Hakodate!

[pearlmagic]

Last December, I was able to visit Hakodate, Hokkaido (GLAY's hometown), but not for as long as I wanted. I arrived there at 4PM and I had to leave the following morning. So, I wanted to at least see the view of the city from Mt. Hakodate, which I was, thankfully, able to do

Comments

[hystericallemur]

Beautiful photos! The city at night certainly looks awesome.

I remember Hakodate for the totally yummy lunch I had at a restaurant near the fish market. The seafood was so fresh and delicious. 8D

[pearlmagic]

Thanks! I've read that this night view is one of the best in the world.

The city is definitely known for its fresh seafood, especially squid, which I highly avoided. I did have sushi for dinner though at a restaurant nearby the station. I had fun with the waiters. :D

[hystericallemur]

I had fun with the waiters.

Do tell. XD

[pearlmagic]

They were super-duper nice... more than what I've been used to in this country. They recommended a few things from the menu to me and they tried to use English, but I told them Japanese was ok. After eating, I went up to pay for the meal and quite a few workers came to me asking a bunch of questions like: Where are you from? Why are you in Hakodate? Where have you been in Hakodate? What do you think of Japanese people? etc. I told them where I came from and one of the workers said that he has a relative that lives in Brooklyn, New York. I said, "really?! I've been there quite a few times." I told them that I live and work in Miyazaki now and they were so~ surprised that I came all the way to Hakodate. They were like, "you must be cold!" It was really entertaining. ^^

[uberchan]

wow. kireiiiiiii~

One day, i'll be able to visit there. ^^

Thanks for sharing!

[pearlmagic]

It's definitely a city worth visiting... especially for the night view! Summer is probably the best time to visit since they have a special festival going on in the month of August. Also, it wouldn't be as cold.

No problem!

[jiro_no_jojo17]

Thanks for the pictures! I have seen so many beautiful photos of the city but the ones you took of the churches are some of the best I've seen- even better than the postcards XD.

I love the unique architecture of Hakodate. I actually did a term paper on the development of Hokkaido with a focus on Hakodate as an example. It's so crazy to see the Dutch/Portuguese/Russian flavors in the architecture. At first I was crazy thrown-off by the Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals but then I realized it made total sense because of the history lol.

Even though I was in Japan for so long, I was so poor from going to shows that I never had the money to make it to Hakodate. I'm still kicking myself lol. But next time I'm in Japan I plan on going with two of my friends who can take me on the full GLAY tour because they do it every year. If I make it back within the year and you're still there, we should all go together! ^_^

[pearlmagic]

Oh wow, thanks. :D I showed off my Hakodate pics to my students and many of them said the like the second church picture a lot

I didn't know about the history of the city before I visited, so I was definitely surprised to see these churches.

I only made it to Hakodate because I went there right after the Sapporo shows in December, which killed two birds with one stone. Would have liked to stay longer though. Your friends do a GLAY tour every year? That is so~ awesome!! I'll definitely take you up on your offer! I read somewhere that GLAY used to have a museum or something in Hakodate, but it closed some time ago because of low attendees. I would have loved to see it!!

[wayama_rose]

so beautiful.
someday i want to go there too ^_^

[pearlmagic]

It is, isn't it. ^^ I definitely recommend visiting Hakodate if you can.