– Attempting to capture an image of a passing tram while also aiming for a nearby Konbini for food.
This blogpost covers the day of February 1st, while in Tokyo to Hakodate, Japan.
Tried to sleep as long as possible, however being occasionally woken up throughout the night and morning by howling winds. Hakodate was apparently experiencing a brutal snow gale, snowstorm, or even a standard snowfall in their context. The winds were highly strong causing tons of howling, slight rattling, and just your typical blizzard type behaviour. Officially woke up at 8 AM, left my hotel at 10:40 AM, and aimed for the nearby 7/11 for some spicy chicken, among other treats. I was genuinely shocked by how much snow has fallen, how much was currently falling, and more was to eventually to come to surprise me.
My goal for today was to simply explore Hakodate. Maybe an arcade center, a shopping mall, or maybe even actual Hakodate itself. Everything was weather related. I was at the mercy of Hakodate’s weather
I acquired my spicy chicken, now seeking out an area to eat at. An open park area, or anything close to that. Little did I know I would also pass by a few more Konbini on the way making my trip to the 7/11 moot.
– Surprised by the amount of snow in the area.
– A snowy tram capture.
– That looks genuinely scary, yet awesome. I desired a challenge. I wanted to get as close to the museum boat as I could. I genuinely admire the rough appearance of this. Yes, even the sidewalk conditions were nasty. I had to walk in a way I wouldn’t slip. A Konbini could be seen on the left-most side.
– Hakodate’s decorative manhole cover, or even utility cover.
– Video – I tried walking into the wind, it was nearly impossible. If I kept forcing it I could have probably inched my way towards the museum boat. The gusts of wind were however too much to handle. I had to walk back, heading the other way.
– Hakodate’s Snow gale.
– Briefly checking out the snowy morning fish market.
– More snowy decorative Hakodate manhole covers.
– Ice and snow.
– Overly brutal snow gale and strong gusts of wind.
– Video – Hakodate’s snow gale.
I was actually having an awesome time. As a Canadian I felt this was calling out to me, especially on my more explorative side. I desired to see more of this snowy scenery on the Japanese side of things. I wanted to know more, to see more.
Also, Canada failed to have a proper winter in the city of Ottawa area causing me to soak in all raw power of this snow gale. I was having my own fun. I even also desired to boast my Canadian pride. I wanted to also show off my gifted jacket gifted for this exact moment in the trip.
I’m just laughing to myself, hyped up about all this snow.
– Brutal snowy conditions.
– From now powerful snow gale wave to the next. One wave to the next. It was like being in a wave pool, but snow. Even other tourists were making note of the weather.
– Near white-out conditions.
– Making my way to Hakodate Station to collect my thoughts. I desired to eat my food. Can see how bad the weather was, especially with how my camera focused on certain things more than other.
https://flic.kr/p/2pTRxTn
– Video – Snowy Hakodate and Hakodate station. Brutal snow gale in the area. Others and myself having fun with the snow gale. I’m also in someone’s video.
– Viewing inside out of the brutal snow gale.
– My favourite snack! Spicy chicken!
– Checking the local weather forecast to see when, and where the snow gale shall end.
– Proudly Hakodate Station! Cute mail boxes.
– Happily enjoying my warm spicy chicken. This is one of the best things ever! Better than Canadian KFC, hence why I keep eating this. I love this!
– Happily enjoying the calm between the snow fronts. Hakodate Station covered in snow.
– Lovely Hakodate statues.
– Capturing a touristy torii gate. Honestly amazes me how many konbini are in the area.
Was touring, even the nearby gift shops. Not in the torii gate area, but across the street. I bought gifts for myself and my friends. Naruto gifts for my Ottawa friend, an book dedicated for ink stamps, and other souvenirs.
– A gift for myself and others.
– Proudly ink-stamping again! Felt like an eternity. I desired to ink stamp as soon as Day 1, I however had till wait till Day 6.
– Hokkaido bird! Chirp! Chirp!
– Snow Miku!
– Obtaining as many stamps as I’m able to.
– With the snow clearing up, it’s finally time to head “downtown”. Heading to the nearby tower for some neat views.
