2023年4月 – ページ 7 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

2.Goryokaku Part2

A major tourist spot in Hakodate City

Features

Entering Center of Ruins by going across Moats

Today, the ruins of Goryokaku have been designated as a National Special Historic Site and are one of the most popular tourist spots in Hakodate City. They are also famous for cherry blossoms. There are two entrances after crossing the bridges over the water moats, which are two of the three original entry ways. People usually enter the front entrance which has a good view.

The aerial photo around the castle

The original third entrance doesn’t have its bridge now

You need to go across two bridges to reach the front gate. The first bridge goes to the only ravelin before the second one for the gate. Gorgeous stone walls incorporating the Hanedashi system surround the area because it was also the original front side.

The stone walls of the ravelin which has the Hanedashi system

After going through the gate, you can see a “blindfold” wall called Mikakushi-rui, which made sure visitors could not see inside and the defenders could protect the castle from enemies attacks easily. There are three behind the original entrances.

Unique blindfold walls

The blindfold wall behind the front gate

The blindfold wall for the third gate ruins also remains

Restored Hakodate Magistrate’s Office

If you go around the wall, you will see the restored Hakodate Magistrate’s Office building in the center. Actually, one third of it was restored using the original methods in 2010 based on old photos, remaining documents, and excavation discoveries. The other two thirds are flatly exhibited on the ground.

The rest of the original office is flatly exhibited

You can enter the building to see what it was like in the past. About half of its interior is a large hall which was used for official ceremonies and the magistrate’s working room. The rest is the officers’ rooms which exhibit the history of the office and Gryokaku. An interesting point is three empty jars buried under the entrance step, which were unearthed in the excavation. Their purpose is unknown, but some speculate they were used to make a resonant sound when people walked on the step.

An officers’ room which is now used for exhibitions

Walking around Bastions

You can also climb up or down or walk around the five large-scale bastions basically made of soil. In fact, it is uncertain if they had cannons inside or on the bastions from the first stage of Goryokaku. This may be one of the reasons that one of the bastions has a slope the escaping force built and used to carry cannons to the top of it. There are also ruins of a powder magazine inside another bastion, which are thought to have been built by the force as well.

The slope which was used to carry cannons to the top of the bastion

There is a warehouse, which is the only remaining original building of Goryokaku, next to the administrative office and the rest house, which are built like original warehouses. The remaining one is only open to the public during certain periods. Two barrels of a gun are exhibited beside these buildings. One of them belonged to the Choyo which was sunk by the escaping force in the Battle of Hakodate, but pulled from the sea later. The other one was used by the force in another position other than Goryokaku in the battle.

The administrative office and the rest house looking like original buildings

The barrel of a gun which belonged to the Choyo

The barrel of a gun which was used in another position of the escaping forceThe barrel of a gun which was used in another position of

To be continued in “Goryokaku Part3”
Back to “Goryokaku Part1”

2.五稜郭　その２

函館市の一大観光地

特徴、見どころ

堀を渡って城跡内部へ

現在、五稜郭跡は国の特別史跡に指定されていて、函館市の中でも最も人気のある観光地の一つとなっています。また、桜の名所でもあります。水堀にかかる橋を渡って城跡へ向かう入口は２つあり、これらは元からあった３つの入口うちの２つとなります。ビジターは通常はとても見栄えがする正面入口の方から入って行きます。

城周辺の航空写真

城跡の正門へは２本の橋を渡って行く必要があります。一の橋は半月堡までしか至らず、二の橋を渡ると門に着きます。跳ね出しが仕込まれている豪華な石垣がこの辺りを囲んでいます。ここは、城が現役だった当時でも正面に当たりました。

ユニークな見隠し塁

門を通り過ぎてみると、「見隠し塁（みかくしるい）」と呼ばれる目隠しのための壁が見えてきます。これは、訪問者から中が見えないように、敵が簡単に攻撃できないように配慮されたものです。オリジナルの入口の背後に３か所設置されています。

復元された函館奉行所

この壁を回り込んで行くと、中心部に復元された函館奉行所の建物も見えてきます。実は、もともとあったも建物のうち３分の１が、古写真、残っている記録、発掘によって発見された文物に基づき、2010年にオリジナルの工法によって復元されました。残りの３分の２の部分は地面の上に平面展示されています。

奉行所の建物に入って、過去にはどんなものだったのか実際に見ることができます。内部の約半分は公的な行事が行われた大広間と、奉行の執務室となっています。残りの部分は奉行所員の執務室で、現在は奉行所や五稜郭の歴史についての展示室として使われています。面白いこととしては、３個の空の壺が玄関の式台下に埋められていたのが発掘により発見され、展示されています。その目的はわかっていませんが、人が玄関の式台の上を歩いたときに共鳴音を出すために埋められたのではないかとする説があります。

