Goryokaku 1

　　I wonder when I became interested in Goryokaku, which was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo, which is the old name of Hokkaido. The name of Goryokaku is derived from its shape of a five-pointed star. I knew about the Boshin War (1868-1869) and Goryokaku since a long time ago. During my last visit to Hakodate City I didn't have time to see Goryokaku, but I always wanted to visit there in the not-so-distant future. It was in April in 2010 when my desire was strongly intensified.
　　When I made the second visit to Freiburg in Germany to see what the city was like, because my second daughter would stay there for her study, a Japanese young guy, who lived in Freburg, took us, me and my daughter, on a short trip to Alsace-Lorraine in France. Our destinations were Colmar, Riquewihr, and Strasbourg. On the way to Colmar, I happened to see a walled city. The walls of the city were vividly inscribed in my mind at that time. I wrote about it here(url).

(Vocabulary)
Republic of Ezo 　蝦夷共和国
Alsace-Lorraine アルザス・ロレーヌ地方
Colmar　コルマール
Riquewihr　リクヴィル
フランス北東部、アルザス地方、オーラン県の村。古くからワイン産地として知られる。第二次大戦の被害をほとんど受けなかったため、中世の城壁に囲まれた村内には同地方に典型的な木組み造りの家並みが残されている。
walled city 城郭都市



　五稜郭に興味を持ったのはいつだったろう、、。戊辰戦争はずっと前から知っていたし、五稜郭も知ってはいた。前回、函館に来たときには残念ながら寄ることはできなかったがいつか訪れたいと思っていた。その想いが強くなったのは、２０１０年４月。
　次女のドイツ留学に際して、留学先の街を見に行ったとき、地元在住の日本人に案内してもらって国境を越えフランスへ入った。目的地はコルマール、アルザス街道、ストラスブールだったのだが、フランスに入った直後に見た城郭都市に目が止まった。下記のエントリーでその街の写真がある。
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2010/04/neufbrisach-.html

Comments

[KUMO]

Thank you for your comment. I'm really happy to receive your message.

[Sakae]

Hi, KUMO.

I've enjoyed reading your articles about your trip in southern Hokkaido.
Although I've often visited Goryokaku near my place, I didn't know about the designer of Goryokaku and its relating to Neuf-Brisach at all. It was very interesting.
Thank you for sharing the information.