Hakodate (函館), Oshima (渡島)
Hokkaido, Japan
Summer 2011
Fort Goryōkaku (Goryōkaku 五稜郭) is a massive, star-shaped, Western-style citadel, which was built in the last years of the Edo Period for the defense of Hakodate against the imperialist threat posed by the Western powers. Built by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1857-1866, it was located in the center of the port of Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaidō.
Shaped like a five-pointed star, it allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of "blind spots" where a cannon could not fire. In designing Goryokaku, Takeda Ayasaburō, a Rangaku scholar, adopted elements of the designs of the French architect Vauban, who developed fortresses responding to the spread of the use of cannon in warfare.
Goryōkaku is famous as the site of the last battle of the Boshin War. On December 9 (lunar calendar October 26), 1868, Ōtori Keisuke and Hijikata Toshizo and their troops entered the fort. A week after Hijikata's death, on June 27 (lunar calendar May 18), 1869, Goryokaku fell to the army of the newly-established Meiji government of Japan, and much of it was reduced to ruin.
After the fort had lost its military importance, it was eventually turned into a public park in the 1910s. Over one thousand cherry trees were planted along its moats, making it one of Hokkaido's best cherry blossom spots. It has also been declared a Special Historical Site and is home to the Hakodate city museum.
"Special National Historic Site (特别史跡五稜郭跡)"...
A wall divides the friends from the enemies...
Many visitors have touched the head of the bronze plaque on Takeda Ayasaburō,
the designer of the fort, resulting in a golden sheen...
The elegant Hakodate Magistrates's Office (函館奉行所)...
The bark of one the many majestic pine trees that line the fort grounds...
A lot of empty patches demarcating the original buildings...
Sunset views of the Goryōkaku Tower (五稜郭タワー) from across the moat...
An out-of-place American flag from a concert in the fort grounds...
Kids on bikes discussing some games together...
A seagull which flew further inland...
School children visiting the fort...
The history of the fort...
Cannons located at the lobby of the Goryōkaku Tower near the souvenirs...
Goryōkaku Tower (五稜郭タワー) with its similar star-like base support...
The full album is available at:
Sources
- "Goryōkaku" (17 April 2012). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gory%C5%8Dkaku.
- "Fort Goryokaku " (17 April 2012). japan-guide.com. Retrieved from http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5352.html.
