Yokohama to Vancouver

Facing out on two bays, Hakodate is a 19th-century port town, with clapboard buildings on sloping streets, a dockside tourist zone, streetcars, and fresh fish on every menu. In the downtown historic quarter, a mountain rises 1,100 feet above the city on the southern point of the narrow peninsula. Russians, Americans, Chinese, and Europeans have all left their mark; this was one of the first three Japanese ports the Meiji government opened up to international trade in 1859. The main sights around the foot of Mt. Hakodate can be done in a day, but the city is best appreciated with an overnight stay for the illumination in the historic area, the night views from either the mountain or the fort tower, and the fish market at dawn. City transport is easy to navigate and English information is readily available. Evening departure trains from Tokyo arrive here at dawn—perfect for fish-market breakfasts.

Aomori’s main event is its Nebuta Matsuri Festival,held August 2 to 7. People come to see illuminated floats of gigantic samurai figures paraded through the streets at night. Aomori’s festival is one of Japan’s largest, and is said to celebrate the euphoria of post-battle victory, and is thus encouraged to be noisier and livelier than you may have been exposed to in other Japanese festivals. Dancers, called heneto, run alongside the floats, dancing crazily, and you’re encouraged to join in. Throughout the year you can enjoy delicious seafood from Aomori Bay, including Oma no Maguro (tuna of Oma), as well as delicious fruits and vegetables (particularly garlic). And come every summer, the town cuts loose to throw the decidedly wild Nebuta Matsuri festival, a frenzied, utterly unaccountable period when normal gets thrown to the wind.

Kushiro, known as the “town of mist”, is situated in the south eastern part of Hokkaido. With about 200,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city in the region and the base for deep-sea fishing. The marine products industry of Kushiro has flourished since the early 20 th century and many streets of this port town retain features of this era. Thanks to its strategic location on Hokkaido’s Eastern Pacific seaboard and the area’s only ice free port, Kushiro is experiencing steady growth as an important economic, social and cultural centre. A literary atmosphere can be attributed to the poet and novelist Takuboku Ishikawa, who lived here in the early 20th century. To the north of Kushiro lies one of its most renowned attractions, the Kushiro Shitsugen, Japan’s largest marshland. Stretching out over the majority of the Kushiro Plain, it accounts for 60 percent of Japan’s wetland and was designated to become the country’s 28th National Park in 1987. As the marsh is considered one of the greatest treasure houses of flora and fauna in Japan, its protection, preservation and wise use are promoted by a national agreement. Equally famous is the marshland as the habitat of the Tancho (Japanese Crane). At one time, it could be seen in many places in Japan, but their numbers dwindled in the Meiji Era due to over hunting and environmental changes. In the late 19 th century, the cranes were thought to be almost extinct. Then several dozens cranes were discovered in the depths of the Kushiro Shitsugen, and after establishing special crane reserves, the birds rehabilitation has succeeded.

Today, commercial fishing is king in Kodiak. Despite its small population—about 6,475 people scattered among the several islands in the Kodiak group—the city is among the busiest fishing ports in the United States. The harbor is also an important supply point for small communities on the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Peninsula.Visitors to the island tend to follow one of two agendas: either immediately fly out to a remote lodge for fishing, kayaking, or bear viewing; or stay in town and access whatever pursuits they can reach from the limited road system. If the former is too pricey an option, consider combining the two: drive the road system to see what can be seen inexpensively, then add a fly-out or charter-boat excursion to a remote lodge or wilderness access point.Floatplane and boat charters are available from Kodiak to many remote attractions, chief among them the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge , which covers four islands in the Gulf of Alaska: Kodiak, Afognak, Ban, and Uganik.

It is hard to believe that a place as beautiful as Seward exists. Surrounded on all sides by Kenai Fjords National Park, Chugach National Forest, and Resurrection Bay, Seward offers all the quaint realities of a small railroad town with the bonus of jaw-dropping scenery. This little town of about 2,750 citizens was founded in 1903, when survey crews arrived at the ice-free port and began planning a railroad to the Interior. Since its inception, Seward has relied heavily on tourism and commercial fishing. It is also the launching point for excursions into Kenai Fjords National Park, where it is quite common to see marine life and calving glaciers.

Located at the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, Skagway is a one-hour ferry ride from Haines. By road, however, the distance is 359 miles, as you have to take the Haines Highway up to Haines Junction, Yukon, then take the Alaska Highway 100 miles south to Whitehorse, and then drive a final 100 miles south on the Klondike Highway to Skagway. North-country folk call this sightseeing route the Golden Horseshoe or Golden Circle tour, because it passes a lot of gold-rush country in addition to spectacular lake, forest, and mountain scenery.The town is an amazingly preserved artifact from North America’s biggest, most-storied gold rush. Most of the downtown district forms part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System dedicated to commemorating and interpreting the frenzied stampede of 1897 that extended to Dawson City in Canada’s Yukon.Nearly all the historic sights are within a few blocks of the cruise-ship and ferry dock, allowing visitors to meander through the town’s attractions at whatever pace they choose. Whether you’re disembarking from a cruise ship, a ferry, or a dusty automobile fresh from the Golden Circle, you’ll quickly discover that tourism is the lifeblood of this town. Unless you’re visiting in winter or hiking into the backcountry on the Chilkoot Trail, you aren’t likely to find a quiet Alaska experience around Skagway.

