10 Best Things to Do in Hakodate

A quick, friendly rundown of Hakodate's biggest highlights — from the night view atop Mount Hakodate to fresh squid at the Morning Market — a good starting point for a first visit.

Short on time in Hakodate? Here are ten places and experiences first-time visitors and repeat travelers both keep coming back to — a quick list to work from if you’d rather not plan every hour of your trip.

1
Mount Hakodate
Mount Hakodate's night view has been ranked among Japan's three great night views for decades, alongside Nagasaki's Mount Inasa and Kobe's Mount Rokko, and once you're standing at the 334-meter summit it's easy to see why. The city's hourglass-shaped sandbar, pinched between Hakodate Bay and the open Tsugaru Strait, spreads out below in a scatter of lights that looks almost unreal from above. A ropeway gets you up in about three minutes, though a hiking trail and a toll road are also options if you'd rather take it slow. Go around sunset if you can time it — the sky, the bay, and the city lights all overlap for a few minutes.
10:00 AM – 10:00 PM (until 9:00 PM Oct 1–Apr 19); ropeway closed for maintenance late Oct–early Nov19-7 Motomachi, Hakodate (ropeway base station)
Hakodate
2
Fort Goryokaku
Completed in 1866, Goryokaku was Japan's first Western-style fortification, its five-pointed star shape designed to give defenders far more gun coverage and fewer blind spots than a traditional Japanese castle wall. It became the last stronghold of shogunate loyalist forces during the Boshin War and the site of the Battle of Hakodate in 1869, the war's final battle. The moat and star-shaped grounds are now a public park, best appreciated from above at the 107-meter Goryokaku Tower next door. Come in late April or early May and the star is ringed by over 1,600 cherry trees in bloom.
Goryokaku Tower: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (8:00 AM – 7:00 PM Apr 21–Oct 20)43-9 Goryokakucho, Hakodate
3
Hakodate Morning Market
Hakodate Asaichi has been running since 1945, and its roughly 250 stalls, just a couple of minutes' walk from Hakodate Station, are still where locals and visitors alike start the day. Squid is the main event — the market's live-squid fishing pond lets you catch your own, hand it to a nearby chef, and have it sliced into sashimi minutes later. Beyond that, stalls sell scallops, crab, and salmon roe piled onto rice for build-your-own seafood bowls. It thins out by early afternoon, so this is very much a breakfast stop, not a lunch one.
5:00 AM – 2:00 PM (May–Dec), 6:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Jan–Apr); hours vary by stall9-19 Wakamatsu-cho, Hakodate
4
Motomachi
Motomachi climbs the hillside just below Mount Hakodate, and it's where the city's identity as one of Japan's first treaty ports, opened to foreign trade in 1859, is most visible today. The Hakodate Orthodox Church, Japan's first Russian Orthodox church, was founded here in 1858, though the current building dates to 1916; a short walk away, the Motomachi Roman Catholic Church is one of the country's oldest Catholic churches. Sloped streets lined with former foreign consulates and merchant houses make this an easy, unhurried area to wander, with the bay visible at the bottom of nearly every street.
Motomachi Catholic Church: Mon–Sat 10:00 AM–4:00 PM, Sun 12:00–4:00 PM (closed Dec 30–Jan 5)15-30 Motomachi, Hakodate
5
Bay Area & Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses
The Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses were built starting in 1887 as Japan's first Western-style commercial warehouses, rebuilt in their current brick form by 1909 after a fire, and converted into shops, cafes, and a beer hall in 1988. The bay right in front of them is where the city's Christmas tree floats every December, and it's a pleasant place to walk any time of year, with the mountain and Motomachi's old consulate buildings visible up the hill. It pairs naturally with a Motomachi walk — come down the slopes and end at the water.
9:30 AM – 7:00 PM (varies by shop)14-12 Suehiro-cho, Hakodate
6
Hakodate's retro streetcars
Hakodate's tram network has been running since 1913, and it's still the easiest way to get between the station, Motomachi, Yunokawa, and the bay without a car. The real draw for rail fans is the fleet's mix of eras — alongside modern cars, the city still runs a handful of vintage streetcars from the 1950s and 60s, restored and kept in circulation. Hopping on one, even just for a couple of stops, is a small, easy way to feel the city's older rhythms.
7
Yunokawa Onsen
A short tram ride from central Hakodate, Yunokawa is one of Hokkaido's three major hot spring towns, with a history locals trace back to the 1600s. It's a working onsen resort rather than a tourist replica — rows of ryokan and hotels along the water, many open to day visitors for a soak even if you're not staying the night. It sits close to Hakodate Airport, which makes it a genuinely convenient way to end a trip: a hot bath before an early flight.
8
Onuma Quasi-National Park
About 20 minutes north of Hakodate by limited express train, Onuma Quasi-National Park centers on a cluster of island-dotted ponds formed when volcanic mudflows from Mount Komagatake dammed up the surrounding valleys centuries ago. Birch and maple forest rings the water, and a network of easy walking trails and small bridges link the little islands, making it an approachable half-day trip even without a car. Autumn is when it's busiest, as the maples turn and the whole park reflects back in the water.
9
Hakodate Christmas Fantasy
Every December 1st through 25th, an enormous Christmas tree floats anchored in the bay directly in front of the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses, strung with around 150,000 lights that switch on each evening alongside fireworks at 6 PM. Soup stalls and other cold-weather food set up nearby, giving the whole event the feel of a proper winter festival. It's a nice bookend to a Bay Area walk if your trip happens to line up with December.
Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses waterfront, 14-12 Suehiro-cho, Hakodate
10
Hakodate's local cuisine
Hakodate calls itself Japan's 'squid capital,' and ika sashimi sliced paper-thin, sometimes still moving on the plate, is the dish everyone comes to try — the Morning Market even lets you fish your own squid out of a tank and have it filleted table-side. Shio (salt) ramen, one of Hokkaido's three defining regional ramen styles, is the other local specialty: a clear broth of pork, chicken bones, and kelp, finished simply with rock salt rather than a heavier tare. Round it out with a kaisendon — a bowl of rice piled with scallops, salmon roe, and crab — and you've covered the three dishes that define eating in this city.

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