Goryô fort

五稜郭 goryôkaku

built 1857-66 | destroyed 1869

japanische Burg

Hakodate City / Hokkaidô

Fort Goryô-kaku (‘five-pointed star’), built by order of the shogunate shortly before the opening of the country in 1857-64 in the centre of the city of Hakodate, is the only European-style fortification in the country. The design prevents too many blind spots and allows the installation of many cannons. Large parts of the structure were destroyed during the “Bôshin War” when ENOMOTO Takeaki, commander of the shogunate fleet, unsuccessfully defended himself and his followers against the Meiji troops here in 1868.