Since Icy Strait Point opened in 2004, Hoonah has attracted more visitors, particularly those who arrive by cruise ship. The port is centered around the restored salmon cannery, which now houses a museum, local arts and crafts shops, restaurants, and a mid-1930s cannery line display. Outside is the world’s largest and highest zip line at 5,330 feet long, featuring a 1,300-foot vertical drop—a thrilling ride with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and ocean. If you’re looking for more relaxing mountaintop views, book a gondola ride that will whisk you up into the mountains for some leisurely hiking and stellar sightseeing. Icy Strait Point houses several restaurants where visitors can dine on freshly caught seafood while taking in the waterfront views. A range of excursions are available at Icy Strait Point catering primarily to cruise ship passengers, from Alaska Native dance performances to bear viewing and whale watching.

It’s hard not to like Sitka, with its eclectic blend of Alaska Native, Russian, and American history and its dramatic and beautiful open-ocean setting. This is one of the best Inside Passage towns to explore on foot, with St. Michael’s Cathedral, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Castle Hill, Sitka National Historical Park, and the Alaska Raptor Center topping the must-see list.Sitka was home to the Kiksádi clan of the Tlingit people for centuries prior to the 18th-century arrival of the Russians under the direction of territorial governor Alexander Baranof, who believed the region was ideal for the fur trade. The governor also coveted the Sitka site for its beauty, mild climate, and economic potential; in the island’s massive timber forests he saw raw materials for shipbuilding. Its location offered trading routes as far west as Asia and as far south as California and Hawaii. In 1799 Baranof built St. Michael Archangel—a wooden fort and trading post 6 miles north of the present town.Strong disagreements arose shortly after the settlement. The Tlingits attacked the settlers and burned their buildings in 1802. Baranof, however, was away in Kodiak at the time. He returned in 1804 with a formidable force—including shipboard cannons—and attacked the Tlingits at their fort near Indian River, site of the present-day 105-acre Sitka National Historical Park, forcing many of them north to Chichagof Island.By 1821 the Tlingits had reached an accord with the Russians, who were happy to benefit from the tribe’s hunting skills. Under Baranof and succeeding managers, the Russian-American Company and the town prospered, becoming known as the Paris of the Pacific. The community built a major shipbuilding and repair facility, sawmills, and forges, and even initiated an ice industry, shipping blocks of ice from nearby Swan Lake to the booming San Francisco market. The settlement that was the site of the 1802 conflict is now called Old Sitka. It is a state park and listed as a National Historic Landmark.The town declined after its 1867 transfer from Russia to the United States, but it became prosperous again during World War II, when it served as a base for the U.S. effort to drive the Japanese from the Aleutian Islands. Today its most important industries are fishing, government, and tourism.

A small, unassuming timber and fishing community, Wrangel sits on the northern tip of Wrangel Island, near the mouth of the fast-flowing Stikine River—North America’s largest undammed river. The Stikine plays a large role in the life of many Wrangel residents, including those who grew up homesteading on the islands that pepper the area. Trips on the river with local guides are highly recommended as they provide, basically, an insider’s guide to the Stikine and a very Alaskan way of life. Like much of Southeast, Wrangel has suffered in recent years from a declining resource-based economy. But locals are working to build tourism in the town. Bearfest, which started in 2010, celebrates Wrangel’s proximity to Anan Creek, where you can get a close-up view of both brown and black bears. Wrangel has flown three different national flags in its time. Russia established Redoubt St. Dionysius here in 1834. Five years later Great Britain’s Hudson’s Bay Company leased the southern Alaska coastline, renaming the settlement Ft. Stikine. It was rechristened Wrangel when the Americans took over in 1867; the name came from Baron Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangel, governor of the Russian-American Company. The rough-around-the-edges town is off the track of the larger cruise ships, so it does not get the same seasonal traffic that Ketchikan and Juneau do. Hence, it is nearly devoid of the souvenir shops that dominate so many other nearby downtown areas. But the gift shops and art galleries that are here do sell locally created work, and the town is very welcoming to visitors; independent travelers would do well to add a stop in Wrangel during their Southeast wanderings.

Vancouver is a delicious juxtaposition of urban sophistication and on-your-doorstep wilderness adventure. The mountains and seascape make the city an outdoor playground for hiking, skiing, kayaking, cycling, and sailing—and so much more—while the cuisine and arts scenes are equally diverse, reflecting the makeup of Vancouver’s ethnic (predominantly Asian) mosaic. Vancouver is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most livable cities, and it’s easy for visitors to see why. It’s beautiful, it’s outdoorsy, and there’s a laidback West Coast vibe. On the one hand, there’s easy access to a variety of outdoor activities, a fabulous variety of beaches, and amazing parks. At the same time, the city has a multicultural vitality and cosmopolitan flair. The attraction is as much in the range of food choices—the fresh seafood and local produce are some of North America’s best—as it is in the museums, shopping, and nightlife.Vancouver’s landscaping also adds to the city’s walking appeal. In spring, flowerbeds spill over with tulips and daffodils while sea breezes scatter scented cherry blossoms throughout Downtown; in summer office workers take to the beaches, parks, and urban courtyards for picnic lunches and laptop meetings. More than 8 million visitors each year come to Vancouver, Canada’s third-largest metropolitan area. Because of its peninsula location, traffic flow is a contentious issue. Thankfully, Vancouver is wonderfully walkable, especially in the downtown core. The North Shore is a scoot across the harbor, and the rapid-transit system to Richmond and the airport means that staying in the more affordable ’burbs doesn’t have to be synonymous with sacrificing convenience. The mild climate, exquisite natural scenery, and relaxed outdoor lifestyle keep attracting residents, and the number of visitors is increasing for the same reasons. People often get their first glimpse of Vancouver when catching an Alaskan cruise, and many return at some point to spend more time here.