Hakodate
Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 households, and a population density of 354 inhabitants per square kilometre (920/sq mi). The total area is 677.86 square kilometres (261.72 sq mi). The city is the third largest in Hokkaido after Sapporo and Asahikawa.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Hakodate
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Goryōkaku
Goryōkaku is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866.
3.9 km · fortress · Wikipedia - 02Mount Hakodate
Mount Hakodate is an inactive volcanic mountain in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. The mountain is renowned for its view of the surrounding bay and city.
2.3 km · mountain in Hokkaido, Japan · Wikipedia - 03Hakodate Orthodox Church
Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church of Hakodate is a Japanese Orthodox Church in the city of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. The first purpose-built Orthodox Christian church to open in Japan was the wooden Russian Consulate chapel of the Resurrection of Christ, in Hakodate, Hokkaido, consecrated in October 1860.
1.5 km · building in Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia - 04Benten Daiba
Benten Daiba was a coastal battery constructed in the late Edo period in what is now Benten-chō, Hakodate City, Hokkaido, as one of a group of coastal fortifications built to defend the northern territories of Ezo against the increasing presence of foreign ships. Initially a small-scale Japanese-style battery, in Bakumatsu, it was rebuilt as part of coastal defense enhancements following the opening of Hakodate Port to counter foreign vessels entering the port.
2.2 km · ezo fortress in Hokkaidō, Japan · Wikipedia - 05Future University Hakodate
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 Complex and Intelligent Systems.
8.7 km · Japanese public university · Wikipedia - 06Shiryōkaku
Shiryōkaku is a fort in the city of Hakodate in southern Hokkaidō, Japan. It was constructed in April 1869, during the Battle of Hakodate, three kilometres to the northeast of Goryōkaku by 200 soldiers of the former Tokugawa shogunate and 100 local villagers, likely under the direction of Ōtori Keisuke.
7.2 km · Fort in Hakodate, Japan · Wikipedia - 07Hakodate City Museum of Literature
The Hakodate City Museum of Literature opened in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1993. It exhibits materials relating to Ishikawa Takuboku and other contributors to the Hakodate literary scene.
1.3 km · museum in Japan · Wikipedia - 08Hakodate City Museum
Hakodate City Museum is a museum of history and natural history in Hakodate Park, Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan. The forerunner of the current museum, the Hakodate Provisional Museum, building one, opened in May 1879, the second building in 1884, and the third building in 1891.
1.8 km · museum in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan · Wikipedia - 09Trappistine Convent
Our Lady of the Angels Trappistine Abbey is a women's abbey of Trappists located in the outskirts of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. This is the first women contemplative order of Japan, colloquially known as "The Anjel Garden".
8.1 km · Abbey in Hokkaido, Japan · Wikipedia - 10Hakodate Hachiman Shrine
Hakodate Hachiman Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Hakodate, Hokkaido. It is a Hachiman shrine, dedicated to the kami Hachiman.
2.3 km · building in Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Mount Hakodate
- 02Fort Goryōkaku
- 03Goryōkaku Tower
- 04Motomachi
- 05Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses
- 06Hakodate Museum of Northern Peoples
From Wikivoyage: Hakodate, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Port Festival (函館港まつり Hakodate Minato Matsuri). annually from August 1st to 5th. This is Hakodate's biggest carnival and known for very unique Hakodate Squid Dance (函館いか踊り Hakodate Ika-odori) in its parade Wassyoi Hakodate (ワッショイはこだて Wasshoi Hakodate). The parade is normally in the 2nd and 3rd day (2nd day: Jujigai to Matsukaze-cho, 3rd day: Horikawa-cho to Goryokaku). Also there are a fireworks event in 1st day.
- 01Yachigashira Hot Springs
- 02Yunokawa Onsen Footbath
From Wikivoyage: Hakodate, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Hakodate's signature fish is squid and its signature dish is Hakodate shio rāmen (noodle with salty soup. not to be confused with shoyu ramen), a version of the ubiquitous noodle dish prepared with — you guessed it — squid stock instead of the usual pork. Nearby Mori-machi is also reputed to have Japan's finest ika-meshi, rice-stuffed squid.
- 01Hakodate Beer Hall
- 02Teuchi Soba Kitawase
A small but very charming soba restaurant hidden along the main tram line running east.
- 03Tea Shop Yūhi
- 04Hokkai Ramen
No English menu, but a bit of Ramen lingo gets you far.
From Wikivoyage: Hakodate, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Hakodate
- Airports
- Hakodate (HKD), 8 km · Aomori (AOJ), 115 km · New Chitose (CTS), 137 km
- Stations
- Hakodate Airport, 7.7 km · Hakodate Station, 600 m · Goryōkaku Station, 3.9 km · Kikyō Station, 8.7 km · Kamiiso Station, 9.2 km
- Aomori → Hakodate107 km · quickest by ferry, 5h 8m · ¥5,560–12,010
- Sapporo → Hakodate152 km · quickest by road, 3h 25m · ¥2,710–3,690
- Natori → Hakodate402 km · quickest by road, 8h 25m · ¥23,125–37,450
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Hakodate
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Hakodate. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inFerry Area (Tsugaru Kaikyo Ferry Terminal): ¥4,000-5,000.
- Get inHakodate's main ferry terminal is roughly halfway between Hakodate Station and Goryokaku Station, and a 20-minute walk from Nanae-hama Station on the Isaribi line.
- Get inLine 16 and 16A buses connect it to Goryokaku Park, while shuttle buses timed to match ferry arrivals connect it directly to Hakodate Station.
- Get inNational Route 227 follows the west coast connecting it to Hakodate Station, while taxis around the ferry terminal are best booked in advance for cheaper set prices.
- Get inSeikan Ferry and Tsugaru Kaikyo Ferry operate ferry services from Hakodate to Aomori with multiple departures daily.
From Wikivoyage: Hakodate, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01609 km
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If you know how people move in Hakodate – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.