A Foreign Country at My Feet: Cultural Shock in Hakodate

In this episode, I talk about a recent winter trip to the Hakodate area in Hokkaido and the unexpected cultural gap I experienced there.Choosing trains over a rental car turned out to be far more inconvenient than expected, and simple things—like transportation hours and cash-only payments—made me realize how different regional Japan can feel compared to Tokyo or overseas cities.I also share conversations with locals, including drivers and members of the Self-Defense Forces, whose everyday sense of “normal” is very different from my own.What struck me most, however, was the atmosphere in hotels and public spaces, where foreign visitors now make up the majority. It raised a quiet question: is this unique to Hakodate, or a sign of how Japan’s tourist areas are changing more broadly?This episode isn’t about criticism or conclusions—just observations from traveling close to home, and realizing how much there still is to notice.