Searching for Gold ✨ The Hokkaido Pilgrimage Starts [My Japan Trip #1]

Searching for Gold ✨ The Hokkaido Pilgrimage Starts [My Japan Trip #1]

Mochi, Mochi, how are you’ll doing? Today I 
have more adventures in Japan to share with   you. As you may recall from watching 
my last video, I visited there this past April. If you want to see the first 
part of the series, please click here or, alternatively, you can watch the quick 
recap that I will play on screen right now. In this video, I’ll be focusing on Hokkaido,   Japan’s northernmost island, 
more specifically Hakodate. Hokkaido is a popular travel destination for 
people in Asian countries, including the Japanese themselves, but is less popular when it comes 
to western countries. Mostly because when people come from very far away, they generally are more 
interested in visiting cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and the regions surrounding these 
cities, or in other words, center Japan. There aren’t many people that choose to 
go to Hokkaido when they are first time   visitors. It’s mostly for people that already 
visited Japan and are coming back for more. Hokkaido though, is very, very beautiful, 
especially when it comes to Nature. What usually attracts people here are the 
ski resorts, the hot springs and the   winter festivals. But my interest had a different 
origin. Golden Kamuy being my favorite franchise, I immediately chose Hokkaido as the place 
I wanted to visit the most when my parents   mentioned a trip to Japan. Because that’s how 
it works in this family. Everyone gets a say in where we go. I chose Hokkaido. My brother 
wanted to stay in Akihabara for a while. My father had to go to Kyoto for his martial arts 
event. And my mom picked the Kanazawa region. I also enthusiastically took on the task of 
planning our entire itinerary for Hokkaido since I was already somewhat familiar with the 
region thanks to Golden Kamuy. And I mentioned Golden Kamuy a lot but didn’t explain what 
it is yet. So let’s rectify that real quick. Golden Kamuy is a manga, by Satoru Noda, that 
has both an anime and a live action adaption, and it tells the story of a soldier, Saichi 
Sugimoto, who survived the Russo-Japanese War. He has the nickname of “Sugimoto, the 
Immortal” because he can survive what happens to him no matter what. So he is a scarred man, 
both inside and out. All Golden Kamuy characters are either traumatized, messed up in the head, 
or both, which makes for amazing storytelling. As the story goes, Sugimoto is panning for gold 
when he hears a strange tale about a hidden treasure. Japan is home to an indigenous ethnic 
group called Ainu, who suffered severe oppression and discrimination at the ends of the Japanese. 
According to the tale Sugimoto heard, these people were trying to fight back and protect their 
rights. And to do so, they gathered a huge amount of gold. But then one of them betrayed the others 
and killed everyone. The betrayer was captured and sent to Abashiri prison. He proceeded to 
tattoo the location of the treasure on the bodies of a group of prisoners who then broke free. 
Together, the tattoos would lead to the treasure. Sugimoto learns that the tale is true and with 
the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa begins searching for the gold. This is basically 
the premise of the manga. But the thing about this story is that it teaches you so 
much about the late Meiji era, the Japanese military, Ainu culture, the fauna and flora of 
Hokkaido, hunting techniques and so much more. And given its popularity in Japan, it 
has become more than just a story. It is a cultural phenomena. Not only 
it has boosted tourism in Hokkaido, but it has also raised awareness of 
Ainu culture on an unprecedented scale. Some people go to Hokkaido to take part 
in what I like to call the “Golden Kamuy   pilgrimage”. It might be its actual name. 
I don’t know, but that’s what I call it. It consists of visiting every place that appears 
in the manga or anime. So, in other words, the entirety of Hokkaido, as you can 
see on the maps I’m showing on screen. Official rallies are held occasionally to 
encourage people to do this. One of these rallies, which was called “Enjoy Hokkaido 
with Golden Kamuy! Supported by Upopoy”, ended two weeks before we went to Japan. 
