Hakodate, Hokkaido
Hakodate (函館市; -shi) is a city and port located in Oshima, Hokkaido, Japan.
As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 283,215 and the density of 816.42 persons per km². The total area is 346.90 km².
The city was founded on August 1, 1922 and the port was opened to American trade under the conditions of the Treaty of Kanagawa, negotiated by Commodore Matthew Perry, March 31, 1853. A mariner of his fleet died during cruising and his body was burried in Hakodate cemetery for foreigners. He was the first U.S. citizen buried in Japan.
Soon several countries settled their consulates in Hakodate. One of them, Russian Consulate had a chapel, from where Eastern Orthodoxy arrived in Japan.