Hakodate, Hokkaido
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is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
located in
Oshima Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. As of 2004 it had a population of 456,621 and an area of 3,715.38 km2. Hakodate Airport is located in the City of Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hok ...
,
Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...
of 279,851 with 143,221
household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...
s, and a
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
of 412.83 persons per km2 (1,069.2 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is . The city is the third biggest in Hokkaido after
Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
and
Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...
.


History

Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854, as a result of
Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...
, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan. Also, the city had been the biggest city in Hokkaido before the Great Hakodate Fire of 1934.


Pre-Meiji restoration

Hakodate (like much of other parts of Hokkaido), was originally populated by the
Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...
. They lived in the
Oshima Peninsula The Oshima Peninsula (渡島 半島 ''Oshima-hantō'') is the southernmost part of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Where the peninsula starts is open to interpretation. A more generous interpretation is to draw a line southea ...
. The name "Hakodate" may have originated from an Ainu word, "hak-casi" ("shallow fort"). Another possibility is that it means "box" or "building" in Japanese which refers to the castle built by the Kono (Kano) clan in the fifteenth century. Hakodate was founded in 1454, when Kono Kaganokami Masamichi constructed a large manor house in the
Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...
fishing village of Usukeshi (the word for bay in Ainu). After his death, Masamichi's son, Kono Suemichi, and family were driven out of Hakodate into nearby Kameda during the Ainu rebellion in 1512 and little history was recorded for the area during the next 100 years. There was constant low-level conflict in the Oshima peninsula at the time with the Ainu, as armed merchants like the Kono family, established bases to control trade in the region. This conflict culminated in an uprising from 1669 to 1672, led by Ainu warrior Shakushain after which the Ainu in the region were suppressed. Hakodate flourished during the Hoei period (1704–11), and many new temples were founded in the area. The town's fortunes received a further boost in 1741 when the
Matsumae clan The was a Japanese clan that was confirmed in the possession of the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" ...
, which had been granted nearby areas on the
Oshima Peninsula The Oshima Peninsula (渡島 半島 ''Oshima-hantō'') is the southernmost part of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Where the peninsula starts is open to interpretation. A more generous interpretation is to draw a line southea ...
as a march fief, moved its Kameda magistracy to Masamichi's house in Hakodate. In 1779, the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
took direct control over Hakodate, which triggered rapid development in the area. Merchant
Takadaya Kahei was a Japanese merchant credited with transforming the trading outpost of Hakodate in Japan's northern island of Hokkaidō into a thriving city. He is also recognised for opening the northern Etorofu sea route to the Kuril island fisheries and ...
, who is honoured as the founder of Hakodate port, set up trading operations, which included opening the northern
Etorofu , other_names = russian: Итуру́п; ja, 択捉島 , location = Sea of Okhotsk , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 3139 , length_km = 200 , width_km = 27 , coastline = , highest_moun ...
sea route to the Kuril island fisheries. He is credited with turning Hakodate from a trading outpost into a thriving city. A Hakodate magistracy was established in 1802. By 1807, the power of the Tokugawa government extended to the entire region. However, in 1821, the central government relaxed their control of the area and restored the Matsumae clan to the full powers they had before. File:Hakodate 1856.jpg, Lithograph entitled "View of Hakodate from Snow Peak" looking towards the sea—artist, Wilhelm Heine (1856) File:Port-of-Hakodate-Map-1863.png, Port of Hakodate map circa 1863


