A Star was Born and Cherry Trees Bloom
- Paul Hallman
- Apr 21
- 6 min read
We spent the day in the city of Hakodate, a historic port at the southern tip of Hokkaido, surrounded by mountains and wrapped in water. The city is located on the upper most part of Japan and has weather similar to Ontario. Today the weather was 16C but sunny and although it was a bit windy it was a relief from all the sun and humidity we had been exposed to over the last portion of our cruise.
Hakodate harbour
Hakodate became important because of its location and harbor—especially after Japan opened to foreign trade in the 1800's—growing into a busy commercial center for shipping, fishing and trade. Today it’s home to roughly a quarter-million people and it still feels like a working port city as much as a tourist stop. The mountain above town, Mount Hakodate, is actually an old volcanic peak, and the lava flows helped form the land that the modern city sits on—one reason Hakodate has that distinctive shape with the city stretching out between the water on both sides.
This photo was taken from Mount Hakodate during our Ropeway Cable car ride
It is day 90 of our 115-day Circle Pacific Cruise and our last day in Japan so we decided to keep things simple and stick together—especially since Jan and I have both been fighting chest colds and the occasional coughing spell. Best to not expose others as we try to get over it.
Our first stop was Goryokaku Fort, one of those places where the history is as striking as the scenery. It’s a Western-style, star-shaped fort built in the late 1850s/early 1860s, when Japan was beginning to open to the world and wanted stronger defenses in key ports like Hakodate. It’s often called “Goryokaku Castle,” but it isn’t a castle with a tall "keep"—its strength was in the low ramparts, wide moat and star design, which gave better defensive angles and fewer blind spots.
The Cherry Blossoms outline the star shaped fort which is now a park where admission is free
Inside the fort, the “main building” was essentially the administrative headquarters—more about command, planning and operations than royal living quarters. Goryokaku isn’t just old—it’s tied to a turning point in Japan’s story. During the Boshin War (1868–1869), it became a major stronghold in the final conflict that helped end the shogunate era and usher in the Meiji period.
We took a taxi over and headed straight up the Goryokaku Observation Tower, and that’s where the whole place really clicks. From observation level of the 350 foot high tower, you can finally see what makes Goryokaku famous: the entire star shape laid out below you, with the moat tracing the outline and the ramparts forming crisp points that look almost perfectly drawn.
In spring, the view is even better—cherry blossoms ring the fort, so the star is outlined in soft pink and white. You can pick out the paths through the park, the bridges and entrances, and the way the grounds are arranged inside the fort.
Beyond the fort itself, you get a wider look at Hakodate spreading out around it, with the city stretching toward the coastline and the hills in the distance—one of those views that makes you stop talking for a minute and just stare.
There was a 16 point history brochure that they gave us when we went to the Observation Deck and it described the timeline that the fort was constructed. Each point depicted the details related to the site timeline. I took photos of several to give you an indication of the era that this site went through. The timeline was 1864 when it was completed construction to 1952 when it was designated as a special historic spot. It did become a park in 1914.
With the sunshine today and the protection of the trees from the winds it was a nice stroll through the cherry blossoms and it was one of the things that we looked forward to during our cruise. We were glad they were in near full bloom. Jan almost had wings to fly!
Back at ground level, we wandered the park at an easy pace, taking in the moat, the gates, the long sloping ramparts and all those blossom-lined paths that have turned the fort into one of Hakodate’s favorite springtime spots. Before we left, we treated ourselves to gelato… which somehow tasted even better after all that fresh air.
Next, we crossed town by taxi to the Hakodate ropeway. The cable car ride up was a highlight all on its own and at the top the view opened wide—city, harbor and water stretching out on both sides. It’s one of those places where you just stand there for a while, taking it all in.
We then strolled down the hill (and it was a steep walk into the main part of the city and explored the Red Brick Warehouses (Kanemori). It seems that all the cities we have visited in the northern portion of Japan have Red Brick Warehouses and I had to understand why and I asked Google for an answer and this was the reply:
Most Japanese port cities don’t have them, but several northern port towns (like Hakodate and Aomori) do because:
Port + trade era (late 1800s–early 1900s): As Japan modernized, busy harbors needed sturdy storage for imports/exports (food, textiles, machinery, beer, etc.).
Brick = “modern” and more fire-resistant: After repeated urban fires, brick warehouses were seen as safer than all-wood buildings, especially for valuable goods.
Cold, snowy climates: In places like Hokkaido and northern Honshu, brick warehouses held up well and helped with temperature stability for stored goods.
They survived and got repurposed: Many were later converted into shopping/restaurant/tourist areas, so they’re more visible today than warehouses that were demolished.
The buildings themselves are really part of the charm—old waterfront warehouses that have been repurposed into a lively shopping area, with that classic brick-and-bay feel and the harbor right nearby. Inside, it was a mix of small shops and galleries: jewelry, local crafts, Hakodate souvenirs, snacks and sweets, and plenty of “just browsing” temptations. It felt like the kind of place where you could easily lose an hour (or three) without even trying.
Hakodate also had a bunch of other touristy spots we simply didn’t have time to fit in and maybe good reasons to come back someday. We missed things like Motomachi’s hillside streets with old Western-style buildings and churches, the Hakodate morning market for seafood and local treats and Onuma Quasi-National Park just outside the city for lakes and mountain views. Even just spending more time along the waterfront and harbor area would have been fun. In the winter months there is downhill skiing about 20 miles north.
We tried to find something to eat but all the places we checked out were more sushi based and we didn't want that so we agreed to catch something back on our ship as we had planned to be back by 2:30. We did find a restaurant with a conveyor that delivered meals to their clients. We are not sure how it all worked.
Dinner served on a conveyor belt but grab it fast before the people beside us get it first
Back on the ship we had lunch and that’s when the day took a sudden turn. Back in our room, the ship Facebook site came alive with word spreading that some passengers had received an alert about an earthquake near Aomori and a possible tsunami. The switchboard lit up with calls, but there was no real panic—just a lot of questions. Soon the captain made a ship-wide announcement - we were fine as we were about 250 miles away and he provided details that the quake was 10 km deep under the ocean and while a small tsunami was being predicted, we were already heading the other direction.
When I went out onto our balcony I noticed the ship was still doing some house cleaning as we will not have any ports that we can stop at when we leave the dock later today. They were sorting garbage as it was being picked up by a Japanese company and two trucks were still pumping down the septic holding tanks on the ship. An overflow septic tank would be a problem so I do hope they got it all before we departed.
Now we’re officially on our way to Alaska, ready to slow the pace after a busy stretch in Asia. If the sun shows up and the wind behaves, we’ll be out on the balcony watching the waves roll by. If not, we’ll find friends and settle into sea-day life with a few rounds of Uno or Racko. Either way, we’re looking forward to relaxing—assuming we don’t trip when we cross the International Date Line in a couple of days.
We have enjoyed our time in Japan - the cleanest country we have ever seen and the most polite people we have met. A fantastic place on our planet to visist.
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