I stepped onto our balcony as we pulled into Hakodate.  A group of school girls in white uniforms with sailor collars waved enthusiastically calling out “good morning mister.” I waved back and called out “ohayō.”  They started jumping up and down, waving even more energetically. “Good Morning, ohayō” Welcome to Hakodate.

When we got off the ship we ran into girls in the same uniform, they had nametags that said either “Volunteer guide” or “Volunteer interpreter” and were there to practice their English.  They were helpful and enthusiastic.  We chatted with the for a while.  I asked the herring.  We had to type “herring” into Google translate but when they got it they were able to answer our questions.

Girl Guides

We visited the “Morning Market” that sold fish and much more.  Folks buy a bowl of rice and pick raw fish to put on top of it, then they buy a splash of soy sauce.  Others buy bento boxes of fish meals.  You can buy live crab, squid and other fish.  Being allergic to seafood I contented myself with watching the process.

I sat on a bench while Suzi did some exploring, and some Japanese young adults came to me and asked if they could practice their English.  I was delighted and when I told them I was from Alaska they were full of questions.  Another two young men joined us.  They said they were from Taiwan and asked if I had ever been.  I told them that I studied at Dung Wu Dasha.  “Very good School, when?”

“Almost 60 years ago.”

“Ah, much change.”

It was a pleasant way to wait.  When she returned, we walked about a mile to the “red brick district” the old warehouse district in the original port. 

It is full of shops and restaurants, plus a brewery and Starbucks.  It was warm so we went in for a Frappuccino.  We met our friend and fellow blogger Jo.  She was there to sketch some of the old buildings so she could then paint watercolors. A man snapped her pic while sketching and air dropped it to her. I recommend her blog “Writer on Deck.”  Not only does it have the musings of a professional writer, but she often illustrates it with her watercolors so I can see things with a different eye. 

After that we walked to the Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples.  It was one of the places I particularly wanted to see. It did not disappoint. A Sitka friend, Bob Sam, has worked on Hokkaidō studying the similarities between North Pacific indigenous peoples. 

I go to museums to either learn new things or to see things from a different perspective. This museum satisfied both needs.  The Ainu live on Hokkaidō and used to live on the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island, both now part of Russia (They have gone back and forth.)   The Russian American Company moved Aleuts to the Kuriles because they were good hunters. The two cultures intermingled.  The Ainu were tributaries of the Chinese before being taken over by the Japanese, and they traded freely east, west and North. They were a conduit for trade goods into Japan when the country was officially closed under the Tokugawa Shogunate.  It’s a fascinating history and the museum has a good collection of trade goods, handicrafts, and artwork of not only the Ainu but Aleuts (particularly interesting after having just been in the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska.)

 
We took the tram back to the central bus station, close to the ship.  At sail away we were sent off by the same girls in uniform doing a “traditional” line dance, perhaps with more energy that tradition dictates. We are near the stern of the ship and the four girls on our end were so energetic that they well outran the line, and when thy turned around found they were further from the line than they should be, so laughing they ran back to the end of the line but kept doing the same thing again and again.  Kick, jump, kick, turn and run back. The ship’s horn sounded, and they waved and cried “bye bye”  we replied “sayonara” as we sailed away accompanied, very quickly…

…a magnificent sunset.

Taken from our dining room table.