What to See in Hakodate in Just Six Hours, Hakodate, Japan

6AM, the first express out of Sapporo to Hakodate. I don't remember much about the 3.5-hour train ride. I probably snoozed throughout the early morning journey.

The first thing I did upon arriving at Hakodate Station was look for the Hakodate Asaichi (Morning Market). Not because I was hungry, but because it was just a few steps from the station.

The Morning Market is not just one big building, but a block of buildings. One building was mostly restaurants, another was for seafood, and another was a mix of fresh produce and seafood. I went inside the building with a tower and a sign: 駅二市場. Most of the stalls inside this building were selling fresh seafood. But there were also tables where people were eating brunch of whatever it was they had bought from the market stalls.

The Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse is just a 15-minute walk from Hakodate Asaichi, but I was feeling lazy and took a tram (600 yen for a tram pass for unlimited rides good for one day). The brick buildings along the port of Hakodate were built in 1907. The buildings now house shops selling clothes, shoes, accessories, souvenirs, sweets, etc. In short, a mall.

Although there were restaurants near Kanemori, I left the area to look for Ajisai, a ramen restaurant specializing in Hakodate's shio (salt) ramen. It was just a 4-minute walk from Kanemori. Ajisai was still closed when I got there (the restaurant opens at 11AM), but I was glad to be there early. Because as soon as I was seated, more people started coming in. This place must be really good! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).