Hakodate

1. Hakodate is a merchant harbor located in the southwest of Hokkaido. It faces Tsugaru Strait and has developed as a front door where Sekan ferry ships come and out. According to the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and USA, it became an international harbor at the end of Edo period together with Yokohama and Nagasaki. There are factories of shipbuilding, tinning, steel industry, refrigeration and chemical manure. Cuttlefish's capturing is flourishing in the offing.
2. It is suggested that the initial formation of Mt. Hakodate would have been due to a volcanic explosion 1 million years ago. At that moment, it should be an island separated from Hokkaido. Since then, by taking a long time, the accumulation of sands brought by the sea current has attached it to the mainland. Before the 20th year of Showa Era, being a stronghold to defend Tsugaru Strait, the public had been banned to climb there.
3. Sekan Ferry Line was a link between Honshu and Hokkaido by crossing over Tsugaru strait and served as a junction of the ex Japanese National Railways between Aomori and Hakodate. It was operating from 1908 to the March 1988 until when Sekan Tunnel has been opened. It is well known that in 1954, ferry ship, Toya-maru sank because of a typhoon and provoked the biggest maritime disaster in Japan: 1218 persons perished or disappeared.
4. Goryokaku at Hakodate is a western style fortress built by a Dutch scholar, Takeda Ayasaburo and completed in 1864. It was the last castle building of Edo Period and became the last resistance place of the former Shogun's army, directed by Enomoto Buyo, against new Meji Government. Now it has become a public garden and known as a place noted for the cherry blossoms.