Goryokaku Fort

Goryokaku was completed in 1864 to a bastioned star plan of the kind developed in sixteenth-century Europe, designed by Takeda Ayasaburo after Dutch treatises - the geometry lets defenders cover every face of the wall from adjoining bastions, and it is one of only a handful of such forts in Japan. The shape only reads properly from above, which is why the Goryokaku Tower at the entrance, 107 metres with an observation deck, is the standard visit. Inside the walls the magistrate's office was reconstructed in 2010 using traditional carpentry and the original plans. Since the 1910s the grounds have been planted with cherry, about sixteen hundred trees, and the moat and star shape outlined in pink at the end of April is the image of Hakodate in spring. In winter the moat is outlined in lights instead.

History

Takeda Ayasaburō, a scholar of Dutch learning, designed the fort in 1855 after studying the fortified towns of early modern Europe, to guard the Tsugaru Strait in an age of guns and cannon. After the Tokugawa shogunate fell it was the seat of the short-lived Republic of Ezo in 1869, and later its moat was used to cut ice in winter, sold on Honshu as "Goryōkaku Ice" (Wikipedia, Goryōkaku).

Highlights

• A European star plan - a bastioned fort of 1864 built from Dutch treatises.
• The shape from above - visible properly only from the 107-metre tower.
• The magistrate's office - reconstructed in 2010 with traditional carpentry.
• Sixteen hundred cherries - outlining the star in pink at the end of April.

When to go

Late April to early May for blossom; winter for the light outline. Two to three hours.

Good to know

At ground level the shape is invisible - without the paid tower the visit loses much of its point. Blossom crowds are heavy and brief. The tower deck is glassed and reflects. Hakodate weather in spring is cold and often wet.

Nearby

Mount Hakodate and its night view are south-west; the morning market is by the station.

Key facts