– Leaving Hakodate Station for real this time.
– Making note of landmarks in the area.
– There’s my tram!
– #5 tram (8006) heading to Hakodate’s tower.
– Inside the tram. Capturing “Anime” type advertisements and notices. Can note the condition in the tram.
– Viewing the back of the tram.
https://flic.kr/p/2pTJHst
– Hakodate Station to Gorayokaku.
– Making note of my route.
– Random image capture. Was lost in thought attempting to feel the vibe of Hakodate. Trying to imagine how people live, eat, and etc. Trying to capture the general vibes of the area.
Goryokaku Area:
https://flic.kr/p/2pTR8a8
– Let off my destination, now making note of more trams. Even a nearby mall.
– Following Google Maps leading me down various sidewalks and side-streets. This is such a neat view of Hakodate.
– Bear! Ku-MAH!~
– The contrast here is glorious. Hakodate Station contains brutal weather, meanwhile, nearing Goryokaku is clear. It’s like being in an eye of a storm. All calm around with a cloudy halo surrounding your area.
– Seicomart & Hot Chef! Just like we’ve seen in Anime! (Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!)
– There she is! Goryokaku Tower!
– Passing by a restaurant with possible diorama stands.
– Snow Miku! Sky/Town.
– Happy Goryokaku stamping time! Another one to my list of places I’ve been! 😉 (Was a bit of struggle finding this stamp station).
Proceeded to head to the line-up. Purchased my ticket, was surveyed as to where I came from (Canada), even apologizing for not initially understanding their survey. Was guided where to go, heading to a nearby elevator to head up.
– This view is highly impressive!
– Goryokaku.
– The real Goryokaku is outside this window.
– My fear of heights did not hit me here, though it provoked me elsewhere. I happily saw the airport, the nearby street areas, and the interesting contrast between clear blue skies and the brutal overcast weather.
– Hakodate airport off in the distance. Even the gloomy snow gale front off in the distance.
– Everything about this view is beautiful. Everything is beautiful.
– Video – A slow pan admiring the city of Hakodate. The snow-cleaning crew at the airport cleaning the runway, the cars, the Hakodate mountain, and the general life of the area.
– Making note of where I ventured.
– Goryokaku Tower! You Should be here! Welcome to Hakodate!
– Attempting to make note of both the area, and the various boats in the harbour.
– Spotting another snowy front incoming.
– Making note, of what appears to be, a police station.
– A lovely view of the nearby Mount Hakodate.
– Video – Another slow pan while taking in the activity in the area.
– Focusing on the bus in the middle of image.
– Bus!
– Bus!
– Poi!
– Poi!
– An happily focus Poi! Poi! Poi! Poi!~
– Goyrokaku ice! Ice for one and all!
– A scenic Poi! Poi!
– Mount Hakodate and Yuudachi! Poi!
This is where my fear of heights kicked in, especially with an overly annoying foreigner who was wandering around the area. He probably saw my fear of heights kick in with how I distanced myself away from the window, among other signs. His presence annoyed the heck out of me for simply being there, for appearing the way he did, and having to notice me in my moment of panic. He annoyed me especially for being the unsociable type. Never conversed.
– Happy Poi! Poi, poi, Poi!~
– Hakodate focus.
– Subconsciously taking pictures of the nearby ‘Lucky Pierrot Goryokaku Koen Mae branch’ restaurant.
– While here, I do need selfies. Selfie time!
– Other people were in the area causing my mood to sour simply for focusing on the focus of the camera. Everything being “rush, rush” type deal. It was however awesome witnessing the snow falling outside of the window. The tower surrounded by falling snow.
– Other people distracting me.
– Hakodate became snowy again. The emotional vibe of the snow falling around the tower was awesome. I wish I could share the exact feeling, it was however magical.
– Open glass section allowing you to look down. Reminded me of the time I looked down in the CN Tower’s glass piece, and even Tokyo Tower’s section.
Once ready, I made my way down, even to this waiting area.
– Mini restaurant, gathering area, and other mini attractions and other displays.
– Snowy.
– Gun canons on display.
