Hakodate Airport — Hakodate, Japan

Southern Hokkaido's main airport, HKD serves a port city whose nighttime skyline, viewed from the summit of nearby Mount Hakodate, regularly ranks among Japan's most celebrated views alongside those of Nagasaki and Kobe. Hakodate holds a distinct place in Japanese history as one of the first ports opened to foreign trade after centuries of national isolation ended in the 1850s, and traces of that era survive in the city's Western-style buildings and old foreign consulate structures near the harbor. Fresh seafood, particularly squid and crab pulled from surrounding waters, draws food-focused travelers to the morning market just a short trip from the airport terminal. Domestic flights connect Hakodate to Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo, while a Shinkansen extension in recent years has given rail an increasingly competitive edge on the Tokyo route, even as flying remains faster for travelers coming from western Japan.