Meiji restoration

The port of Hakodate was surveyed by a fleet of five U.S. ships in 1854 under the conditions of the
Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...
, as negotiated by Commodore
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
. Hakodate port partially opened to foreign ships for provisioning in the following year and then completely to foreign trade on 2 June 1859 as one of five Japanese open ports designated in the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed with the U.S. The Hakodate foreign settlement is one of the legacies of foreign influence in Hakodate. A mariner in Perry's fleet died during a visit to the area and became the first U.S. citizen to be buried in Japan when he was interred in Hakodate's cemetery for foreigners. File:Naval Battle of Hakodate.jpg,
Naval Battle of Hakodate The was fought from 4 to 10 May 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate navy, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy. It was one of the last stages of Battle of ...
(1869) File:A view of the Hakodate Foreign Settlement, c. 1880.jpg, Omachi, one of the neighborhoods in the Hakodate foreign settlement (1880) File:Port of Hakodate, 1897.jpg, Port of Hakodate in 1897, by
Ogawa Kazumasa , also known as Ogawa Kazuma or Ogawa Isshin, was a Japanese people, Japanese photographer, printer and publisher who was a pioneer in photomechanical printing and photography in the Meiji period, Meiji era. Life Ogawa was born in Saitama, Sait ...
File:Hakodate Goryokaku Panorama 1.JPG,
Goryōkaku (literally, "five-point fort") is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. History ''Goryōkaku'' was designed in ...
fortress (1866) File:Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse Hakodate Hokkaido pref Japan01n.jpg, Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse (1869)
British merchant, naturalist and spy,
Thomas Blakiston Thomas Wright Blakiston (27 December 1832 – 15 October 1891) was an English explorer and naturalist. Early life and career Born in Lymington, Hampshire, Blakiston was the son of Major John Blakiston. His grandfather was Sir Matthew Blakis ...
, took up residence in Hakodate in the summer of 1861 to establish a saw milling business. He stayed in Hakodate until 1884, during which time he documented the local natural environment, equipped the local meteorological station and ran guns to the
Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
rebels. As one of few points of Japanese contact with the outside world, Hakodate was soon host to several overseas consulates. The Russian consulate included a chapel from where Nicholas of Japan is credited with introducing
Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
to Japan in 1861 (now the Japanese Orthodox Church). The Orthodox church is neighbored by several other historical missionary churches, including
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Hakodate also played a central role in the
Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
between the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
and the Meiji Emperor which followed Perry's opening of Japan. Shogunate rebel
Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the Me ...
fled to Hakodate with the remnants of his navy and his handful of French advisers in winter 1868, including
Jules Brunet Jules Brunet (2 January 1838 – 12 August 1911) was a French military officer who served the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War in Japan. Originally sent to Japan as an artillery instructor with the French military mission of 1867, he refu ...
. They formally established the Republic of Ezo on December 25. The republic tried unsuccessfully to gather international recognition to foreign legations in Hakodate, including the Americans, French, and Russians. The
Naval Battle of Hakodate The was fought from 4 to 10 May 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate navy, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy. It was one of the last stages of Battle of ...
was fought from 4 to 10 May 1869, between the remnants of the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
navy and the newly formed
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
. It was a decisive victory for the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 14 June 1868, Hakodate was designated as an urban prefecture (府 fu), one of the first two, the other being
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...
. On February 8, 1882, it was enlarged into Hakodate-ken, and then became part of
Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
on January 26, 1886. The rebels occupied Hakodate's famous European-style
Goryōkaku (literally, "five-point fort") is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. History ''Goryōkaku'' was designed in ...
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
and used it as the centre of their defences in southern Hokkaido. Government forces defeated the secessionists in the Battle of Hakodate in 1869 and the city and fort were surrendered to emperor. Military leader,
Hijikata Toshizō was a Japanese warrior. As of the ''Shinsengumi'', he resisted the Meiji Restoration and fought to his end. Background was born on May 31, 1835, in the Ishida village, Tama region of Musashi Province (present day Ishida, Hino, Tokyo), Ja ...
, was one of those slain in the fighting. In 1878,
Isabella Bird Isabella Lucy Bird, married name Bishop (15 October 1831 – 7 October 1904), was a nineteenth-century British explorer, writer, photographer, and naturalist. With Fanny Jane Butler she founded the John Bishop Memorial Hospital in Srinagar i ...
reported of the city in her travelogue:
The streets are very wide and clean, but the houses are mean and low. The city looks as if it had just recovered from a conflagration. The houses are nothing but tinder… Stones, however, are its prominent feature. Looking down upon it from above you see miles of grey boulders, and realise that every roof in the windy capital is "hodden doun" by a weight of paving stones.


20th century to present day

Hakodate was awarded
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
status on August 1, 1922. On March 21, 1934, a serious fire had destroyed around two-thirds of all the buildings in Hakodate. This event also led to many residents leaving and subsequently depopulating the city. The city escaped most of the ravages of World War II. Areas around Hakodate-yama were fortified and access restricted to the public. Many prisoners of war were interned in Hakodate and historians record a total of 10 camps. The city was subjected to two Allied bombing raids on 14 and 15 July 1945. Around 400 homes were destroyed on the western side of Hakodate-yama and an Aomori-Hakodate ferry was attacked with 400 passengers killed. In 1976, a defecting
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
pilot named Viktor Belenko flew his plane into the civilian airport in Hakodate. Hakodate's size nearly doubled on December 1, 2004, when the town of Minamikayabe (from Kayabe District), and the towns of Esan and Toi, and the village of Todohokke (all from Kameda District), were merged into it. The Hokkaido Shinkansen line opened on 26 March 2016. The undersea
Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern is ...
with the
Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
rail line greatly reduced the travel time from
Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...
to Hakodate. File:Hakodate circa 1930.JPG, Hakodate Port circa 1930 File:TBMs and SB2Cs dropping bombs.jpg, alt=Photograph of a large number of propeller-driven monoplanes dropping bombs, US Navy Grumman TBF Avenger aircraft dropping bombs on Hakodate during July 1945