Talk about a kick in the balls, am I right? Of course, I still went on the pilgrimage. The 
rally might have ended, but the places are still there. You can make the Golden Kamuy pilgrimage 
at any time with or without a rally happening. As much as I would like to carry on talking about 
Golden Kamuy: what it does right, the criticism, the changes it brought, the good ones and the bad 
ones alike, this is probably not the right video for that. This video is about my travels. However, 
it was important for you to have this context so you can understand why I visited the places I did, 
why I know certain things and why I care so much. Golden Kamuy was the anime that made 
me fall in love with the medium again. Not that I stopped watching anime at 
any time, but you know what I mean,   as you grow up it gets harder to find a show 
that really hooks you. Golden Kamuy was as impactful for me in adulthood as Inuyasha 
was in my youth. And while it might not have sparked my interest in Japanese history, it 
certainly intensified my desire to learn more. Now, enough backstory. Let’s 
get to the travel stuff. Upon arriving in Hakodate, we immediately noticed 
a drop in temperature. But I had bought a warm, cozy coat specifically for the occasion. The coat 
was so warm that I couldn’t use it in Tokyo, so it had to be bagged up until that moment. And once 
we left Hokkaido, it returned to the bag again. As you can see from the welcome posters, 
Hokkaido is also known for having a lot of   Jomon sites. Jomon is the first period 
of Japan’s history (or second if you count the Paleolithic, but a lot of sources 
don’t). Being known as the age of ceramics, people living in that era used to sculpt 
elaborate pottery. They were hunter-gatherers, lived in pit dwellings and were semi-sedentary. 
I made a bunch of videos about the Jomon period, so if you’re interested, do 
not forget to check them out. And of course I wanted to visit 
at least one of these sites, having talked so much about them in this 
channel, but our time was very limited. We had just one week to visit all of Hokkaido. 
So even though I circled some sites we could visit without straying from our path, we 
ended up never having the opportunity. But this means I have to go to Hokkaido 
again sometime in the future. I may have done the Golden Kamuy pilgrimage, but this 
doesn’t mean I’m now out of places to see. Now, let me briefly introduce you to 
Hakodate, the first stop in the pilgrimage. Hakodate is currently the third largest city 
in Hokkaido and it is surrounded by the sea on three sides. In the distant past, it used 
to be an island. But around 3,000 years ago, a tombolo, which is basically a sand 
path, connected it to the peninsula. The urban part of the city lies almost entirely on 
this land form. There is evidence that people started living in Hakodate around 5,000 years ago. 
Although obviously the land wasn’t called that at the time. The land and its people were both called 
Ezo and the Ezo are related to the Ainu of today. Around the 14th century, the Wajin people, 
the people from the main Japanese island,   Honshu started migrating north, which 
led to conflicts between the two parties. Fast forward to the 19th century, Hakodate is now 
under the spotlight. This was when Japan signed a treaty with Commodore Perry from the USA. The 
deal that led to the country opening its borders after over 200 years of seclusion. The agreement 
between the two countries sparked the beginning of the trades with West. And you can notice that 
Western influence in the city and its buildings. But what Hakodate is more known 
for history-wise is probably the   Hakodate war. But since that’s related to 
a place I and my family went to visit next, hold that thought because we are 
going to get back to it in a moment. After leaving the station, we picked up the 
car we had rented and drove to the hotel   where we would be staying for the night 
to check in. As you might have guessed, all of this took up most of our afternoon, but we 
still had some time to visit the Goryokaku Tower and Park. The current Goryokaku Tower, which 
opened in 2006, although a previous version of the tower dates back to 1964, stands 107 m high, 
and offers the best view of the Goryokaku Park. You have to pay a fee to go up there, but it 
is worthy not only because of the view itself, but also because you can access 
an exhibit about the place. You can see that the top of the tower is 
pentagonal and its body is star-shaped, so it matches the Goryokaku fort, which 
is also star-shaped. We actually have a similar structure in Portugal called the 
Almeida Castle. Ours isn’t even the only one. There are a bunch of these all 
throughout Europe. It isn’t a   coincidence either since the Goryokaku 
fort was built under Western influence. So, we bought the tickets and got up on the 
elevator to the observatory in the second   floor. While the elevator is moving, a mini 
light show is presented to you. Like very, very short. It only lasts for the duration of 
the trip. So, maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute. The second floor, first from the top, 
is the one with more things to see.   There is the Goryokaku model, the exhibition 
which is called Goryokaku History Corridor, and the statue of a very important 
Japanese figure: Toshizo Hijikata. So, this is a good moment for us to 
pick up from where we left earlier. As I already told you, Hakodate 
became a port for international   trade after the treaty of peace and 
amity was signed by both the United States of America and the Empire 
of Japan. This happened in 1854. A few years later, the Shogunate developed a plan 
to reclaim more land in Hokkaido and promote its industrial development and fortification. 
