Winter Trip to Hakodate [Day 2] ~Goryokaku, Hakodate City Tropical Botanical Garden, Trappistine Monastery, and Night Views and Snowy Landscapes~

I mentioned this in my day 1 article as well, but my hotel had great ratings for its breakfasts, so I was looking forward to trying it.
Additionally, their breakfast is available only to guests!

Breakfast is at the “North Banquet Hall” on the hotel’s 2nd floor.

Breakfast is available starting at 6:20am.

It’s a buffet-style breakfast, and I was surprised by how much variety there was.

The buffet is all-you-can-eat, including vegetables, grilled fish, and fresh seafood!
Their famous seafood donburi corner allows you to make your own donburi with as much tuna, sweet shrimp, squid, ikura, tarako, and other seafoods as you want.

Most of the dishes available are Japanese, but they also have western style dishes and bread available as well.

There are so many options for dessert too! There are 3 types of juice available, as well as the Hokkaido specialty drink “Katsugen.”
The available milk is local milk from Hakodate.

As you can see, there are plenty of things available to try, but since I have a medium body type this is about as much as I can eat.
As I expected, it was delicious; no wonder it’s so popular!

Next, I got onto a streetcar and headed to Goryokaku.

Hasegawa Store is a convenience store that exists mainly in Hokkaido’s Hakodate City. I’m sure you’re thinking, “You’ve traveled all the way out there, and you’re going to a convenience store?!” but the yakitori bento here are famous and often featured in guidebooks!

By the way, “yakitori” in Japan is usually made with chicken, but the yakitori bento here is made with pork.

You fill out your order form, then give it to the clerk. (English forms are also available)

The staff will start to prepare the yakitori for the bento after the order is received.
There are a lot of different varieties available, but this time I went with their most popular one, their “Yakitori Bento (Small) with Tare Sauce” (490 yen).

My hot yakitori bento was finally ready!
It usually comes with 4 skewers, but this day I was lucky and got one extra!

It was really delicious for such a cheap cost!

Hasegawa Store Goryokaku Shop
Address: 4-14 Goryokakucho, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

I once again got on the streetcar and headed to the final stop, “Yunokawa.” My next destination was Yugura Shrine, just a short walk from that stop.

Address: 2-28-1 Yunokawacho, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

After about a 15-minute walk from Yugura Shrine, I arrived at the Hakodate City Tropical Botanical Garden.

The main attraction here are the mountain monkeys. Every year, from December through Golden Week in May, you can see the monkeys entering and enjoying the hot spring.

The botanical garden keeps around 90 monkeys on the grounds.

You can also feed the monkeys for a fee.
The monkeys seemed to be split into several groups, and there ended up being a bit of a scuffle over the food thrown in near the boundaries between the groups. (lol)

On the topic of monkeys in hot springs during the winter, “Jigokudani Monkey Park” in Nagano is famous for the same thing, but I didn’t make the trip since it seemed tough to get to.
The monkeys’ hot spring in the Hakodate City Tropical Botanical Garden is located around the heart of Hakodate, so it’s easy to get to.

Address: 3-1-15 Yunokawacho, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

The Trappistine Monastery is a women’s monastery established in 1898 by 8 French nuns. Although you can’t enter the monastery itself, the front yard, museum, and shop are open to the public.

The monastery’s beautiful construction is worth visiting.

Address: 346 Yunokawacho, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

There are many beautiful views to take in when you’re in Hakodate, but the most famous of them is probably the night view from Mt. Hakodate’s observation deck.

First off, I headed up to the summit from the Mt. Hakodate Ropeway’s Sanroku Station.
There are mountain buses and taxis available for going up Mt. Hakodate, but since the roads are closed in the winter, the only option I had was the ropeway.

By the way, apparently the ropeway also shuts down in the case of strong winds.

The sun set at around 4:45 this day, and the night view was supposed to be available at around 5:15. I arrived at 4:15, and it was already packed with people.

Everyone else also seemed to be looking for the night view, so the front row was tightly packed. I decided to stand in the second row for a while.

It began to snow, and even more people arrived… It wasn’t turning out to be a great time for pictures, so I gave up on getting shots of the night view from Mt. Hakodate and left. :(

Mt. Hakodate Ropeway
Address: 19-7 Motomachi, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

The same as the first day, I decided to finish up my day with a restaurant in the “Hakodate Bay Gourmet Club” group next to La Vista Hakodate Bay.
This time, I went to “Hakodate Marukatsu Suisan Main Store.” It’s a conveyor belt sushi restaurant operated by a fishmonger.

Since it’s a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, you can take sushi that’s rotating along the belt, but you can also order specific pieces using a tablet.

Since I’m proud of my medium body type, I went with the “Special Five-Piece Set,” shooting for quality over quantity.

And, of course, just 5 pieces was a little sad, so I added on the “Bluefin Tuna Three Ways.”

Address: 12-10 Toyokawacho, Hakodate City, Hokkaido

I was disappointed that I couldn’t get my night view from Mt. Hakodate, but I was still glad that I could witness the snowy scenery I wanted from this trip.