After seeing Mt. Hakodate from Goryokaku Tower, I headed out there to get a view of the city on the isthmus below. My plan was simple: go out there and get a good spot for when the sun goes down. But as this is one of the top three night views in the world, the others being in Hong Kong and Monaco, I knew I had to stake out my place early and wait. I went up the mountain by ropeway at just before 17:00 when the line going up was still short. I walked around the visitor center, got a nice view of ships heading out to the Tsugaru Strait in the west and headed to the lookout that faces north.
I found a spot at the railing and set-up my tripod. The sun was to go down at 18:45, and I was waiting there in position at 17:15. Shivering and patient, I took shots incrementally as the sun went down.
As the light lessened I could expose for longer and longer; from three seconds to eight to ten and eventually a whole 30 secs. As I was busy focused on increasing my shutter speed, the crowd of people there for the view also was getting bigger and bigger.
I stayed at my spot protecting the legs of the tripod from being bumped during the long exposures. In the sweet spot of 15 minutes at dusk, the clouds appeared a beautiful deep blue. I was thrilled at how the shots were coming out. I continued until I got to one that really satisfied me:
I came and got the shot I hoped for. The one that would definitely prove that indeed I had been to and conquered Hakodate.
I turned around to find a crowd thick with people. I tucked the legs of my tripod together and headed to a couple more spots before lining up to go down the ropeway.
After a wait, I finally got down Mt. Hakodate and walked my way to another spot, the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses. As Hakodate was one of the first ports in Japan, it has many western influences including this section of warehouses on the water. Now it is a popular tourist spot filled with shopping and restaurants.
I arrived to what seemed like abandoned streets of warehouses, as many shops had closed for the day. It was quiet until I saw a German style bar with lively music almost like an Oktoberfest. So there were still people here, I thought. Still ecstatic from my successful trip up the mountain and wanting to take more long exposures I set up my tripod again and caught some light trails of cabs going by.
Very hungry after hours of long exposures, I was in the mood for something easy and fun. Luckily right across the street from these warehouses was a local burger chain called Lucky Pierrot. I had seen one earlier in the day and looked like a whacky interpretation of a western restaurant complete with a clown mascot. I was intrigued and it is in a way an obscure meibutsu of the area, so I decided to check it out.
Lucky Pierrot is decorated like an old 50’s burger stand. It felt familiar like an American style restaurant, but there was something off, yet uniquely Hakodate. I ordered a Chinese Chicken burger, a fried chicken burger with a sauce with an Asian twist like the perfect product of a port town situated between east and west. It made sense to me and hit the spot after a long day.
Hakodate gave me that truly great day in Hokkaido. I don’t know why I didn’t expect much from this place. Perhaps because of its location on the very southern tip and taking the least amount of effort to get to of anywhere in Hokkaido, I thought how Hokkaido could it be? I was pleasantly wrong. I realized how very Hokkaido it is and that it may have been the best part of my trip. It has a unique mix of east and west, fresh seafood and a beautiful night view.
Hokkaido, well done with a side of chili fries served in a mug.
One thought on “Mt. Hakodate”
Great shots from above! I can see why Mt. Hakodate has one of the three best night views in the world. The chicken burger looked delicious. What were the fries sitting in? Cheese??
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