Wednesday Oct 21, 2026
Hi All! So keep me honest here… you guys read this blog a few days ago, right? And I said I rubbed that lucky ox real hard, right? Well, it ain’t working! We had rain again today and on top of that it was chilly with a high of only 60. Brrrr! For us southerners, that’s cold! But we are now at the northernmost point in Japan that we’ll be at for this trip so maybe that’s part of it. Who knows?
We were docked today in Hakodate, Japan. It’s been around since 1300 BC when the Ainu people lived here. They were very different than the Japanese since they believed in Kamuy which is the spirits of the animals as well as fire and trees. Things changed in 1457 with the Koshamain’s Revolt and again in 1669. In 1869 the Ainu people were forced to colonize and assimilate into the Japanese culture. In 2008 the Ainu were officially recognized.
Our tour today visited three places which were the Goryokaku Fort and Tower, the Hakodate Magistrate’s Office and the Donburi Yokocho Market, also known as the Hakodate Morning Market. The fort and tower have an interesting history. In 1853, a US Fleet arrived here demanding that Japan open its doors to the rest of the world which led to the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the US and Japan.
But some in Japan did not agree with this and several internal wars broke out. They decided they needed to build a fort at this location for future defensive means. Ayasaburo Takeda, a researcher of Dutch studies, was commissioned to build the fort and he modeled the star shaped fort after the European Citadel towns.
Inside they placed the Hakodate Magistrate’s Office, which was the center of government and the diplomatic outpost. After all the fighting subsided, the fort area eventually became a park and opened up to the public. Years later they added the tower to allow an aerial view of the park and fort. We walked thru the park, visited the Magistrate Office and went to the top of the tower for some great views!
We then went to the market and walked thru the various stalls. Since this area relies on fish so much, it was pretty much a fish market but there were a few other vendors selling fruits and vegetables as well as some souvenirs. We saw a big octopus outside in a tank… crazy!
We got back to the ship and relaxed and snuck an afternoon nap in! For dinner we went to the main dining room and since they had one of my favorite dishes (Miso Glazed Salmon) and a dish I’ve been wanting to try over here (Korean Fried Chicken) I got both! They were both delicious!
After dinner we went to the show which was the Irish guy from the other night, Peter Byrne, who did the Neil Diamond tribute. Tonight his show was called “Celtic Beat Legends of Ireland”. It was described as a toe-tapping, hand-clapping, sing-your-heart-out celebration of Ireland’s greatest hits. It was a great show and lived up to the hype!
After the show we stopped by to visit our favorite waiter we’ve had this trip named Yugo. When we had him for dinner a few nights ago in Canaletto, he told us his wife had just had their first child that night, a baby girl. And he showed us pictures and was so excited! He’s getting off in a few days and will be off for 4 months to be with them. So when we were in port we got them a little baby kimono outfit that is so cute! We stopped by to give it to him tonight along with a bottle of wine for them to celebrate together! We love getting to know the crew on such a personal level. They work hard to serve us!
We ended the night listening to our favorite piano player. Tomorrow we’re in Miyako, Japan. Can’t wait!
