At its northern tip, Japan's main island of Honshu sprouts what looks like a massive pair of pincers that reach up into the Tsugaru Strait toward Hokkaido. The point at the southern end of Hokkaido that the twin peninsulas seem to be homing in on is the port of Hakodate.
Hokkaido has a lot going for it -- sweeping northern vistas, magical skiing, nature on a grand scale -- but visitors with a soft spot for history will find this island's pickings markedly scant. The big exception is Hakodate.
Back in the days before John D. Rockefeller discovered how crude oil could turn someone into the richest man on the planet, the United States depended for its oil supply on its huge whaling fleets. For the western end of the North Pacific, the U.S. badly needed a supply station to service all those whaling ships. And that was where Hakodate came in.