Uni Murakami （うに むらかみ函館本店）| Sea Urchin Restaurant | Hakodate

If you want to eat delicious sea urchin in Hakodate, I recommend "Uni Murakami （うに　むらかみ函館本店）" in Fish Market area （朝市エリア） near JR Hakodate Station.

They serve a lot of kinds of sea urchin dishes like this! Wow! I want to eat everything! Hahaha!

Let's enter it!
Very fresh seafood is used in this restaurant! Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

I love this tatami table seat. It looks like a tatami floor, but actually tatami mats are on normal chairs! Hahaha!

What should I order??? Sea urchin bowls are the most recommendable dishes in this restaurant, but...............

I've found a very reasonable set named "Sea Urchin B Set （生うにB定食）". It is only 1,365 yen! Wonderful!

The panel shows the fishing sites for the dishes they serve today. Of course, they use sea urchin caught only in Hokkaido!

Cheers!

This is an appetizer; boiled squid and shrimps with sea urchin sauce. Yummy x 2!!!

Voila!
This is "Sea Urchin B Set （生うにB定食）"! This sea urchin is so fresh that it does not need any food preservative! Yummy x 2!!
Are you ready? I'll open the lid!

How do you like it? Wonderful!!! More than perfect!!

Looks very fresh, doesn't it? Actually it is very very very delicious!!!

I enjoyed as it is first, and.................

put it on the rice, and eat it as a sea urchin bowl! Perfect!
Again, it is only 1,365 yen!!! Unbelievable!

Look at this↓ I've found another wonderful thing! This is sea urchin salt, 80 % of which is dried sea urchin! I've never seen such a delicious condiment! Of course, I bought it! Hahaha!

Hakodate is a seafood paradise!

■Where is "Uni Murakami （うに　むらかみ函館本店）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Yachigashira Onsen （谷地頭温泉）| Hot Spring | Hakodate

Yunokawa （湯の川） in Hakodate is a popular hot spring area among tourists, but if you want to enjoy very local hot spring, how about "Yachigashira Onsen （谷地頭温泉）"? This is a municipal spa, and the fee is only 420 yen! Unbelievable!!!

Let's take a street car to Yachigashira （谷地頭）, a terminal station!

It's interesting!

There are a lot of types of street cars in Hakodate! Some trams have a shop advertisement like this↓

This is like a moving advertisement

How about this? This is a latest version of street car!

Well, well, well.............
Please take off the car at Yachigachira （谷地頭）, and find this sign. It takes only 3-5 minutes from the station to the hot spring facility.

We've arrived at Yachigashira Onsen （谷地頭温泉）, my favorite hot spring!

Please take off your shoes at the entrance, and let's go!

This is a place to rest. How huge it is!

Are you ready? You must be impressed with its high quality of water!!!

There are three kinds of indoor hot spring in the bathhouse; very hot bath, hot bath, and bubble bath.
Actually I love its outdoor bath. Look at this↓ It is star-shaped like Goryokaku Fort （五稜郭）!

The water contains a lot of iron, and when you take this hot spring, you cannot see your body through the mineral-rich water! Sounds very therapeutic, doesn't it?

Luckily, we could appreciate double cherry blossoms （八重桜） from the bath area! I was so happy the water makes my skin seven years younger than what it is!!!

It is open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Very convenient, Isn't it?

■Where is "Yachigashira Onsen （谷地頭温泉）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

CALIFORNIA BABY （カリフォルニア・ベイビー）| Cafe Restaurant | Hakodate

Hakodate is a port town with exotic atmosphere, and has a lot of fashionable cafes and restaurants. "CALIFORNIA BABY （カリフォルニア・ベイビー）" is one of my favorites.

This is located near Kanamori Red Brick Warehouse Area (金森倉庫エリア）.

I visited the cafe restaurant after shopping in this area as usual!

"Cisco Rice （シスコライス）" is the most popular dish here!
Anyway, let's enter it!

