Former British Consulate of Hakodate

Hakodate was one of the first Japanese ports to open up to foreign trade after the Perry Expedition alongside Yokohama and Nagasaki in 1859.^[1] In response, a number of countries, along with all the other buildings they had constructed, set up consulates there. The United Kingdom established a consulate there the same year, being the third opened after the consulates of the United States and Russia. It was moved from its original location to a plot next to the Orthodox church at the Russian consulate four years later.^[2] The site was affected by a number of fires, which led to the repeated rebuilding of the consulate; the current building was finished in 1913 and hosted the British Consulate until it closed in 1934.^[3][4]

The building then saw use as a city hospital.^[5] In 1979, the city of Hakodate gave the building the designation of "tangible culture property", later converting it into its current status as a "memorial hall" in 1992 and opening it to the public after being restored two years later.^[1][4][6] It is currently host to exhibits on the opening of Hakodate on the first floor, a recreation of the consul's office and living room, alongside other displays, on the second floor, and a tea room named "Victoria Rose".^[1][7]

• Vladimir K. Arseniev Museum of Far East History – another consulate that has also become a museum
• Old Russian Consulate in Hakodate