Hakodate

Hakodate is a port city on the southern tip of Hokkaido, Japan's northern island, and one of the first harbors the country opened to foreign trade in the 1850s. That early contact shaped it: churches and old consulate buildings still climb the Motomachi slopes above the harbor.

Ride the ropeway up Mount Hakodate at dusk for the celebrated night view of the city pinched between two bays. Mornings belong to the Hakodate Morning Market, where squid and crab come straight off the boats into rice bowls, and the star-shaped ramparts of Goryokaku fort trace a five-pointed moat best seen from the adjacent tower.

Try shio ramen, the city's lighter take on the noodle bowl, and time a spring visit for cherry blossoms filling the star fort. The shinkansen crosses from Honshu to nearby Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, which makes the city the natural first stop on a Hokkaido loop. Two nights covers the classics without hurry.