads to a headland over the Tsugaru Strait, with the mountains of Honshu on the horizon and the grave of the poet Ishikawa Takuboku on the slope nearby.
experiences
The best of Hakodate
The night view, slowly
Mount Hakodate after dark by private car up the summit road, with time to watch the lights come up across the city and the fishing boats out on the strait.
The morning market with a guide
The squid tanks, the crab merchants and the counters of the morning market with a guide who knows them, and breakfast of sea urchin and salmon roe on rice among the stalls.
An evening at Yunokawa
The day closes in the onsen of a ryokan by the sea, followed by a dinner of the catch of the Tsugaru Strait: squid, crab and the scallops of Funka Bay.
Motomachi on foot
A slow walk through the churches and consular houses of the slope, with a guide on the history of the port, the Republic of Ezo and the foreign merchants who lived here.
Goryokaku and the last stand of the shogunate
The star fort with a historian, from the moats to the rebuilt Magistrate's Office, and the story of the officers who kept it through the winter of 1868 and surrendered it in the spring of 1869.
plan your visit
Hakodate on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights lets Hakodate unfold, with an evening on Mount Hakodate, a morning at the market and Motomachi, and Goryokaku in the afternoon; one night serves a journey crossing between Honshu and Hokkaido.
- Getting there
- By the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in about four hours, then fifteen to twenty minutes into the city. By air from Tokyo Haneda to Hakodate Airport in about an hour and twenty minutes; the airport is a few minutes from Yunokawa. From Sapporo the limited express takes about four hours.
- Pairs well with
- Hakodate is the hinge between Honshu and Hokkaido: Onuma is half an hour north and Matsumae a drive along the coast, while the Shinkansen crosses to Aomori and Hirosaki, and the road north leads to Lake Toya, Noboribetsu and Sapporo.OnumaMatsumaeNoboribetsuLake ToyaAomoriHirosakiSapporo
where to stay
Luxury hotels and ryokan in Hakodate
Hakodate has two good places to stay. Yunokawa, the onsen quarter on the shore east of the city, has the ryokan, with their onsen turned to the strait, and is close to the airport. A contemporary onsen ryokan stands here whose rooms have open-air onsen of their own, with a sky salon above the city.
The bay area, by the red-brick warehouses, puts you within a walk of the harbour, Motomachi and the ropeway. One hotel there has a rooftop open-air onsen above the harbour, and its breakfast, built around the squid, crab and salmon roe of the morning market, is one of the pleasures of a stay in the city.
journeys
Tours of Japan that include Hakodate
Each journey below includes Hakodate; choose one to see its route, dates and price. For a journey on your own dates, the Custom Tour of Japan can include Hakodate and anywhere else you would like to go.
AutumnThe Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan
12 days2 to 13 November 2027$19,500per person, twin shareSee the journey
The Private CollectionPure Hokkaido
9 daysOn the dates you choose$21,600per person, twin shareSee the journey
Planned around youThe Custom Tour of Japan
Your party aloneWith your own Tour DirectorFrom five nights, on the dates you chooseSee the journey
questions
Hakodate: questions answered
How many days do you need in Hakodate?
Two nights for most journeys, with an evening on Mount Hakodate, a morning at the market and Motomachi, and an afternoon at Goryokaku. One night is enough when Hakodate is a stop between Honshu and Hokkaido.
How do you get from Tokyo to Hakodate?
By the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in about four hours, then a short connection into the city, or by air from Haneda in about an hour and twenty minutes.
Is the Hakodate night view worth it?
Yes. From the summit of Mount Hakodate the lit city narrows between two bays, a view celebrated across Japan, and the ropeway and the summit road reach it in minutes.
What is Hakodate famous for?
The night view from Mount Hakodate, the star fort of Goryokaku, the churches of Motomachi, and its seafood, squid above all, sold at the morning market.
Where should you stay in Hakodate?
Yunokawa Onsen for an onsen ryokan by the sea, close to the airport, or the bay area by the red-brick warehouses to be within a walk of Motomachi and the harbour.
How far is Hakodate from Sapporo?
About four hours by the limited express or about an hour by air. By road the drive passes Onuma, Lake Toya and Noboribetsu, which makes it a natural journey of several days.
What food is Hakodate known for?
Squid above all, served raw and so fresh it is cut to order, along with hairy crab, sea urchin and salmon roe at the morning market, and the clear salt ramen of the city.
Can you visit Onuma from Hakodate?
Yes, Onuma is about half an hour north by car: a lake of small islands and bridges beneath the volcano Komagatake, within the Onuma Quasi-National Park.
Which Luxury Japan Travel journeys include Hakodate?
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan and Pure Hokkaido include nights in Hakodate. The Custom Tour of Japan can include Hakodate on any dates, created around your party alone.
Can Hakodate be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you, and it can include Hakodate. For independent travel, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Hakodate, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Hakodate. We will answer with a journey shaped around it: one of our tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.