Geography

Mount Hakodate is an inactive volcanic mountain in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. The mountain is renowned for its view of the surrounding bay and city. The Michelin Green Guide: Japan gave the experience 3/3 stars in a review, placing it as equal to mountain ...
was originally an island that was formed by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. During the course of history a sand bar formed between Mount Hakodate and the peninsula. This landform, which is an example of a
tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...
, finished forming in circa 1000 BCE. The tombolo connects the former Hakodate island with the main island
Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
to the north. The main central area of Hakodate city is located on the sandbar. Hakodate is located at the center of Kameda Peninsula. The city is overlooked by
Mount Hakodate is an inactive volcanic mountain in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. The mountain is renowned for its view of the surrounding bay and city. The Michelin Green Guide: Japan gave the experience 3/3 stars in a review, placing it as equal to mountain ...
. The summit can be reached by hiking trail, cable car, or by car. Visitors can also reach the peak of Mount Hakodate by taking tour bus and/or direct bus. that departs from JR Hakodate Station. An obscure local nickname of the bumpy mountain is ''Gagyūzan'' (Mount Cow's Back), alluding to the way the mountain resembles a resting cow. The former
Goryōkaku (literally, "five-point fort") is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. History ''Goryōkaku'' was designed in ...
fort is now used in as a public park and is popular in Hokkaido for ''
hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...
'' (cherry blossom viewing). Since April 2006, the park has also featured the tall, white Goryōkaku Tower. Resembling an air traffic control tower, the structure offers a panoramic view of the park, including mainland Japan across the Tsugaru Strait on clear days.


Nearby cities and towns

* Hokuto to the west * Nanae to the north * Shikabe to the north east


Mountains

* Mount E (): Hokkaido's southernmost volcano *
Mount Hakodate is an inactive volcanic mountain in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. The mountain is renowned for its view of the surrounding bay and city. The Michelin Green Guide: Japan gave the experience 3/3 stars in a review, placing it as equal to mountain ...
()


Rivers

* * *


Cityscape

Hakodate has a cityscape that covers the center of the Kameda peninsula. A narrow land area separates Hakodate Bay to the west from Tsugaru Strait in the south-east side. It is best viewed from the top of
Mount Hakodate is an inactive volcanic mountain in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. The mountain is renowned for its view of the surrounding bay and city. The Michelin Green Guide: Japan gave the experience 3/3 stars in a review, placing it as equal to mountain ...
.


Demographics

The population of Hakodate increased by 402% from 28,825 to 144,749 between 1873 till 1920. Hakodate's population peaked in 1980 at 320,154, but has been gradually in decline due to aging since then.


Climate

According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
, Hakodate's climate is
humid continental A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(''Dfb'') of warm summer and winters with regular intense
blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...
s. With an alternate definition, using the isotherm, Hakodate falls in the rare
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
(''Cfb'') of the east coast of the continents due to the warm current of Tsushima. The warmest month has an average temperature of . And so the city is the limit of hot summer climates for a city on the immediate coast in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
(''Cfa''/''Dfa''), although appearing in other interior regions of the province. Hakodate has snowy winters and warm, humid summers. Winters are cold for the latitude but milder than much of Hokkaido. Hakodate features four distinct seasons. The city sees a substantial amount of snowfall during the course of the year, averaging roughly of snow annually. Spring typically begins with some snowfall, but sees a gradual warming trend as the season progress. Summers are generally warm but not hot, with average high temperatures in the warmest month (August) hovering around . Fall initially is warm but becomes increasingly colder as the season progress. It is not uncommon to see snowfall in the latter parts of the fall season.


Economy

Prior to its dissolution,
Air Hokkaido was an airline based in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan.会社案内
" ''Air Hokkaido'' ...
was headquartered in Hakodate. In January 2006, the regional airline Airtransse was headquartered in Hakodate.


