Day 5: 13 Jun (Sun)
Hakodate 函館

Hakodate would be the city that we would stay in till the end of our trip, and our visit of the place started on Sunday. Hakodate is the 3rd largest city in Hokkaido (after Sapporo and Asahikawa), but its population is significantly lesser than the first 2 cities. To be honest, I was quite surprised when we first stepped into Hakodate the day before, because it looked quite different from what I had expected, after having visited Sapporo and Asahikawa.

Something interesting about the city: A Merlion Park exists in the city, and true to its name, there are 3 merlions there, with 1 of them being just like the one we have in Marina Bay, sprouting water and all. The park was set up by the late Masaru Yanagisawa, who admired Singapore so much that he brought our icons with him to Japan. He also has a trishaw in the lobby of his hotel, offered Singapore Slings at its bar, and named the souvenir shop Sentosa.