• Chelsea & Dan’s Gap Year 2025
    Brick warehouses from the time when Hakodate was a major fishing port
    Finally got seats on the ShinkansenEnjoying the view at 300kms an hourNot the bullet train, as forgot to get a pic. Next time!A Streetcar (sadly not named Desire)Hakodate observation hillWindy and chilly on the observation deckCable car descentExtremely cute Ivy-covered house in HakodateLocal street artLucky PierrotLoving these old Toyotas, the classic taxi of JapanHakodate portHakodate sunsetMisty evening train ride to YakumoDown the train line in YakumoBustling metropolisAddictive EGGSComfy bunks

    Hakodate

    Jun 14–15 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After about four hours' sleep, we dragged ourselves to the train station where we were confounded by how to actually get on the bullet train. We made it on with two minutes spare, but not having reserved seats, we had to stand queasily next to the bin for the first 90 minutes. Not an ideal hangover scenario 😐

    The Shinkansen is fantastic, super clean, quiet and obviously, really quite fast. We whipped through the Japanese countryside, enjoying the increasing greenery of the forests for a couple of hours, and then plunged into darkness. The train goes under the sea at a depth of 200m to cross to the northern island of Hokkaido.

    We arrived in the port city of Hakodate grinning with excitement, stashed our bags in the station lockers and grabbed lunch from the kombini (the local term for convenience stores). We are exploring the depths of what gustatory joys are available from convenience store hauls. Chelsea particularly likes the cold soba noodles with soy sauce and wasabi, while Dan guiltily picks up at least one cheese and tomato burrito a day.

    Hakodate features a great cable car and observation deck, as well as aesthetically pleasing brick warehouses. Chelsea was particularly charmed by the streetcars (Melbourne nostalgia?). This region has a popular restaurant chain found nowhere else in Japan: Lucky Pierrot. The mascot is a terrifying clown, and the establishment we went into was playing hits from the 1940s. All very inexplicable.

    From Hakodate we caught a regular train to Yakumo, the main source of Hokkaido's 'carved bears'. These were plagiarised/improved from Switzerland’s Bern bears, in order to generate a local cottage industry in the 1920s. We did not know any of this until we exited the train station into the darkly brooding mists of early evening only to meet a carved bear at every turn. Bears eating salmon. Bears learning maths. Bears wearing hats. There was even a stuffed bear cub at the entrance to our guesthouse. The town seemed empty until we tapped on the door of what appeared to be a restaurant and discovered that every inhabitant of Yakumo was in the Tsubohachi—and with good reason. The food was incredible; we particularly enjoyed the ‘addictive EGGS!'. Also very pleased to be free of Tokyo pricing and enjoying dinner for £15.

    Now we head further north, and are considering buying jumpers: it’s the first time we’ve been cold since our last Aussie winter in mid-2024!    Read more