This is a very popular cafe restaurant, and packed with their customers especially during the lunch hours. I love this cozy atmosphere!

Let me see.......... What should I order???

Voila!

This is "Cisco Rice", the most popular dish in this cafe restaurant; fried rice topped with two sausages and meat sauce. 

How HUGE the sausages are!! Yummy x 2!!

This sour and sweet meat sauce really suits this bouillon-flavored fried rice!

I really recommend to eat fried rice, meat sauce, and sausage altogether like this↓

Hakodate is famous for fresh seafood, but if you want to try something different, why don't you come to this cafe restaurant?

■Where is "CALIFORNIA BABY （カリフォルニア・ベイビー）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Motomachi Area （元町地区）| Hakodate

The harbor of Hakodate （函館） was one of the first to be opened to foreign trade in 1854 after Japan's era of isolation had come to an end. As a result, many traders from Russia, China and Western countries moved to Hakodate. Motomachi （元町）, at the foot of Mt. Hakodate, became a district favored among the new foreign residents.
（＊A post on Mt. Hakodate→☆）

Personally I love the scenery from Nijikken slope （二十間坂）↓ Beautiful, isn't is?

Many foreign looking buildings remain in this area today, while some are very Japanese like this↓

Higashi Honganji temple is one of them. This was designated as a National Important Cultural Property in 2007.

Rebuilt after a fire in 1907, this is the first temple in Japan with reinforced concrete.

This is Motomachi Roman Catholic Church. The altar was gifted to Japan by Pope Benedict XV, and there is no other like it in the whole of Japan.

The current building, a Gothic-style Roman Catholic church, was built in 1924. 

Next to Motomachi Roman Catholic Church, there is the Hakodate Russian Orthodox Church.

It was founded as a chapel in 1859.

It is Japan's oldest Russian Orthodox Church, and was designated as a National Important Cultural Property in 1983.

The exterior of the building, in Russian Byzantine style with diverse elements, has a majestic and elegant atmosphere!

■Where is Motomachi area （元町地区）?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Mt. Hakodate （函館山）| Michelin Three-Star View

Mt. Hakodate （函館山） is a 334m high, wooded mountain at the southern end of the peninsula on which much of central Hakodate is located!

Going up Nijikken Slope Street （二十間坂通）, you will reach a cable car station!

Let's go to the summit!

The facility on the summit has a souvenir corner, and

I recommend goods made by prisoners in Hakodate Prison （函館刑務所）. The bags they made are very fashionable, aren't they? Because of the shortage of the labors (prisons) , the stock of the goods are sometimes thinly distributed! Hahaha!

Voila!
This is the observatory!

The second edition of Michelin Green Guide Japan introduces the view from Mt. Hakodate as three stars!

It is also selected as one of the three beautiful views in the world, along with views in Hong Kong and Milan.

We can enjoy Mt. Komagatake （駒ケ岳）（1,132m) from the summit!

I love the view at night very much!

 Do you know Thomas Wright Blakiston from England?

He was the first person to notice that animals in Hokkaido were related to northern Asian species, while those on Honshu (main island of Japan) were related to those from southern Asia. The Tsugaru Strait between the two islands are therefore established as a zoogeographical boundary, and became known as "Blakiston's Line"!

The summit has another monumnet!

Tadataka Inou （伊能忠敬） is a great person to complete a map of Japan in the 19 century. In 1800, after five years of study, the Shogunate permitted Ino to perform a survey of the country. He completed a perfect map of Japan! He reportedly spent 3,736 days making measurements!! Wow! Mt. Hakodate is the first place he stared measurement in Hokkaido!! 

I love Mt. Hakodate!

Just for reference, Motomachi （元町）, the foot of Mt. Hakodate, has several historical buildings, and the second edition of Michelin Green Guide Japan introduces this area as two stars. Do you want more information on this area? Please refer to my other post→☆ ! 

■Where is Mt. Hakodate （函館山）?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!