Hakodate, Japan

Friday, April 27th, 2018

It was over 72 years ago when my brother, Junior, looked upon the shores of Hokkaido and possibly pondered what his life with the US Army occupiers would be like. I can’t even imagine. I had the opportunity several years ago to listen to his stories of his life there before he was returned home to hearth and family. Those times are a treasured memory. Thank you brother for your service to our country.

Today Barbara and I will visit Onuma Park, a delightful National Park with beautiful island-dotted lakes, a half an hour trip from Hakodate. I can only wonder if my brother was able to visit this beautiful area.

Well we did exactly what I wrote about above.

We received an enthusiastic welcome by the few folks gathered on the pier.

We were docked at a primarily industrial area and the port authority had yet to ‘gear up’ for the cruise ship industry.

I would hope that in the future more that cruise companies would realize what this beautiful city has to offer. We sure enjoyed our visit.

Our boat ride had more to offer than I had expected. The lake and surrounding area reminded me so much our our lakes at home.

After an easy walk around one of the three walking paths, we visited a small winery and sampled some of their red and white wine, quite good I think.

On my walk, the easiest there was, I passed by this huge bolder that had been blown there during an ancient eruption of the volcano, some distance away.

Enjoy the images.

As I write this the temperature in the Lido must be set to acclimate us for our visit to Kushiro, Japan, our final port of call to this wonderful, friendly, island nation. A check of the local temperature is 32 degrees. (F)

Jack W Cummings – Far East Adventures 2018