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Hakodate – Japan’s charming port city | Hokkaido Travel Vlog | 2-day itinerary



Hakodate – Japan’s charming port city | Hokkaido Travel Vlog | 2-day itinerary

I woke up early today to explore the city on my own It’s bright at 6:30am, but there’s no cars on the streets at all First thing I noticed about Hakodate was in certain areas
it can feel like any other Japanese city But turn a corner and you might find a Western-style building This one looks like a British-inspired Tudor style building A pink Western-style building This one is a mix of both – Japanese-style at the bottom and
Western-style at the top Hakodate was the first port in Japan to open up to foreign trade That’s why there is such an interesting mix of architecture Let’s head towards the water It’s a very charming port city There’s a Lucky Pierrot by the docks, it’s a burger chain found only in Hakodate & another one round the corner, seems like they have a monopoly here I can see Mount Hakodate Observatory at the top We will be going here for sunset, can’t wait! The city is arranged in ‘slopes’, there’s 19 of them all running down towards the bay All of them are different so it was nice to check them out, this one was very Japanese This one has Western architecture at the top Time for a coffee break My partner joined me for breakfast If you order a drink, you can get the breakfast selection for free Which I thought was a very good deal! They gave us a warm towel to clean our hands I got a white coffee which was basically 90% milk and 10% coffee The salted butter is really good He had the chicken cutlet toast The shops in the warehouse open at 10am They mostly sell food, little trinkets and souvenirs These incense holders are so cute It’s nice to just stroll around Motomachi area and look at the different types of architecture A lot of the buildings are engulfed by this green foliage This tree trunk is covered in it too! I wonder if anyone lives in this house There’s a bike that looks like it’s still in use and a parcel by the door A little souvenir shop that sells Matryoshka dolls Another (smaller) slope There’s a temple at the top Make sure to look back Making our way to one of Hakodate’s historic buildings You have to take your shoes off before entering But they also provide you with slippers The interior has a Brtitish Colonial style One of the study rooms The hall was used as a hospital during WWII Then as a music room There’s an observatory at the top that provides a nice view of Motomachi area If you head down to Motoizaka slope, you’ll get a nice view of the hall from below It’s 3pm so let’s search for a lunch place The Transistor cafe looks really cool but it’s closed Found this cute little farmshop that does meals as well They sell a small selection of local produce These edible flowers will be so nice to decorate your dishes with Ordered their set meal for ¥1485 (9.4 USD), it was filling and delicious It includes a drink too and I got the pineapple juice The owner told us the vegetables in the salad are all home-grown Just a short drive from the main town & you’ll reach this scenic cliffside spot There’s also a trail for anyone that wants to hike up from town & taxis on standby to bring you back if needed It seems like a dense fog is forming at the top of the mountain It was very windy, we couldn’t stay out for long Let’s head back Unfortunately, there’s a thick fog covering the observatory too But it’s clear skies right across it We won’t be able to see anything from up there so we will have to give it a miss today Got myself a gelato instead, the Hokkaido milk flavour is amazing The vendor also gave us a small spoon of cheese gelato to try, it was actually really good! The cloud looks like a spaceship For dinner, there wasn’t much open, luckily we stumbled across this sign It’s very cozy inside & they were playing Jazz music 🎶 I love the retro wooden interior I ordered a beer as it was the weekend
(but that was a terrible pour) This is better Got the hamburg steak which was highly rated It was nice and juicy They do parfaits too which I’d love to come back for Day 2
We decided to drive up to Mt Hakodate observatory in the morning Just in case it gets foggy in the evening too The view at the top is beautiful I spot some interesting looking churches which I want to visit later You are not allowed to drive up from 5-10pm, so it’s either the cable car, bus or taxi It’ll be so beautiful at night when all the city lights are on For breakfast we are heading back to NK2 Farmshop as we enjoyed the lunch set so much Got the morning set and I just love their salad, the veggies are so fresh and sweet Are the tiny flowers in my salad from here? It’s a day of observatories A star-shaped fort, which is rare to see in Asia as it’s a European design It was turned into a public park where 1000 cherry blossom trees are planted Can you imagine all these trees turning pink in spring? Back into town to explore the churches, which are mostly congregated in this area A Russian Byzantine architecture The bell of this church is famous for its beautiful tone Seems to be under construction A large black-tiled roof can be seen in between these 2 green and pink houses Went to the front of it, but it’s not open to public Lunchtime I read that one of the foods to try in Hakodate is shio (salt) ramen Got a bowl to try, it’s much lighter than a broth ramen
Perfect for when you don’t want anything too heavy The observatory is still covered in fog today Going to take a break at our accomodation and hopefully
this will clear by the evening & of course we can’t leave Hakodate without trying their famous
burger chain One word I could think of to describe this place – wacky We ordered their flagship Chinese chicken burger, and had to wait
1 hour In the end the burgers were just okay It looks like the strong winds are clearing the fog… So we decided to head up by cable car, if it clears we’ll have a
nice view of the sunset We’re all optimistic But it’s getting foggier the further up we go The sunset Unfortunately this was the view the whole time This reminds me of a quirky London art exhibit I’ve been to once We cut our losses and headed down after waiting 1 hour & headed back up by car at 10pm There’s a few cars behind us with the same idea The view was awared 3 stars by Michelin Green Guide Japan I didn’t know Michelin does sightseeing guides as well The nightview is said to resemble a spakling jewellery box Definitely no regrets coming back up again!