Culture and landmarks

In Funami-cho stands the Koryu-ji temple. It's the oldest Buddhist temple (affiliated with the Soto school) in the region which was built in 1633. It was badly damaged during the
Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
and moved to its current location in 1879. The existing main building was built in 1900. The city is well known for seafood and
sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...
. Hakodate shio
ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle di ...
is also a famous speciality of the city. Shio (salt) ramen has a pale, clear, broth made with plenty of salt and any combination of chicken, pork bone, vegetables, fish, and
seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and '' Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
. On a similar note, Hakodate's city fish is the squid. Hakodate is famous for the restaurant Ikkatei Tabiji, which serves a dish called "dancing squid": - a recently deceased squid is served with soy sauce, the sodium of which causes a
cadaveric spasm Cadaveric spasm, also known as postmortem spasm, instantaneous rigor mortis, cataleptic rigidity, or instantaneous rigidity, is a rare form of muscular stiffening that occurs at the moment of death and persists into the period of rigor mortis. Cad ...
when poured over the squid. Every year (August) the city gets together for the Hakodate Port Festival. Hordes of citizens gather in the streets to dance a wiggly dance known as the ''Ika-odori'' (Squid Dance), the name of which describes the dance appropriately. The glowing lights of squid-catching boats can be seen in the waters surrounding the city. The bell of Haristos Orthodox Church is one of the
100 Soundscapes of Japan In 1996, as part of its efforts to combat noise pollution and to protect and promote protection of the environment, the Ministry of the Environment designated the . There were 738 submissions received from all over the country and the 100 "best" wer ...
. The Hakodate Fish Market (otherwise known as the Ashaichi or Morning Market) is a 10-minute walk from the JR Hakodate Station. It is open daily and boasts hundreds of fish and sea food stands in addition to restaurants. Popular fares include sea urchin and calamari, the famous Japanese snow crab from the famous Hokkaido waters. * Hakodate Hachiman Shrine * Mt. Hakodate Ropeway *
Hakodate City Museum is a museum of history and natural history in Hakodate Park, Hakodate, Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from ...
*
Hakodate City Museum of Literature The opened in Hakodate, Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the ...
*
Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples first opened as the in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1989. Located in the former Bank of Japan Hakodate Branch building of 1926, after the transfer out of materials relating to the poet to the , the museum reopened in its current guise in Ap ...
* Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido *
Hakodate Jōmon Culture Center opened in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan in 2011. It has four exhibition rooms dedicated to the Jōmon period, displaying some 1,200 pieces of earthenware and stoneware excavated in Hakodate as well as the only National Treasure in Hokkaidō, the so ...
*
Hakodate Park is a large Western-style park in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan, at the foot of Mount Hakodate. Opened in 1879, it is a registered as a "place of scenic beauty" in Japan's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. It contains the Hakodate City M ...
* Shinori-date * Shiryōkaku * Virgin of the Angel Trappistine Monastery


Transportation

Hakodate Transportation Bureau The is a public transport authority in Hakodate, Japan. The bureau currently operates only trams, although until 2003 it also ran a number of bus routes. The , a private horsecar operating company, opened Hakodate's first tramway line in 1897. ...
operates
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
( Light rail) lines. The Hokkaido Shinkansen opened in March 2016. It currently runs to
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station is a railway station on the Hakodate Main Line in Hokuto, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The station – rebuilt and very extensively enlarged to serve from March 2016 as the northern terminal of the new ...
through the
Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern is ...
from Shin-Aomori Station. The new terminal is away from Hakodate Station. There are plans to extend the Hokkaido Shinkansen north to Sapporo Station by 2030. *
JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...
station ** Hakodate Main Line : Hakodate Station - Goryōkaku Station - Kikyō Station **
South Hokkaido Railway Company The is a third-sector railway company based in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. Ownership of the stock is shared in the following proportions: *Hokkaido Prefecture 80%; * Hokuto City 11.2%; *Hakodate City 4.4%; * Kikonai Town 4.4%. Dōnan Isarib ...
: Goryōkaku Station * Hakodate Airport *
Port of Hakodate The is one of the main ports in northern Japan, located in Hakodate, on the northern island of Hokkaido. References External links Hakodate Port Authority
Ports and harbors of Japan, Hakodate Hakodate {{port-stub ...
*
Hokkaido Expressway is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...