稜堡周辺を歩く

また、基本的には土造りの５つの大規模な稜堡に登ったり降りたり、周りを歩いたりすることができます。実は、五稜郭の初期段階において、稜堡の内側や上に大砲が装備されていたかどうかわかっていません。稜堡のうちの一つに、旧幕府脱走軍が大砲を引き上げるために築いたスロープが残っているからです。また、他の稜堡の内側に、これも脱走軍が建てたと考えられている弾薬庫の跡も見つかっています。

稜堡の内側には、唯一の現存建物として土蔵が残っています。そのとなりには管理棟と休憩所があり、元からあった建物のような外観で作られています。現存土蔵の方は、限られた期間しか公開されていません。これらの建物の近くには、２本の大砲の砲身が展示されています。一つは函館戦争において逃亡軍により撃沈された朝陽丸のもので、後に海より引き上げられたものです。もう一つは逃亡軍が同じ戦いにおいて五稜郭以外の陣地（築島台場）で使用したものです。

「五稜郭その３」に続きます。
「五稜郭その１」に戻ります。

2.Goryokaku Part1

A European style fort which was the final place of the Battle of Hakodate

Location and History

European style fort, located in Hakodate

Goryokaku was one of the earliest European style forts in Japan and the site of a major event during the Meiji Restoration. It is also one of the most famous symbols of Hakodate City in Hokkaido. In 1854, Japan opened the country to several Western Countries such as the US through the Shimoda and Hakodate Ports. The Tokugawa Shogunate, which was the Japanese Government at that time, decided to take direct control of Hakodate port and built the Hakodate Magistrate’s Office to control the relationship with the aforementioned countries. The office was first located near the port at the foot of Hakodate Mountain. However, some argued that its location was not good for security because the office might be attacked from both the sea and mountain sides. Because of that, the shogunate built the Benten Cape Battery beside the port and moved the office to an inland area, about 3km away from the port, where it was thought it would provide protection from shots from canons of the Western ships.

The location of the castle

The person in charge of both constructions was Ayasaburo Takeda, a scholar of Western science. He learned a lot from military books and designed the office to be a European style fort, with five bastions like a star. He also planned to add five ravelins between the bastions, but only one was built in the front, probably because of a lack of budget. The new fort was completed in 1864 and called Goryokaku, which means the Pentagonal Style Fort. Its style came from Europe while the techniques used in the construction were traditionally Japanese. The basic five pointed star shape was made of soil, partly using stone walls. Some of the stone walls had a feature called “Hanedashi” in which all the stones in the second row from the top are so layered to prevent enemies from invading. Water moats were dug outside the structures. The office buildings were built inside in the Japanese style.

Ayasaburo Takeda (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The drawing of Goryokaku, one of its final design plans, owned by Hakodate City Museum *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The old photo of the Hakodate Magistrate’s Office building, in the winter of 1868 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Escaping force occupies Goryokaku

In 1868 when the Meiji Restoration occurred, Goryokaku, including the magistrate’s office, was first handed over to the new government peacefully. However, the former Shogunate fleet, led by the deputy Admiral, Takeaki Enomoto, escaped from Edo Bay to Hokkaido looking to found their own government. They brought nearly 4,000 soldiers, excellent commanders like Toshizo Hijikata, and the strongest battleship, the Kaiyo. The new government officers left Goryokaku and withdrew to the mainland of Japan, so the escaping force occupied Goryokaku easily and set it as their home base. They also captured other castles in southern Hokkaido, such as Matsumae Castle. They finally declared independence from the new government, which was never accepted. A bad sign for the escaping force was that the Kaiyo had become stranded on a reef at Esashi and sank in the previous battle.

The photo of Takeaki Enomoto, in 1868 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The photo of Toshizo Hijikata, taken by Kenzo Tamoto, in 1868 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The photo of the Kaiyo, in August of 1866 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The restored Kaiyo beside Esashi Port as a museum

Goryokaku is open by Attack of New Government Army

The new government prepared over 10,000 soldiers and its own fleet, including the Kotetsu, thought to be the strongest after the Kaiyo, led by Kiyotaka Kuroda. The escaping force fortified Goryokaku and built another European style fort called Shiryokaku or the Square Style Fort. The new government forces invaded southern Hokkaido in 1869. They had more soldiers and were more equipped than the escaping force, which resulted in Matsumae Castle and Shiryokaku being captured immediately. The Benten Cape Battery and the remaining escape force fleet fought hard against the new government fleet in Hakodate Port. They even got one of the new government ships, the Choyo sunk. However, they had to surrender because their supplies ran out. Hijikata was also killed by a shot when he was trying to help them. Goryokaku was isolated.

The photo of Kiyotaka Kuroda (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The illustration of the Kotetsu, published in 1933 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The photo of the Benten Cape Battery *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The cannon shots from Goryokaku didn’t reach the fleet. On the other hand, the shots from the Kotetsu easily hit Goryokaku because the quality of cannons had rapidly improved. It is said that the copper roof tiles on the drum tower of the magistrate’s office were targeted. Enomoto finally accepted the suggestion of surrender from Kuroda. These battles are called the Battle of Hakodate and considered to be the event that the completed the establishment of the new government.

To be continued in “Goryokaku Part2”