Hakodate has an old-world charm
I spent 2 days exploring what the city has to offer

Travel Date: Mid-June 2024

Time stamps:
(00:33) Exploring Motomachi Bay Area in the morning
(02:22) Breakfast at Komeda’s Coffee Hakodate Bay Area
(03:04) Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse
(03:30) Exploring Motomachi Area – interesting buildings
(04:34) Old Public Hall of Hakodate Ward (Has a nice observatory at the top)
(05:53) Lunch at NK2 Farm Shop & Cafe
(06:21) Cape Tachimachi
(07:03) Sunset at bay area
(07:55) Dinner at Mosstrees (cozy environment and nice hamburg steak)

Day 2
(08:39) Mt Hakodate Observatory in the morning
(09:44) Fort Goryokaku Observatory
(10:15) Daisanzaka Slope Area – where most of the churches are located
(11:06) Shio Ramen
(11:25) Dinner at Lucky Pierrot
(12:12) Foggy observatory
(12:58) Mt Hakodate Observatory at night (much better than view in the morning)

For Mt Hakodate observatory, we went when it was foggy hoping that it will clear up but it didn’t
From 5pm-10pm no private cars are allowed up, and you can only reach the top by cable car, bus or taxi
I would recommend checking the live view cam before making the decision to go up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s–MDmshT3I

Thank you for watching 🙂

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#silentvlog #hokkaido #japantravelvlog #travelvlog

32 Comments

  3. @GulsCan

    Fantastic content as usual. We truly like your style.

    And especially your thumbnails, we admire them. Do you make them yourself or hire someone?

  4. @Xiangjiaoman

    8:58 Thank you for showing the daytime and nighttime view from the observatory, both look amazing and clearly worth 2 journeys

  6. @eds4041

    I love your videos ❤ new subsriber here! ❤ may I know what camera are you using?

  8. @flowergirl79

    I love Hakodate!
    I went to Goryokaku twice, both in summer and spring, and they were stunning!

  13. @jamesong4512

    Your video is really beautiful!
    I’ll be visiting Hakodate soon.
    Mind asking , what video settings you set on your IPhone?

  14. @まるなな-p7j

    Thank you for coming!
    I'm so glad you took such a beautiful video.

    Although it is a rural area, but l’m proud of it,so please come and visit us again❤

  18. @leniykwim

    I live in Hakodate, but I saw this video and was moved by how beautiful it was.

  20. @chayanitxfocuz

    Which Lucky Pierrot branch did you visit in the video? I haven't seen it before, and it looks cute!. And can you tell me the name or location of the Shio Ramen restaurant you visited? 🙂

  21. @RealSanta.

    I came to see how Hokadate looks like after reading
    BEFORE THE COFFE GETS COLD by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Its really beautiful ✨

  29. @Traveljet14

    Enjoyed the lovely walk and thank you for the little snippets of information along the way. Felt like you were taking us on a walk with you.😊 Unfortunately NK2Farm shop and cafe has closed permanently 😢 according to google map.

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