Hakodatehokuto Station

　　I dropped in at Hakodatehokuto Station, which became a popular topic of conversation in March. The Shinkansen bullet train reached Hokkaido the day before yesterday via the undersea tunnel between Aomori and Hokkaido. It takes you from Tokyo to Hakodate in 5 hours. I wanted to see the Hokkaido Shinkansen closely, which was bolstered against terrible coldness, but there was no place for parking near the station.
　　This newly-built station was located in a deserted area away from the city center of Hakodate City. Additionally, there were no commercial facilities yet around the station. Just some car rental companies arranged their cars for tourists on the unpaved lot. After driving slowly around the station, I headed for the downtown of Hakodate City.

　この３月の日本のニュースで間違いなくトップ３に入るのが東京から北海道まで新幹線が繋がったこと。その新しい駅に寄った。在来線の函館駅から少し離れたへんぴな場所にあり、周りには建物はあんまりない。空き地が広がっている。観光客がやってくることを見越して駐車場とレンタカー置き場になっているが、近い将来いろいろなビルが立っていくのだろう。