The construction of the Goryokaku fort was included in this plan. Professor Ayasaburo 
Takeda, a specialist in Dutch studies, was responsible for its design. This job opportunity 
attracted people from all over Japan. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the fort was essentially 
completed in seven years, from 1857 to 1864. While this was going on, conflict was 
brewing in the south. There were those that were happy with Japan opening its 
borders and those who wanted Japan to keep isolating itself. And these two clashing 
ideas eventually led to the Boshin war in 1868 and the fall of the Shogunate. Members 
of the former Shogunate army escaped Edo and continued their fight in various places 
in Japan. Hakodate was one of such places. Takeaki Enomoto, the former vice admiral of the 
shogunate navy, led a group of deserters through the turbulent and dangerous winter waters and 
instructed them to take the Goryokaku fort. After peace negotiations failed, they also 
took the Tate Castle northwest of Hakodate from the Matsumae clan, solidifying their power 
over the Ezo region (Ezo being old Hokkaido, as previously mentioned). They celebrated their 
victory by firing cannons 101 times at the port. When spring came, the new Meiji government started 
sending troops to Hakodate so they could defeat the deserters once and for all. But it wasn’t an 
easy fight. The rebels were being led by this man, Toshizo Hijikata, who would go down in history as 
one of the most famous Japanese personalities and who is now immortalized in all forms of media, 
including anime, manga, and even visual novels. I wonder what he would have thought of that. On 
the bright side, at least it isn’t… Oh My God, there is an otome game. Moving swiftly 
past that… Who is Toshizo Hijikata? Hijikata was born in 1835, in Ishida, youngest 
of 10 sons. He was raised by his second oldest brother, Kiroku, and his sister-in-law. During 
his youth, Hijikata worked selling his family’s Ishida san’yaku, a traditional medicine used to 
treat injuries like bruises and broken bones. He also self-taught himself in kenjutsu, a type 
of martial art that involves the use of a sword. From 1859 onwards, he started receiving tutelage 
from a samurai named Kondo Isami. Together, they formed the Shinsengumi a special troop 
that served the shogunate during the final period of the Bakufu. You can think 
of it as a sort of elite of swordsmen, who acted in Kyoto to fight 
the pro-imperial reformists. IHijikata was ruthless when it came 
to the laws of the Shinsengumi, and would force defectors and 
traitors to commit seppuku.   He was so unrelenting that he earned the 
nickname “The Demon of the Shinsengumi”. It is said that he was very handsome and 
taller than the average Japanese man. Although he had many lovers, he never committed 
to anyone. Presumably because his position made it dangerous for people to get close to 
him. At least that was the reason he gave   for breaking off his arrangement with a 
woman named Okoto who we was to marry. You know what? I’m starting to get it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know I said we 
were moving past… that… but I’m having a hard time doing that. It wasn’t what I was 
expecting when I wrote “Toshizo Hijikata” on the search bar. Guess you can always count 
on human thirst to make things awkward. And I know there are people that 
simp for Golden Kamuy Hijikata,   which is like… understandable… but it 
seems to be more than that. It seems to be the idea of Hijikata himself. Powerful, with 
unwavering principles and good looks to boot. Good grief. What has become of this video? Okay, Hakodate battle. Despite Hijikata’s troops fighting tenaciously, 
the deserters lost the war. This led to Enomoto and the other leaders announcing their 
surrender on 17 May 1869. The following day, they handed over the Goryokaku fort 
to the army of the new government.   And so began the Meiji era. As for 
Hijikata, he was shot and killed in battle. For those of you who are familiar with Golden 
Kamuy, you will know that in the manga’s universe,   Hijikata actually survives the war and goes 
on to become a prominent character. That’s why he looks so old. It’s because the 
story takes place many years after this. Given its history, Goryokaku Fort’s moat 
ice started being harvested and sold in Honshu under the name “Goryokaku 
Ice”. The fort opened as a park in   1914 and was designed a special historic 
site in 1952, which leads us to today, to us being able to walk on this 
tower and learn all these things. But then it started getting late and I was 
feeling under the weather due to lack of sleep. It didn’t help that all the 
coffee shops and restaurants   in the tower had already closed. 
