Photo: bryan... / CC BY-SA 2.0This is the brick-warehouse quarter on Hakodate's Bay Area waterfront, now a complex of four buildings: BAY Hakodate (17 shops and a gallery), Kanemori Yobutsukan, the Hakodate History Plaza (which houses the Beer Hall) and Kanemori Hall. It lies between the ship and the Motomachi slopes, so it is the natural middle stop of a walking day.
What you actually do is browse and eat. BAY Hakodate has a music-box shop, a honey shop, a patisserie and a wine shop; the History Plaza has the Beer Hall, a crepe stand and a chopstick workshop. Yobutsukan holds the post office, ATM, coin lockers and an information desk, which is useful if you need to leave a bag.
It is a shopping quarter, not a museum, and it is busiest when several ships are in. If you want the history of the Meiji port itself, the Old Public Hall and Motomachi churches are the better use of time. Skip it if you are short of time and have not yet had breakfast at the Morning Market.
Five things the plaques won't tell you
- The Motomachi Bay Area shuttle bus serves the quarter; the adult fare is ¥250 (child ¥130). The tram stop is Jujigai, 5 minutes on foot from the warehouses.
- The official site has a floor directory and bay-area map you can download in English before you land.
- Coin lockers, an ATM and a post office are inside Kanemori Yobutsukan; check that it is open before relying on it, as a maintenance notice is posted.
- The Beer Hall opens at 11:30 on weekdays and 11:00 on weekends and holidays, so it is not a breakfast option.
- The gift shops open at 9:30. On a 7:00 arrival do the Morning Market first and reach the warehouses just as the shutters go up.
Yobutsukan holds the post office, ATM, coin lockers and an information desk, which is useful if you need to leave a bag.
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Questions people ask here
Is there an entrance fee for Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse?
The official page lists no admission fee. The buildings are shopping and dining space, so you pay for what you buy.
Can I walk there from the cruise terminal?
From Wakamatsu, yes: roughly 20 minutes on foot (300 m to the station plus the complex's own 15-minute figure from JR Hakodate). From Minato-cho you need the ship shuttle or a taxi first.
When does the beer hall open?
11:30 on weekdays and 11:00 on weekends and holidays; it closes at 21:30.