15 November 2015

Hakodate Guide Hijikata (Part One)

First, did you know that if you click on any of the pictures, it will take you to an enlarged slide show of all the pictures in this post? I’ve chosen to shrink the pictures to fit better with the text, but you can see them in their (slightly larger) glory if you click. I promise!

Before I get started, let me introduce you to "Hakodate Guide" Hijikata, my favorite Hakodate mascot.


On the left, Hakodate Guide Hijikata (upper right) and pals. On the right, the actual Hijikata Toshizo, co-founder of the Shinsengumi "samurai death squad" and leader of the Bakufu rebel forces in Hakodate, where he died in battle in 1869.
I wanted to go to Hakodate during Silver Week, but I decided too late to make the arrangements, so I went to Hakodate the weekend after Silver Week instead, heading up Friday after work and coming back Sunday night.

Short Hakodate lesson/sales pitch: Hakodate is a port city on the southern end of Hokkaido, about a 3-hour express train ride or ferry ride from Hirosaki. In March 2016 the Shinkansen will start running to Hakodate, which is cause for great excitement locally. Historically, Hakodate was one of the first ports opened to international trade after the ending of Japan’s 200-year-plus self-imposed trade isolation in 1854. The city has lots of examples of western-style architecture dating from that period, including churches, civic buildings and houses. Hakodate was also the setting for the last stand of the Bakufu rebels, the Battle of Hakodate, which ushered in the Meiji era. Finally, it’s a city on a bay with water on two sides, and a small mountain at the south end with a spectacular night view of the city lights.  
Just for fun, a montage of decorative manhole covers showcasing some of Hakodate's attractions: from the top, the Greek Orthodox church, happy-looking squid, and the Old Public Hall inside the outline of Goryokaku Park.
Friday:

My trip started off inauspiciously with a typhoon. After a slightly nerve-wracking train ride (wrong-ish tickets, late trains, track changes and someone sitting in my reserved seat with a box of grapes), I got to Hakodate around 7pm. There was a cold, wet wind blowing and the streets were almost completely empty.


I took the city tram to the base of Mt. Hakodate and walked up the hill to the ropeway to the summit, but it was closed due to high winds. When I turned around, I saw a gleaming church spire from the ropeway parking lot and decided to have a bit of a night wander, which is one of my favorite things to do, especially when the streets are empty and quiet.

Ropeway to the summit, regretfully closed
It looks like the ropeway to a space station
The view from the parking lot is not half bad
Alley between western-style buildings
Three churches in one shot: Episcopal in the center, Russian Orthodox hiding on the left and Catholic church spire at right 
Approach to the Russian Orthodox church from the street
The Catholic church spire from the top of the Russian Orthodox steps
The Hakodate branch of Higashi Hongan-ji
I missed the last tram home due to miscalculation, and had a 20-minute walk back to my hotel to the east of the train station.

Saturday:

Saturday morning was cold and gray, and not quite completely raining. I walked to the station and then took a left and strolled straight through Hakodate’s famous Morning Market. I saw a lot of crabs, live and otherwise; squid and sea urchin; and also cantaloupe, corn and seaweed. I walked through an indoor market hall with many sea creature stalls, and came to terms with the fact that most sea creatures scare me a little and I don’t really want to look at them, much less eat them. 

Next door was another indoor market hall full of mostly produce stalls, and I stopped to ask some questions about the $25 cantaloupes and chatted about the source and flavor of the corn, apples and mikan. I felt a little braver and I asked another shopkeeper about the many types of dried scallops she had for sale, and learned that some were for immediate snacking, and others were for cooking in soups and stews. I bought a huge slice of cantaloupe for 200 yen (about 2 dollars) and sat in the restaurant behind the stall to eat it - possibly a harmony crime, as it was a bit unclear if this was actually allowed, but preferable to walking around with sticky fingers and cantaloupe juice dripping off my chin.


The sky was still gray and drizzly, so I took the tram to the Bay Area and Red Brick Warehouses, which turned out to be a bit of a tourist shopping paradise, especially on a gloomy day. I bought postcards and many small omiyage, and sampled bits of food and drink. Several shopkeepers were happy to chat, and I found myself buying more than I needed. Just as I decided it was too dangerous for my wallet to stay inside the mall any longer, the sun broke out of the clouds.

The "Bay Area" - the Brick Warehouses at the left, Mt. Hakodate beyond
A footbridge over the canal connects two of the Brick Warehouses, so shoppers can easily walk between.
Ivy grows on the old Post Office near the Brick Warehouses.
Lunch at Lucky Pierrot burger chain
 I had lunch at the famous Hakodate burger shop, Lucky Pierrot, highly recommended by several of my coworkers and friends. It’s a chain in Hakodate, and over the weekend I came across at least five of their locations. Their logo is a terrifying clown. I ordered the Lucky Burger, and it was quite good (but I think I still prefer my neighborhood spot Pepe Kitchen!)

I took a gamble on the weather and headed to Goryoukaku park, a star-shaped fortress built in 1855 to protect the Tsugaru Strait, captured by the Bakufu rebels in 1869, and the site of their defeat at the Battle of Hakodate. I didn’t plan to go up to the observatory deck of the Goryoukaku Tower, but when I saw the crowds of people making a beeline for the door, I decided to do it. It turns out there is a museum about the history of the fortress, located on the observation deck.

At the gift shop in the Tower, I discovered and immediately became obsessed with Hakodate Guide Hijikata, the adorable cartoonized version of the real-life Hijikata Toshizo, cofounder of the shinsengumi samurai assassination squad, and leader of the rebel army at the Battle of Hakodate, where he was killed in action. Nowadays he’s a cute anachronistic city guide, occasionally riding a yellow scooter and waving a tour guide flag from his sword. Naturally. You can find him napping with cats on cellphone cases and playing board games with the rest of the rebel army on plastic document folders. All of this is as it should be.
Goryokaku Tower and museum
Looking down on Goryokaku Park from the tower
Looking down at Hakodate from the south side of the tower 
A model of Goryokaku Fortress when it was an active military outpost
A break in the clouds to the southwest of the tower
Inside the park, crossing the moat
The Former Magistrate Office located inside the park
Standing atop one of the earthwork fortress walls
What archinerd doesn't love a diagrammatic section? Seriously. The walls are filled with compacted mud dug from the moat, and the protruding stone course at the top is designed to prevent attackers from climbing to the top.
...And while we're in archinerd territory, how about an explanation of the brickwork for the "Red Brick Warehouses" in the Bay Area. 30 - 50cm thick walls, with heavy fire-proof tiles on the roof held up by cypress posts.
Lastly, posts and beams of the Red Brick Warehouses.
The sun set while I was wandering in the park. The fortress is mostly made of earthworks, and you can easily climb up to the top of the tree-lined walls that make up the sides of the star shape, and look out into the city or back to the building in the center of the park that is a replica of the former Magistrate's Office used by the shogunate to oversee Hokkaido. It’s a beautiful and peaceful place, and very hard to imagine soldiers charging around doing what soldiers do best.

Please stay tuned for Part Two: Night view from Mt. Hakodate, Churches, Cheesecake and more...

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