Akiko's Hakodate Guide

In this blog site, I would like to give useful information for sightseers. In the following site, I'm giving detailed information for people who live in Hakodate. Some coffee & tea shops and restaurants are introduced. If you are interested, please visit the site Living in a city next to Hakodate, too.

Most photos in this blog site can be enlarged by clicking on them.

This picture is provided by Hakodate Central Library commemorating the 150th anniversary of Hakodate's port opening.

This picture was drawn by a German artist Heine who accompanied the American party lead by commodore Perry. They visited Hakodate in 1854 and saw the statue near the mountain top of Mt. Hakodate.

The statue is a Buddhist deity Kannon, or Goddess of Mercy and now you can see it at the precincts of Tosenji temple in Yunokawa. The statue drawn in the picture is the 8th statue, Juichimen Kannon(Kannon with eleven faces).

In 1830's, thirty-three statues that followed the thirty-three sacred placed in the west of Japan were placed along the mountain trails of Mt. Hakodate. Local citizens who couldn't go to the temples in the western area visited Mt. Hakodate instead. But in1899, fortification of Mt. Hakodate started and the statues were moved to the mountain foot. Finally, most of them were kept by Tosenji temple.

Recently the fact was revealed that the 8th statue in the temple was the same in the picture above. How about visiting the temple or Mt. Hakodate to feel current of the times?

Trappist monastery in Tobetsu, Hokuto city is the first monastery built in Japan. In 1896, Nine monks founded a wooden monastery.

Their lives consist of prayer, labor, and reading of holy books and start with praying and end with praying.

Since its foundation, monks cultivated the land and stepped up farming, cattle breeding, and dairying.

Today's two-storied building was completed in 1908. On the way to this monastery, you can enjoy beautiful driveway, lined with cypress trees.


Tips:
It takes about 40 minutes by car from the center of Hakodate. Please take Route 228.

Butter cookie and candy are both popular souvenirs made in this monastery and the souvenir shop in its precincts sell them with cheaper price(even though a little bit) than other shops in Hakodate.

Only men are allowed to visit the monastery. You need to apply in advance. If you are interested, please check its web site.

On the foot of Gokokujinja Slope, you will find Senshuan confectioary shop by the statue of Kahee Takadaya.

Senshuan is the oldest company in Hakodate and the third oldest in Hokkaido. It started the business in 1860.


You can get traditional Japanese sweets there. Yamaoyaji biscuit, which uses milk and butter, is a Japanese and western mixed style product. It is locally well-known and five-piece box costs 315yen.

Tosenji temple is located five or ten minutes walk from the Yunokawa Streetcar Stop. In the precincts of this temple, you'll find many stone statues. They are the statues of Kannon, or the Goddess of Mercy. There are thirty three kannon and they used to be placed Mt. Hakodate.

In old days, there was a boom to travel around thirty three temples in the western part of Japan(Kyoto, Osaka area) but for the most people, it was difficult to do so.


So the people of influence brought soil from thirty three temples and made the same number of statues of Kannon and placed them in Mt. Hakodate in 1833. But those were removed when Mt. Hakodate was fortified in 1899. They were placed on the moutain foot and then, carried to Yunokawa in 1914. People in Yunokawa worshipped those Kannnon twice a year. But as time passes, through the urban development and land adjustment, some statues were abandoned and forgotten. So in 1975, Tosenji temple gathered all the remaining statues.

The present garden style thirty three Kannon was newly placed in 2007 with the help of temple chief and the followers. They visited thirty three temples and gathered soil again using three years.