I was so desperate for a coffee. Thankfully, there wasn’t that much to see 
in the observatory of the first floor.   There was a see-through floor glass and 
screens where you could search for other star-shaped citadels around the world. By 
the way, these citadels aren’t shaped like stars just for show. They were designed 
to reduce blind spots in gun battles. We finally arrived at the atrium and then it 
was shopping time. I got this butter candy cuz they came in this cute box with Hijikata on 
it. I haven’t tasted them yet. So, I guess I should do it now. I’m a bit full, but for the 
sake of the video, I will do the sacrifice. These are pretty good. I don’t know how to describe it. They taste like pastry but rock solid, 
like something you could find on a bakery. Still on Hijikata, I also got this 
door sign that says “Neteiru”,   which means “I’m sleeping”. And this 
bag that has Hijikata riding a horse. And I also got this super cute wallet 
in the form of a Shima Enaga and a   pen where all of these little 
ones are resting on a branch. The Shima Enaga is a symbol of Hokkaido. 
You can find merchandise of these species of bird everywhere, north to south, 
even in konbini. Shima Enaga is how the Japanese call the long-tailed tit, 
specifically the ones that can be found in Hokkaido (Aegithalos caudatus japonicus/Aegithalos 
caudatus caudatus). This subspecies can only be   found in the north. They do not exist everywhere 
else in Japan. And because you have eyes on your face, you can see they are absolutely 
adorable. They look like flying cotton balls. These birds are only 13 to 
15 cm long, including tail,   and have a completely white head when 
adults, which distinguishes them from other subspecies of long-tailed tits. They move 
in flocks of 20 to 30 and are very acrobatic. The Shima Enaga only appears in one chapter 
of Golden Kamuy, but believe me when I say, you really don’t want to know what 
happens to this bird in that chapter.   Apparently, it’s going to be animated this 
October. Can’t wait to relieve the trauma. In any case, when I found out that there 
was a real chance of seeing these birds, I kept my eyes and ears open the whole time. I 
played a recording on my phone to get an idea of what they sounded like so that I could 
try to spot them if I heard any chirping. Problem being… they can be quite shy, from what I 
heard. We were a group of four, all noisy as hell, and weren’t planning on walking in nature too 
much. As for whether I ended up seeing the bird or not, stay with me till the end to find 
out. I have to create some suspense after all. What I can say is that we didn’t see any Shima 
Enaga on the Goryokaku Park where we went next, but that’s not surprising given all the rain. This park is home to over 1500 Yoshino sakura 
trees (or over 1600 depending on the source) so it makes it a privileged spot for “Hanami” – the 
traditional Japanese custom of contemplating the beauty of flowers. During the sakura season, there 
are extra activities that become available. You can eat grilled lamb barbecue under the trees, for 
example (as per tradition), or try sakura-flavored ice cream. The shop on Goryokaku Tower also gets 
a whole thematic section dedicated to the event. From December to February, the Goryokaku 
Park gets lit by 2,000 lights in an event called “Hoshi-no-Yume” (The 
Dream of Pentagonal Stars). But when we visited, the park looked like this, 
the flowers on the cherry trees were but little buds at that point in time. We walked around, 
taking in the sights and that’s all we did. You can usually rent rowboats to paddle across 
the moats, which looks like it will be fun, but we didn’t have the chance to do that this 
time because night was fast approaching and rain was falling every now and then. The 
magistrate’s office at the center of the fort was also already closed by then, 
so there was no need for rush anymore. The Goryokaku Fort plays a very important role 
in the Golden Kamuy manga, with a whole story   arc taking place within its walls. This 
arc is the second to last in the story, followed by the ‘Train to Hell’ arc. It is here 
