PASTEXPERIENCE HISTORY

Honnō-ji. Edo. Pompeii. Where will you go?

Explore by place

1864–1869 · From magistrate’s office to the Hakodate War

Why was Goryōkaku built?

A star-shaped fort connected a treaty port’s administration with a later war.

Hakodate, Hokkaidō

Administration and defence after opening the port

Opening Hakodate in 1854 required offices handling foreign contacts and regional rule. Negotiation and security accompanied commerce. Moving the magistracy inland created a fortified administrative setting responding to new diplomatic conditions.

Timber was prepared in Akita and Noshiro and shipped for assembly. Office activity began in 1864, while all internal and associated works were completed in 1866. Use and final construction were different stages.

[1] 函館市[3] 函館市

Offices become a military base

Earthworks and moats enclosed administrative buildings. Engineering and documentary government supported different functions within one facility. It was not originally constructed for the later Hakodate campaign.

Occupation by former shogunal forces in 1868 changed the setting’s use. Ships and surrounding positions made the conflict wider than the star-shaped enclosure. Its wartime role differed from the administration for which it had been built.

[1] 函館市[2] 函館市[3] 函館市

A dismantled office and a surviving storehouse

After the campaign ended in 1869, many buildings were dismantled in 1871. Demand for material for the Kaitakushi’s new Sapporo headquarters contributed. Reusing building material linked the site’s fate with a shift in administrative focus.

The present magistracy is a 2010 reconstruction, while the storehouse survives from the construction period. Plans, photographs and archaeology enabled reconstruction. The site brings together opening-port administration, war, dismantling and later investigation.

The present magistrate’s office reconstructs about a third of the former building. The remaining rooms are marked on the ground. Those outlines also interpret the office’s original extent: reconstructed interiors and marked foundations communicate different parts of the lost complex.

[2] 函館市[3] 函館市[1] 函館市

Before and after

  1. 1864

    The magistrate’s office is substantially completed and begins operating.

  2. 1866

    All internal works and associated buildings are completed.

  3. 1868

    Former shogunal forces occupy the fort.

  4. 1869

    The Hakodate campaign ends.

Key terms

Magistrate’s office
An office conducting shogunal administration.
Bastion
A projecting part of defensive works.
Former shogunal forces
A label for forces resisting the new government after the shogunate ended.

What supports the account?

The works housed a relocated magistrate’s office.

Hakodate documents port opening and office relocation.

Limits of the evidence

Do not treat the later war as its only original purpose.

[1] 函館市

It became a stronghold in 1868–1869.

The later chronology traces occupation and defeat.

Limits of the evidence

The present office is not an unchanged original.

[2] 函館市

Check your understanding

Choose an answer to reveal the explanation. Return to the article and sources when you are unsure.

1. The office began work in 1864 and all works finished in 1866. How do the dates differ?

Sources

  1. Goryōkaku: construction and early history函館市

    Reasons for relocating the office and completion in 1864.

  2. Goryōkaku: the war and subsequent history函館市

    The 1868–1869 war, dismantling, surviving storehouse and 2010 reconstruction.

  3. Buildings and remains within Goryōkaku函館市

    Office operation from 1864, final works in 1866, timber transport, 1871 dismantling and 2010 reconstruction.

Keep exploring