– Making note of my new Japanese shirts, something I’ve desired to wear back in Canada.
– Snow Miku!
– Ventured through the info center again, the shop, and back outside. You can see other people grabbing their stamps.
– Poi!~
– Poi!~
My next plan was to venture into the nearby ‘Fort’ area to capture more of the scenic area.
– Lightly snowy with some neat, nearby decorations.
– Japan’s draconian drone laws. Maybe it’s for the best, tourists are stupid as a bunch of rocks. They keep abusing everything. Their stupidity prevented me from having my own fun with my own drone.
– Looking back towards Goryokaku Tower.
– Even with all this snow Japan is still beautiful. Hakodate is beautiful!
– “I have a wing”.
– I have a wing – Love & Peace!
The above wing on the orange garage door reminds me of two Anime, both by the same studio, named ‘Air TV’, and ‘Kanon’. Yes, both original and modernized versions. A school girl who wore an orange school backpack and white wings on it.
– Again, with the ‘no drone’ signs. Tourists are dumb as a rock preventing other people from having their fun. Stupid “over-tourism”, and all that other stupid nonsense. Other tourists are dumb, even to the point proper tourists hate stupid tourists.
– Admiring the walkway. Walking over these bridges is always serene.
– A snowy Goryokaku Tower.
– Lovely scenic decorations. I’m certain this would appear better in spring and summer, it’s however still neat in this scenic state.
– Video – Panning around in the core of the Fort area. Temple is guarded by plastic clear tarps.
– Video – Similar pan around, as above, this time zoomin into Goryokaku Tower.
– What once was, and what one is currently. The past and the present, visualized.
– Becoming snowier; Ground staff shoveling away.
– Quite a neat ‘raw’ snowy pathway. Was more of a lookout, or even a scenic path for Cherry Tree viewing.
– Admiring the view.
– Video – Other than the sound of the plane everything genuinely felt very “rural”. I felt as if I was in the outskirts, someplace outside of a city. Raw nature vibes. The snow was also coming down heavier, and heavier, with each passing moment.
– Snowy temple.
– Video – Becoming far more snowy with each passing moment. Other tourists going ‘V’, and me simply trying to capture the snowy moment. You can’t even see Goryokaku Tower anymore.
– Two other curious tourists making their way the other way.
– Snowy~.
– Everything being walls of snow.
– Made a video for Twitter/X, now making my way around the other side. Checking out various areas.
– You can literally see how big the flakes are becoming. Big and puffy flakes. Real snow.
– Venturing further while risking low battery in overly cold climate.
– Attempting to check out every inch of the fort.
– Panorama – Soaking in the scenery.
– Seeing the other side of the moat gave me interesting vibes. Thinking of trains, and pathways. A person was also walking on the other side, as seen in leftern-most side of image.
– The snowy Hakodate vibes were awesome. I admired the scenic beauty in the area, even in a wintery manner.
– The nearby scenery being whited out by snow, like fog. Fogging out.
– Video – 360 pan around the area. Feels isolated, if very neat.
– My phone ended up dying thanks to how brutally cold it was in the area. I took rest of my images via a 360 Camera as to not miss out on anything neat. Not in a tripod, more in my hand.
My Samsung phone died from the cold climate forcing me to rush back to Goryokaku’s Tower lobby area. I had to do everything to both warm up and charge my phone. I needed my phone back.
– The last image prior to my phone’s cold-climate death.
I sat in Goryokaku’s Tower for a good 30 minutes, to 1 hour. I spent a lengthy amount of time recharging my phone via two power banks. My wired power bank and my wireless power bank. I also went for a round of ice cream in the nearby ice cream shop, and even browsed the souvenir shop to see what was of interest there.
I decided to finally visit that nearby ‘Lucky Pierrot Goryokaku Koen Mae branch’ restaurant place. I initially assumed it was an arcade, or amusement center. It’s a restaurant.
– Making note of ‘Lucky Pierrot’.
At this place everything has to be paid by cash, and I was lucky I could pay by by the amount I had left in my wallet. No IC Cards, no credit cards. Only cash. I had to wait a lengthy 10-30 minutes, also thanks to other people having ordered prior to myself.
