The Ainu (アイヌ) The Hakodate area was known as Usukeshi to the Ainu, Hokkaido's original residents, and a fishing village was located there. The Origin of the Town Name (市名の来由) Masamichi Kono, known for settling the Tsugaru Strait, built a large house shaped like a box near the base of the mountain in 1454. The word for box is "hako" and the character for mansion is represented by the second character, read "date". Matsumae (松前) The Matsumae clan received lands nearby Hakodate in the 1700s, and in fact their castle remains today as the only one of its kind in Hokkaido. Serving as an outpost for the military government in the Edo era, Hakodate benefitted from the proximity to the powerful clan when Matsumae moved their magistracy into Kono's box mansion. Takadaya Kahei (高田屋嘉兵)Takadaya Kahei, the founder of Hakodate's port, arrived in Hakodate in 1796 and based his shipping and fishing businesses out of the town. He made a fortune, but is said to have been generous, and is given much credit for developing Hakodate's shipping and fishing industries. One of Japan's best known businessmen at that time, it is said he turned Hakodate from a cold desolate outpost to a prosperous city. in 1812 he was captured by Russia, with whom Japan was at war with, but was able to secure his release. He returned to his birthplace, Awaji Island, at the age of 50 but apparently reminisced often of the Hakodate of his youth. A large statue of him stands visible from the streetcar line. Commodore Perry (ペリー) Commodore Perry's fleet of black ships arrived in Hakodate to inspect it's potential as a port in 1854. The Opening of the Port to International Trade Five years later, Hakodate was one of just three Japanese port cities opened to international trade, along with Nagasaki and Yokohama. This opened the city to foreign culture. What remains today of this era is clustered around Mount Hakodate, in the form of abandoned or converted consulates, churches, and a mix of Japanese and western architecture that is uniquely Hakodate. Meiji Restoration & The Hakodate War (箱館戦争) The Hakodate War was where the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate made their last stand against the inevitablity of the Meiji Restoration. They took refuge in the western style fort built just a few years earlier and proclaimed the birth of a new nation, the "Republic of Ezo". They had difficulty getting recognition and assistance and eventually could not withstand the onslaught of the imperial army. The end of the Hakodate War marked the definitive end of the military government and the end of the battles that returned the Emperor to political prominence. Ishikawa Takuboku (石川啄木) Ishikawa Takuboku is well known as a poet, of both the tanka and modern free styles. Born in 1886, he lived a short but interesting life, and was quite the romantic. His major works were his tanka poems and his diaries. "A Handful of Sand" was published in 1910, and "Sad Toys" was published after his death of tuberculosis in 1912. A statue of him that conjures images of a Japanese thinking man sits off of Asaribi-Dori. Early 20th Century Hakodate was awarded city status in 1922 and by the 1930's had become the largest Japanese city north of Tokyo. However in 1934 calamity struck when the Great Hakodate Fire (函館大火) broke out in the Sumiyoshi area. The fire spread throughout the city fanned by Hakodate's typically strong winds. More than 2000 lives were lost and 150,000 made homeless. World War II comes to Hakodate Southern Hokkaido was home to as many as 10 prisoner of war camps during the war, but Hakodate was mostly spared by bombing during World War II. However in July 1945, Allied aircraft clouded the skies above the the western side of Mount Hakodate. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, and an Aomori-Hakodate ferry was attacked, leading to the deaths of over 400 passengers. |