User:Mr. Stradivarius/grk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Goryōkaku (五稜郭, literally "five-sided fortification") is a star fort in the city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It was built by the Tokugawa shogunate, outside the main city of Hakodate, when Hakodate was still part of the Ezo district. Tatsuokajō, another star fort in Saku, Nagano, that was built in the same period, also takes the name Goryōkaku from its five-sided shape,[1] but the name Goryōkaku usually refers to the fort in Hakodate.[note 1]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/5ryokaku_stereo.jpg/640px-5ryokaku_stereo.jpg)
It was given the title Goryōkaku from when the budget documents were written,[3] but during its construction it was known as Kameda Yakusho Dorui (Kameda Magistrate's Office Earthworks)[4] or Kameda Onyakusho Dorui (same meaning).[5][note 2] It was also sometimes called Aoyagijō (Green Willow Fort) as it was built on wetlands.[6]
Goryōkaku was built as a replacement for the Hakodate Magistrate's Office, which was built at the foot of Mount Hakodate when the port was opened to foreign trade. The fort was completed in 1866; however, it only served its intended function for two years before the Tokugawa shogunate collapsed. For a short while it was used by the newly formed Hakodate government, after which it was captured by the Republic of Ezo in the Battle of Hakodate, and became their base. At the start of the Meiji period all the buildings in the fort but one were dismantled, and it was used as a training ground by the army. In 1914 it was opened to the public as Goryōkaku Park, and as well as a relaxation spot for locals it became one of Hakodate's main tourist attractions.
The Japanese government designated Goryōkaku as a special historic site, it was chosen to be a Hokkaido heritage site as the "remains of Goryōkaku and the Battle of Hakodate". It is Japanese state property under the jurisdiction of the Agency for Cultural Affairs,[7] and is loaned to Hakodate City. The site's designated maintainers are Hakodate Housing and City Facilities Public Corporation.[8]