I ordered Chicken pieces, Burger, and Curry Tonkatsu.
– Poi!~
– Japanese burgers tend to be genuinely bulky, even messy.
I stayed at the place for a lengthy while, especially playing Azur Lane and recharging my phone, something which is a contradiction. I also managed to obtain a stamp for my stamp book.
I cleaned up, even placed my trash away in the waste corner area.
– An adventure back towards Hakodate’s tram lines. Sun setting.
A quick pit-stop at the Seico-Mart to obtain some more chicken pieces, and other snacks. Just small things. Once ready, I ventured towards the nearest tram stop, if loosely heading there.
– A sunsetting look back at the tower.
– Retracing my steps.
– Tram spotting. I also ventured into the furniture shop from head to to (to to bottom), even checking to see what they had for winter wears. Maybe food, or something.
– Tram spotting.
– Someone laughing from within while I tram spot. (8008)
– Gold’s Gym. (2001)
– Coca-Cola! (2002)
Yes, I briefly made my way into both store fronts. First the ‘furniture & clothing store’ from bottom to top, then to the adjacent mall on the opposite side of the tram tracks to see what was in there. I went into the nearby furniture store, crossed the street and entered the boutique store for perfumes and handbags. What was I expecting? Anything. Something. I was hoping to find ‘Hakodate’ clothing, or “something”. Anything worthwhile. I was shown a toque, just nothing with a name on it.
The clerks chuckled how I was seeking out an Hakodate toque, just nothing worthwhile.
Made my way down, out another exit, even spotting more lovely trams. An old 721 tram while waiting for my tram to head to Hakodate Mountain.
– Tram spotting. 721
– Incoming tram.
– Some Anime-esque vibes from this new version of a tram. Hard to capture in its quickness.
– I should have video’d this.
– Standing at the back because of how packed the tram was. I even gained a neat view of the driver’s area. Nice patterns, and neat gadgets.
– Admiring the beautiful Hakodate scenery going by.
– Each area having its neat vibes and atmosphere.
– Making note of my location, and where I was heading.
I passed by numerous locations, especially unique “town” styled grocery stores, Konbini areas, and other retail outlets. I was making note of everything catching my interest. Not all of it by camera, just mentally. Imagining, feeling out the mood.
I, among other tourists, stepped off the tram to head to the nearby ropeway for Hakodate’s mountain.
– An awkward attempt at capturing the golden scenic plates of Hakodate. Quick captures.
– Following other tourists (in brown & black) while making note of nearby scenery.
– Snowy Hakodate vibes. I genuinely have strong “rural” vibes here, even if Hakodate is still a city.
We pressed the pedestrian button, waited briefly, then ventured further up. The sidewalks being quite slippery and messy. You can easily slip and slide everywhere. Many people have slid and fell all around Hakodate.
– “We are afraid we halt ropeway’s operation because of bad weather”.
That sign is what greeted everybody else, including myself. I however couldn’t leave that easily. I need “something”, hence the other types of images and videos in the area. The weather was indeed pretty bad today, especially for viewing from Mount Hakodate. I had to chose another day. All those snow gales coming and going in waves.
– Making note of the fare required to head up onto Mount Hakodate.
– Viewing up Mount Hakodate. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Very snowy, cloudy, and messy.
– Neat light decorations.
– Even if we’re partially the way up, the view is still awesome. You can even note the dangerous sidewalk leading down on the right side.
– Capturing the beautiful scenic cityscape of Hakodate.
– Trying to be “artistic” now.
– Video – Certain types of light pollution ruining my panning of the cityscape. Certain laughter and giggling from other obnoxious tourists in the area.
– My trip to Mount Hakodate was wasted, hence why I’m trying to take as many images and videos as possible to make up for the weather frustrations.
– Video – Making note of the closed Hakodate Ropeway, the snowy weather, and other people attempting to make use of the ropeway.
– Dug this out of the snow to show Hakodate’s manhole cover plate. I admire covers like these.
– Made my way back down. A few people may have fallen on their butts while I was also making my way down. The pathways were indeed treacherous. (If not this night, the next night).
