Reina's Japan Trip, June 2016: Day 5 (Part II) [Hokkaido Hakodate Tachimachi Cape, Tokugawa Retainer's Graves and Hachiman Shrine]

By TReina - Wednesday, July 27, 2016 - No Comments

To All,

Linking the previous article to this, this is the continuation of last post about Yachigashira. While this post is still located at Yachigashira, Hakodate, it is mainly about the cape and then about the climb to Tokugawa retainer's graves.

First, let's begin with Tachimachi Cape. Some of you might remember this spoiler picture from the previous blog, and I'm not ashamed to say that no filters of any sort were used for this photo -- this is how beautiful the place really is!

Tachimachi Cape is definitely a place which I would recommend to everyone who's heading to Hakodate. Not only is it beautiful, it's also quite peaceful and is definitely good for sightseeing and soul-searching.

There are also cute little squid decorations on the railings around the area. As expected of Hakodate and their squids!

The paths that lead down to bring you closer to the shoreline have stone tiles to keep in with the feel of nature. They are generally flat, but there might be some loose ones here and there so make sure you are careful when snapping pictures so you don't lose your footing.

Ah, blue seas that speaks to the mind! Thinking back, it's amazing that so much can be transferred into a single picture! Can you even start to imagine how much better this looks in person?

Also, this is the "signboard" of the cape, where it reads "Tachimachi Cape". My friends didn't actually want to leave here, but it was getting dark quickly and I insisted on visiting the Tokugawa retainers' graves, so they reluctantly left. All in all, we spent a little over 2 hours at this cape area alone.

So we begin the climb to the graves of those brave warriors who fought at Hakodate a very long time ago...

The path starts out with such stone monuments lining the path at uneven intervals. Deeper into the path leads to the disappearance of these monuments and the atmosphere turns more dark and eerie, which is a far cry from how the other cemetery was (the one leading to the cape).

The road also has many sharp turns so be wary if you're walking or driving down this path. Of course, you still have another concern, which is falling rocks. Signs for these are placed along the road.

You know that you're approaching the grave area when the road actually vanishes and you're left with this wooden plank to walk on. It is mostly stable and you probably won't trip, and that's coming from someone as clumsy as myself.

And after this path is the fruit of my labor!

This is what we're looking for. Though the area is quite badly-maintained in my opinion, there are still quite a lot of points about it worth visiting! For instance, learning more about Bakufu can always be a good point!

Apart from the description, there are many other points of this place. There's quite a few monuments here with stone engravings that might be educational if you understand them. They are a little too profound for myself so I'll not comment too much on them.

After leaving the grave area, I re-tracked a portion of my journey up and went to Hakodate Hachiman Shrine. This is the very first shrine which I've visited in my entire journey in Japan this time round, and I hope that some of the images below would be an eye opener for those of you who haven't been to a shrine before!

And this is the main body of the Shrine, where you pray at. On the left of this image is where you tie your ema.

And the next place which I would like to point out would be the fortune slips and the amulets, both of which is a necessary part in Japan's culture. Different amulets are for different purposes such as marriage, birth, studies and health.

The next place would be where you wash your hands before entering the shrine, which is a little similar to a "purification" procedure in my opinion.

And of course, not forgetting the steps and the entrance of the Shrine as well!

After exiting the shrine, what's left is to get to the tram station again and proceed to a public foot bath as well as for dinner, both of which we'll cover in the next article. Stay tuned for sights and a bunch of sushi pictures!

From Your Fellow Japan Fan,
Reina-rin