Mount Hakodate Ropeway

Hakodate sits on a sand isthmus between two bays, with a wooded volcanic headland at the far end. Ride the ropeway to the top of that headland after dark and the city below resolves into a narrow waist of light pinched between two areas of black water, which is why this particular night view became one of the best known in Japan. The cabin covers the climb in about three minutes. Daytime is a different picture and worth its own trip: the port, the ferry lanes, the Tsugaru Strait, and on clear days the mountains of northern Honshu across the water. Walking trails and a road also reach the summit.

History

The aerial tramway opened in 1958 with cabins for 31 passengers, and the next year the operator added an observation deck, a restaurant and a souvenir shop at the summit (Wikipedia, Mount Hakodate Ropeway).

What's there

• The night view - the lit isthmus narrowing between two dark bays.
• The daytime panorama - the port, the ferry lanes and the Tsugaru Strait.
• The summit paths - short forest trails around and below the observation deck.
• Motomachi below - the slope of brick warehouses and nineteenth-century foreign-style buildings.

When to go

Arrive about half an hour before sunset to see the view in daylight, at dusk and lit, though that is also when queues are longest. Autumn and winter give the clearest air. The ropeway closes for annual maintenance for a stretch in autumn, and the summit road is restricted or shut in the evening and through winter.

What to expect

The whole trip depends on weather that changes fast on a coastal headland: fog and low cloud can leave you looking at grey nothing, and there is no refund for that. Around sunset the deck is packed three deep at the rail, tour groups arrive in blocks, and the queue to go back down can run longer than the visit itself.

Nearby

Motomachi's sloped streets, the red brick warehouses on the waterfront and the Hakodate morning market.

Key facts