– Even in this state Hakodate is overly beautiful. It may be “quiet”, it however is beautiful. It’s missing certain vibes and movements.
– Be careful of Tsunami!
– Made my way into a 7/11 to grab some snacks for the night.
– A mini-shrine next to this 7/11.
Went into 7/11, obtained my things, went to the tram, and headed for hotel.
– I believe an old lady slipped and fell while she was heading off the tram. Other people rushed to her aid. She ended up laughing the rest of the way. Also, more happy tram spotting.
– Nightly tram spotting.
– Making note of the snow fronts which had come and gone for the day. Many snow fronts coming in separated waves and chunks.
Retired to my hotel to unwind to some Azur Lane, Blue Archive, YouTube, etc.
– Azur Lane – Obtained Huan Ch’ang’s Fishing Road during my stay at Hakodate’s APA hotel.
– My Azur Lane shipgirls were doing their own cruising around the globe. I even had to obtain the new META shipgirl and the new outfit.
– Kimberly META get!
– Various Blue Archive achievements get! Unknowingly obtained these.
– Beer, Hokkaido Melting Cheesecake, among other Japan-only treats! Canada is almost like a third-world nation when compared to Japan’s Konbini and transportation network.
– Various Usagi & Anime cards obtained. These were obtained at the start of my day at the nearby 7/11 next to Hakodate Station. Tons of Hololive Usagi moments. Pekora from Hololive. Mio on the right.
I had my lovely fill of winter weather today, especially enough to make up for Canada’s lacking weird mild winter nonsense. I’m certain the weather is artificially being warmed up making Canada a fake Global warming spot, something I had to get my wintery fix in Japan. The snow gales were a genuinely awesome experience! On a normal day-to-day I may have found it treacherous and negative, but as a tourist I found the snow gales awesome. Sure, my phone died, and I was lightly worried, things worked out in the end. I had fun exploring the Hakodate, even highly relieved I never hid in a gaming center. I was close, yet happy I explored the more touristy areas of Hakodate. Everything was awesome.
(Side-note: The annoying types of foreigners in Japan are also those of the “I’m going to unfollow you on social media because you offend me” types. They have figurative skeletons in their closet, always guilty of something. Similar with hair-dyed foreigners, and those who spew fake political nonsense in Japan to disrupt Japanese culture.)
I was annoyed with a few tourist foreigners, especially some Chinese-Korean types. The worst ones tend to be the North American and European kinds, they tend to have the biggest egos. If their hair is dyed a rainbow colour then they have an obvious negative case of a mental illness, unless cosplaying a higher quality Anime character. Certain types of foreigners are highly irritating, especially those of the hair-dyed variety. They pretend they know everything, ruin Japan for everybody, and your whole trip gets ruined. They tend to hijack your experiences for themselves, get in your way publicly, act vulgar (verbally & physically), injure you somehow, and other negative behaviours, hence my wariness of other (Western) foreigners.
Thankfully, every bit of my Hakodate exploration was awesome. Sure, more probably could have been done, yet was nicely handled as a slow-burn solo exploration. I was trying to escape Ottawa for as long as possible while equally trying to admire Japan to its fullest. All that tram spotting, some figure photography being taken, and checklists being crossed off. Gifts for friends, Konbini snacks eaten, and even local restaurant foods were carefully admired. I genuinely enjoyed my – “as seen in Anime” – moments, those were awesome. Recalling various moments from Anime making me highly familiar with certain locations, behaviour, and situations. I may not be fluent in Japanese, I however was situationally aware of certain stuff which made things more magical.
Yes, I had 100% fun in the snow. I even was culture shocked at how people handled their snowy conditions there. Some good, some bad, and the rest being traditional minded.
An snowy Hakodate was an awesome Hakodate! I had a real winter, something my fellow co-workers secretly desired, yet never openly admitted. Many Canadians desired a white winter, something many people are never openly honest about. I had my proper white winter in Japan, something which is far more magical than anything. I hope you found this blog post interesting. Thanks for viewing, can’t wait to share more! 😉
