Hasegawa Store Bay Area

Hasegawa Store — known locally by its affectionate nickname "Hasesuto" — is a small Hakodate convenience-store chain that has achieved genuine cult status thanks to one item: its freshly grilled yakitori bento. The Bay Area branch, set beside the red-brick warehouses on the waterfront, is the most popular outlet for visitors, and grabbing one of these warm lunchboxes to eat by the harbor has become a minor Hakodate tradition.

The yakitori bento is a lesson in local quirk. In Hakodate dialect, "yakitori" refers not to chicken but to grilled pork skewers, and the bento is built around them: skewers of pork glazed in a choice of sweet-savory tare sauce or salt, grilled to order at the store counter, then laid over a bed of rice in a lunchbox. You choose your sauce and your rice, and the staff grill and assemble it fresh while you wait, so it arrives warm and fragrant rather than pre-packed. It is simple, cheap and genuinely delicious — smoky, juicy pork over rice for the price of a convenience-store lunch.

Hasegawa Store's fame has spread well beyond the city, helped along by its appearance as a favorite of characters in popular culture and by word of mouth among travelers, but at heart it remains an everyday local institution where residents pick up breakfast, lunch and daily necessities. The stores are open long hours, so the bento is available from early morning until late at night — handy for an early start before sightseeing or a late snack after a day out.

The Bay Area location is what makes it a traveler's favorite. Positioned right among the Kanemori red-brick warehouses and a short walk from the bay's cafes, shops and photo spots, it lets you buy a warm yakitori bento and eat it on a bench overlooking the water — an unfussy, quintessentially local counterpoint to the city's grander seafood restaurants. It is takeaway-focused, with minimal seating, so plan to eat outside or on the move.

Reaching it is easy: from the Jujigai tram stop walk a few minutes toward the waterfront and look for the yellow Hasesuto signage near the warehouses. At 500 to 700 yen a box, the yakitori bento is one of the best-value and most characterful cheap eats in Hakodate. Order it grilled to your preference, eat it warm with the harbor in front of you, and you will understand why this humble convenience store inspires such devotion among locals and visitors alike.