that a gruesome battle takes place and several characters die. I don’t think it counts as 
a spoiler to say this because in a manga like Golden Kamuy, it’s to be expected 
that characters will die at some point. So, as long as I don’t mention 
any names, it should be fine. This arc hasn’t been animated yet, so for now, 
all we have are the manga panels. However, the scenarios are so realistic that visiting 
the fort is like entering the story. If they reach this part in the live action 
version, they will 100% film it here. So,   that’s something to look forward to. The manga 
shows Goryokaku in its entirety in many shots and from various angles, and sometimes 
even Hakodate Bay and the city itself. The moats, stone walls and bastions 
are ever present in the background,   both before and during the battle, and important 
scenes play out on all the bridges. There are so many bridge scenes in fact that these were what 
stayed in my memory the most. The magistrate’s office is always there too, looming over the 
characters. It was in this building that the character Koito was kept captive earlier in 
the manga. Season 4 for the anime only fans. The Magistrate’s Office that you can see in 
the center of the park nowadays is not the   original. It is a reconstruction that opened 
in 2010. Artisans from all over Japan worked on this project, aiming to make the building 
as faithful to the original as possible. Finally, there is the food storage house,   which appears right here behind the cannons. 
Asirpa and her companions take shelter here. Surprisingly, no one has yet done a one by 
one comparison between the manga panels and Goryokaku in real life here on YouTube, but 
I guess I will take the honor of being the first. I’m not really good at this, so hopefully 
someone will do it better eventually. But for now, and until season 5 is released, 
this is probably all you will get. To finish off, as we leave the park, I would 
like to share some architectural curiosities. This part is for those of you who 
appreciate the technological side of   things. Goryokaku is called this because it has 
five bastions. Hence the word “go” in the name, meaning “five”. While these bastions 
have a convex angle western style,   the stone walls were built using traditional 
Japanese castellation technology which relies on the interlocking of stones to create 
strong earthquake resistance structures. Goryokaku has three entrances and the southwestern 
one, which is the main one, has the highest stone walls. While building these walls, the Japanese 
used a stonework technique called ‘Hanedashi’, in which the stones in the second row from the 
top are layered so that they project forward. This creates a defensive element by making 
it difficult for invaders to climb over. The stones used for the walls were 
quarried from the mountains to the   north of Goryokaku. The Andesite rocks 
in particular came from Cape Tachimachi. As for the earthwork, it was made 
using sedimentary soil from the moats,   compressed by ramming into multi-layered 
structures using a method called ‘Hanchiku’. The earth structures are positioned 
in such a way as to prevent a clear   view into the fort so that people from the 
outside don’t know what’s happening inside. We left the park behind and picked a restaurant 
at random to have dinner at. My brother went for fried rice and chicken. I and mom tried 
out the seafood ramen because Hakodate is known for having good seafood. And my father 
decided to go for the more traditional ramen. Then we went to bed so we could wake up bright 
and early the next day. After all, we only had one day to visit Otaru and we had to get there first, 
which meant over 4 hours of driving. Still, it was doable. I knew it was cuz I had done my homework. 
I am not the first person to do the Golden Kamuy pilgrimage. So, I used the experiences of 
others to plan the itinerary. The problem was, have you ever traveled with family? How early 
do you think we went down for breakfast? Go on, take a guess. 9:00 a.m. 9 a.m. We were supposed 
to leave at 8:30. I had been awake since 6:00 a.m. Never mind. It’s only a 1 hour delay. 
