End of an Era

Roll over, Descartes

Hakodate is a unique city, as you can see from this, one of it's delightful souvenier items- mini cheesecakes with a selling line to remember.
Hakodate lies just across the Strait of Tsugaru from Aomori City. We can get there in a few hours, but it's a pricey trip because of the need to cross water. Why bother? Because Hakodate was one of the first Japanese cities to open to the outside after the 250 years of political isolation of the Tokugawa Shogunate (this period ended in 1865). On July 28, 1945, American bombers annihilated the city of Aomori with fire bombs, then flew across the strait to hit Hakodate. Due to heavy cloud cover, Hakodate was spared. So now, Aomori is a relatively boring new city, while Hakodate has many old, historical buildings. These include many of the Meiji-Victorian type popular when the country first opened and began to adapt to western styles. And, it became possible for us to explore them when our daughter Mary enrolled in the Far Eastern University of Vladivostok, Japan branch, 4 years ago.
Four years! It went quickly. And, when we attended her graduation 2 weeks ago, I was dismayed to realize that we were loosing our base in Hakodate- no more free housing when we visit; in fact, little excuse left to visit at all.
Of course, Mary didn't get the housing free. However, it was so cheap that we saved an estimated $15,000 over the 4 years she was there.


Mary With Her Landlady


The apartment was provided through this wonderful lady, who was renting it on behalf of the absentee owners. Mary got it for the cost of annual taxes- obviously rather low, due to it's age, size (12'x30'), and condition. She also got this kimono from the same generous lady, who showed up at her grad to see Mary in all her silken splendor!
So, a bittersweet day- the end of one era and the beginning of another.


Mary's Apartment- the Brown One in the Middle