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Hakodate City is called the southern gateway to Hokkaido with an excellent port named Tomoe-ko (comma-shared port). It is located in the southeast area of the Oshima Peninsula . The peninsula is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and Tsugaru Channel from the east, south and north.
It is one of the first cities in Japan , together with Yokohama and Nagasaki , to be opened to international trade following the Japan-US amity treaty of 1854. Over the next few years after the treaties, ten (10) countries, including Britain , Russia and the USA , established their consulates. Foreigners built pretty wooden houses and churches leaving century old picturesque European and American-style architectural structures on the steep hillside. This integration of foreign and local culture gave Hakodate an exotic atmosphere especially in the western area, fanning out from the foot of Mt. Hakodate.
Today, Hakodate is a commercial and industrial center with fishing, shipbuilding and food processing as its industries. It is also well known for its squid and the breath-taking view of the city from Mt. Hakodate . This view is said to be one of the Three Best Night Views of not merely Japan but the entire world (the other claimants being Naples and Hongkong).
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