It’s nothing that can’t be recovered from. In any case, we were lucky they were still 
serving breakfast, seeing as we had paid   for it in advance. It was a buffet style 
breakfast, half Japanese, half western. So, we had food such as scrambled eggs, sausages, mini 
hamburgers, bacon, pasta, tomato and broccoli, pastries and cake, as well as miso soup, curry, 
gyoza, Japanese vegetables, glass noodles, ohagi, tamagoyaki, and fish. There were two things in 
particular that I liked about this breakfast. One was these shortcakes. They were the softest 
shortcakes I had ever tasted. They melted in the mouth. I only took one at first to try a bit of 
everything, but I liked it so much that I went back for another. The second was this drink called 
Katsugen, which means “the fountain of victory”. It’s a fermented milk drink that can only be 
found in Hokkaido and it is amazing. It’s sweet and tastes a bit like yogurt, but it’s not as 
thick. I wish I could be more specific, but it’s something you have to try for yourself because 
it’s a bit unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. So, it’s hard to describe its flavor, but I really 
liked it. I wish I could have some right now. On the subject of dairy products, did you know 
that Hokkaido is responsible for over 50% of milk production in Japan? People say it has a distinct 
vanilla taste, but since I had Katsugen twice, I ended up not trying the plain milk. My 
brother did though. I think he found it tasty. Oh, and I almost forgot, but these 
little things here? Not a fan!   I put an entire one in my mouth and immediately 
spat it out cause I wasn’t ready for how… Spicy it would be? Spicy? Sour? Whatever, it wasn’t 
good. I think these might be pickled umeboshi plums, but not 100% sure. Other than that, 
everything was great. We were very well fed. Since the hotel’s parking lot was full, my father 
had parked the car God knows where. And because it was raining cats and dogs, we left the hotel 
and looked for a place to shelter our luggage. My father and brother went to pick up the car while 
mother and I stayed with the luggage. We waited, waited for a while longer and waited some more. 
No sign of them. They were taking so long that we ended up calling them only to find out that my 
father was having trouble with the parking meter,   which only accepted coins. Which raises 
the question, if he didn’t have coins, why the hell didn’t he called us sooner? 
Whatever. My mom had coins, so she went   to the rescue and I stayed with the luggage. And 
now my whole family was gone and they were taking forever again. Turns out they had got lost and 
couldn’t find the road to where I was. Just great. We only left Hakodate at 11:00 in the 
morning. Needless to say, I was pissed. But after some discussion, we ended up changing 
our plans to make things work. We were planning to cross Mount Yōtei, which is like the Fuji 
of Hokkaido, but we found out we could reach Otaru faster by traveling along the coast. And 
so by the sea we went. Our trajectory looked a bit like this. We got to see Uchiura Bay 
and then Japan’s Sea. It was quite nice. I think the moral of this whole story is… Always 
have coins with you… And don’t get lost? Nah, there is no lesson. We are 
just a bunch of buffoons we   can’t get anywhere on time. Not really 
helping that Portuguese stereotype. To finish the video, I will leave you with 
some footage of remote Hokkaido. But so we can both avoid the awkward silence, I will also 
be telling you a little story. Once upon a time, there was a convenience shop at the side of a road 
somewhere in Hokkaido. The lady that ran the shop was living her life peacefully, thinking it was 
just another day. And then… The gaijin arrived! I’m making it sound so overdramatic,   but the lady did seem a bit surprised to 
see us, as in “Where did these came from?” You probably remember me saying that there 
aren’t that many Western foreigners that   visit Hokkaido and probably even less that stop 
in remote places to get a quick snack. Plus, we were talking among ourselves in Portuguese. Because I am the only one in this house who knows 
a little bit of Japanese, the rest of my family, they would sometimes take products from the 
shelves and show me so I could tell them what they were. It was one of my purposes, to 
translate the labels of konbini products. You can even say it’s what I was born to do. “But don’t a lot of those products 
have an English caption below? Is it really useful to know Japanese in 
a konbini?” Shut up! Let me have this! Konbini labels, signs, and simple instructions, 
those were the dragons that I could fight. Moroever, my translation services were 
only open from 9:00 to 5:00 because since I was surrounded by Japanese characters all 
the time, at some point in the afternoon,   my brain would just shut down and I 
would become totally illiterate. I still find reading in Japanese exhausting. 
