Japan, Hokkaido, View of Hakodate Bay Area (Photo by: JTB Photo/UIG via Getty Images)

UIG via Getty Images

Red-brick Warehouse District

Hokkaidō


These early-20th-century red-brick warehouses on the waterfront are the legacy of Hakodate's status as a historic, international trade port. They've been restored and turned into a tourist mall (which seems apt). The complex is pretty in the evening, when it's lit up.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Hokkaidō attractions

1. Hakodate Museum of Northern Peoples

0.25 MILES

Inside the old Japan Bank building (1926), this museum has interesting exhibitions (labelled in English) about Ainu culture and also some of the other…

2. Old British Consulate

0.32 MILES

From 1913 to 1934, this whitewashed mansion served as the British consulate. You can see the restored interior and have tea (¥540) on the ground floor.

3. Orthodox Church

0.32 MILES

Dating from 1916, this Russian Orthodox church is adorned with distinctive copper domes and spires. It's still in use by the 300 or so (mostly elderly)…

4. Hakodate Morning Market

0.54 MILES

With crabs grilling over hot coals, freshly caught squid packed tightly in ice-stuffed styrofoam and the sing-song call of vendors, Hakodate Morning…

5. Future Center Hakodate

0.77 MILES

This interesting multimedia center has displays mainly aimed at a young crowd, but it is worth stopping at for the events, videos, performances, and…

6. Hakodate-yama

0.81 MILES

Mention you've been to Hakodate and every Japanese person you know will ask if you took in the night view from atop Hakodate-yama (334m) – it's that…

7. Foreigners' Cemetery

1 MILES

Along the bay, on the western fringe of town (where few visitors venture) is the small, grassy cemetery that contains the graves of sailors, clergy and…

8. Goryō-kaku Tower

2.78 MILES

Take the elevator to the observatory atop this 98m-tall tower to see the star-shaped footprint of Goryō-kaku-kōen. There are also displays on the history…