ABSTRACT
Description: A port city, one of the first in Japan to be opened to international trade, and the site of the Goryōkaku fortress.
Site Office: Hakodate Tourist Information Center 12-14 Wakamatsu-cho Hakodate, Hokkaidō Japan (138)23 5440
Hakodate lies on the southwestern extremity of the island of Hokkaidō, on an isthmus below Hakodateyama (Mount Hakod ate), 1,099 feet high, the upper part of a submerged extinct volcano. The city's development over the past 700 years or so has been conditioned by its reliance on the mountain for pro tection and on the sea for food and prosperity.