It doesn’t matter how simple the text is. Anyway, I bought a sandwich, an aloe vera 
yoghurt and black milk tea. Mum and I, we also saw a beautiful set of Shima 
Enaga-themed folders that came with a   book of curiosities about the bird, and 
we couldn’t resist buying those either. By the way, none of these packages had 
an English translationso, as you can see,   I’m still a reliable person to take to a 
konbini! Not everything is in English… On another note, I was super happy to be 
able to eat aloe vera yogurt again. It’s one of my favorites along with kiwi yogurt, 
but it’s next to impossible to find here in Portugal. It’s one of those things that 
appeared as a limited edition only to never be found again because people didn’t vibe 
with it. Same thing with the kiwi yogurt, by the way. People, for some reason, don’t 
seem to like it. I don’t know why. Meanwhile, it’s everywhere here, the aloe vera 
yogurt. So I made sure to get my fill. And, as we arrive to our next stop, this 
is where the video will end. I will cover both Otaru and Sapporo on the next one. Maybe also 
Asahikawa. Given how much I talk that is unlikely, but I can only hope. Anyway, I hope 
you liked the video, see you next time!

Hello! How are you all doing? Last April, I went to #Japan with my family for about three weeks, having visited Hokkaido, Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Tokyo. Now I want to talk about it in excruciating detail and make it everyone’s problem!

This was my second time in Japan by the way, I went there for the first time about a decade ago.

In this second video of the series, I explore the city of #Hakodate in #Hokkaido. I visited Goryokaku Park and Tower and learnt a great deal about the local history. I also discovered the Shima Enaga, a bird that is a symbol of Hokkaido. So very cute! Katsugen tastes delicious btw!

Thanks for watching!

Timestamps:
00:00 Recap (with some extra footage not included anywhere else)
02:59 Hokkaido and Tourism
03:58 Golden Kamuy (my fave anime)
08:43 Arriving in Hakodate
10:11 Introduction to the History of Hakodate
11:50 Renting a Car and Check-in
12:06 The Goryokaku Tower
13:35 The History of the Goryokaku Fort
14:32 Hakodate Battle
15:52 Toshizo Hijikata
19:19 Goryokaku as a Park
20:19 Shopping on the Goryokaku Tower
21:24 Shima Enaga (Cute Birds)
23:23 The Park Through the Seasons
24:50 Goryokaku Park and the Golden Kamuy Manga (Side-by-Side Comparison)
27:27 The Architecture of the Park
28:47 Tucking in for the Night
30:06 Western-Eastern Breakfast and Katsugen (The Fountain of Victory)
32:09 Proving the Portuguese Stereotype Right
33:51 On the Way to Otaru

Footage used (besides my own):
Tourism Statistics: RoadGenius
Top 10 Things to do in HOKKAIDO | JAPAN Winter Edition – MUST SEE!!! – Epic Voyager
AINU: Indigenous Peoples in Japan – United Nations
Hakodate Photo Library – hakodate.travel
Port of Hakodate map c. 1863
Morton1905 – Flickr
“View of Hakodate from Snow Peak” Wilhelm Heine (1856)
The port of Hakodate recorded in Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan
A Japanese rendition of the Battle of Hakodate, circa 1880
The Star Fortress of Almeida in Portugal – Dennisbluie – Wikipedia Commons
Boshin War – Hoodinski – Wikipedia Commons
Zokugun Hijikata Toshizou Manga
Peace Maker Kurogane Anime
Hakuōki otome game series
Destined to Love otome game
patternghosts Flickr
xenasolo TikTok
Shima Enaga: 泉山幸夫 (YT), Chuenguey Hwang (YT), Peter von Bagh (Wikipedia Commons), Ayo ke Japan (Facebook)
Jojo’s Ending (is copyrighted and it got my video blocked in Russia and Belarus, I’m sorry if any of you live in there, but I HAD to use this meme)