On Sept 20 we arrived at the port of Hakodate on Hokkaido Island at noon. As we were sailing into the harbor a small fire suppression boat matched our speed on the port side and shot water upward from its hose on the bow. The water changed color every few seconds from blue to yellow, green, red & purple. A banner on its side said “Welcome to Hakodate.” The excursion for the day was a bus ride for an hour to a national park which was a cultured large Japanese garden with several lakes. The excursion lasted until ½ hour before sail away and as guests walked to their buses a local welcome committee greeted them. I had visited Hakodate 8 years ago and knew it to be too interesting a city to miss, so we passed on the tour and walked the city on our own. It was raining when the tours left so we stayed on board for ½ hour until it cleared. We had a beautiful, warm & sunny day to enjoy the city. Saturday afternoons are like a holiday so the streets were quite empty of cars, however there were plenty of people walking about enjoying the parks and historical sites. The historical district was only 3 or 4 blocks uphill from the ship so we started there. Hakodate wasn’t much of a town until Japan opened itself to foreign visitors in the mid-1800s and became a trading port so its historic buildings date from 1860s to early 20th century. Many of the old buildings are made of wood. We visited the former British Consulate which is now a museum which is in an area with several municipal parks. The old Public Hall is a westernized style Japanese wood building with an ornate roof line and is used for exhibits & concerts. This area supported several churches of different religions as well as 3 Shinto shrines. Ice cream shops abound with people offering discount cards to attract your business. We came across a local Co-Op grocery store and went inside to see what they stocked. They certainly had a large variety of rice and soy sauces as well as dried fish. All the fruits, vegetables, meats & fish are artfully displayed. At the end of the historic district we walked downhill to the waterfront warehouse district. These several former warehouses have been converted to shopping & dining venues with polished wood floors and modern lighting. Each warehouse had a myriad of shops and restaurants of all sorts. Candy is a big item here and many shops just sold varieties of candy. We walked through most of the warehouses which are at least 1000 yards long and had fun just looking at all the varieties of goods offered. It was a pleasant walk back to the ship where we awaited the return of the tours. As the ship was preparing to depart a large contingent of the local welcome committee performed dances for us on the pier and kept going even as we pulled away from the dock. This night was the Captain’s welcome cocktail party and dinner.