Education


Universities

National * Hokkaido University, Hakodate Campus *
Hokkaido University of Education is a national public university administered by the government of Japan. It has five campuses in Hokkaido, Japan. The main campus is on the outskirts of Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido. Hokkaido University of Education, Sapporo (HUES) is the la ...
, Hakodate Campus Public *
Future University Hakodate is a public university in the city of Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan, established in 2000. The university's School of Systems Information Science is separated into two departments: the Department of Media Architecture and the Department of Comple ...
Private *
Hakodate University is a private university in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, established in 1965. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1938. The Faculty of Commerce is the university's only faculty, and consists of three courses: Business Management, Market ...
*
Hakodate Junior College is a private junior college in the city of Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. It was established in 1953. It currently consists of two departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with spe ...
*
Hakodate Otani College is a private junior college in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea ...
* Russia Kyokutou University Hakodate school


Colleges

National * Hakodate National College of Technology


High schools


Public

* Hokkaido Hakodate Chubu High School * Hokkaido Hakodate Nishi High School * Hokkaido Hakodate Ryohoku High School * Hokkaido Hakodate Technical High School * Hokkaido Hakodate Commercial High School * Hokkaido Minamikayabe High School * Hokkaido Toi High School * Hakodate City High School


Private

* Hakodate La Salle Junior High School & Senior High School * Hakodate Shirayuri Gakuen Junior High School & Senior High School * Hakodate Otani High School * Iai Joshi Women's Academy * Otsuma High School * Seisho Gakuin High School * Hakuryo High School affiliated with Hakodate University *
Yuto High School affiliated with Hakodate University Yuto may refer to: *Yūto, a masculine Japanese given name *Yūtō, Shizuoka, a former town in Hamana District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan * Yuto, Jujuy, a city in Jujuy Province, Argentina *Yutō, a wooden container used for serving hot liquids, a ...


Sister cities

*
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. Th ...
, Canada (since 1982) *
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, ...
,
Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...
, Russia (since 1992) *
City of Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia (since 1992) * Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk,
Sakhalin Oblast Sakhalin Oblast ( rus, Сахали́нская о́бласть, r=Sakhalínskaya óblast', p=səxɐˈlʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) comprising the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the Russian ...
, Russia (since 1997) *
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, since 1992 (Treaty of Friendship) *
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, China (since 2001) *
Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a popula ...
,
Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous Administrative divisions of South Korea, province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the s ...
, South Korea (since 2011)


Notable people

* Kazuo Ohno, Butoh dancer *
Saburō Kitajima is a Japanese enka singer, lyricist, actor and composer. Background He was born Minoru Ōno (大野 穣), in Shiriuchi, Hokkaidō, to a fisherman. He was very poor due to the effects of World War II, and was forced to work while he studied. ...
, singer * Glay, rock/pop band *
Juran Hisao was the pen-name of a Japanese author of popular fiction in Shōwa period Japan. Hisao Jūran was a pioneer in the use of black humor in Japanese literature. His works reflect his extensive knowledge of a wide range of subjects, and displayed ext ...
, mystery writer *
Kōhan Kawauchi (February 26, 1920 – April 6, 2008), also known as Yasunori Kawauchi, was a Japanese screenwriter who created various tokusatsu series, including the first, ''Moonlight Mask'', in 1958. He was originally from Hakodate, Hokkaido. His series ''W ...
, screenwriter *
Hidemi Kon was a literary critic and essayist active in Japan during the Shōwa period. Early life Born in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Kon Hidemi was the younger brother of writer, politician and Buddhist priest Kon Tōkō. His father was a captain of a steamer o ...
, literary critic *
Naoko Matsui is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Hakodate, Hokkaido. Matsui was a member of Production Baobab for 20 years before becoming a freelancer. Matsui is most notable for the roles of Uru Chie in '' High School! Kimengumi'', Rem Ayanokō ...
, voice actress *
Kogo Noda was a Japanese screenwriter most famous for collaborating with Yasujirō Ozu on many of the director's films. Born in Hakodate, Noda was the son of the head of the local tax bureau and younger brother to Kyūho, a Nihonga painter. He moved to Na ...
, screenwriter * Hideko Takamine, actress * Yuki, musician (Real Name: Yuki Kuramochi,
Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...
: 倉持 有希, ''Kuramochi Yuki'') * Great Kojika, Japanese professional wrestler, founder and chairman of
Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, ...
(Real Name: Shinya Koshika,
Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...
: 小鹿 信也, ''Koshika Shinya'') *
Menso-re Oyaji , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working under the name for All Japan Pro Wrestling where he is a former four-time Gaora TV Champion. He was previously known as the similar masked character , under which he performed for several ...
, Japanese professional wrestler (Real Name: Yohei Nakajima,
Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...
: 中島洋平, ''Nakajima Yōhei'')


References


External links


Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakodate, Hokkaido Populated places established in the 1450s Cities in Hokkaido Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Capitals of former nations 1454 establishments in Asia 1450s establishments in Japan