We stopped in Hakodate when we were on this itinerary a couple years ago--a nice little city. When we were there, school children met the shuttle and invited us to a tea ceremony. We also visited the market where we ate fabulous melon and watched the Regent chef buy humongous crabs to prepare on the ship. All the Japanese ports are delightful, the people come out to meet the ship and they usually provide some entertainment and sometimes bring little gifts for everyone. We have a couple Japanese Christmas ornaments we got as gifts on that trip.
We love hearing about your trip--keep the sea mail coming.