Goryōkaku

Goryōkaku (五稜郭; lit. 'five-point fort') is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido.^[1] The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main headquarters of the short-lived Republic of Ezo.

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Goryōkaku
五稜郭
Part of Boshin War
Near Hakodate in Japan
Goryōkaku viewed from Goryōkaku Tower
Governmental hall of the Republic of Ezo
Site information
Type	Star fort
Location
Goryōkaku
Coordinates	41°47′49″N 140°45′25″E
Site history
Built	1866
Built by	Takeda Ayasaburō
Battles/wars	Boshin War
19th century map of Goryōkaku

History

Goryōkaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō, a Rangaku scholar.^[2] He studied the fortified cities of Europe in the early modern period to design a fort that could protect against battles using guns and cannons. It took nearly seven years for the construction.^[3] The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate. It is shaped like a five-pointed star. This allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of blind spots where a cannon could not fire.

The fort was built by the Tokugawa shogunate, he ordered Takeda Ayasaburō to design the fort for the purpose of protecting Tsugaru Strait.^[3] It became the capital of the Republic of Ezo, a state that existed only in 1869. It was the site of the last battle of the Boshin War between the Republic and the Empire of Japan. The fighting lasted for a week (June 20–27, 1869).

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History

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See also

References

Further reading

External links

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