Historical Topic: Goryokaku History and Significance Progress Report

On Thursday, May 10^th, we went to Goryokaku Park and the Goryokaku Tower. The visit was very informative and contributed highly to our historical perspective of the civil war. It was interesting to learn that the Fort was originally built by the government, but the deserters were the ones to invade and take it away from them. This changes my original thoughts on the war, as this action now frames the deserters in a more negative light rather than having them as a group of people running away from an aggressive government. But this point is contrasted by the insurgent’s offer of peaceful coexistence with the Matsumae clan. Instead of just attacking, the deserters gave the clan an option to have peace. It was the Mastumae clan’s refusal that makes the deserters look like their attack was provoked. 

In the end when the insurgents surrendered, I was surprised to read that it was rather peaceful after such violent events. The announcement of surrender was very formal and stopped the violence immediately. The events described at the Tower highlight the fact that the park is a special historic site that promotes the history of the area. From here it may be seen through the protection of these sites that there is still a historical influence coming from the time of the war. 

Goryokaku Tower was very informative in this way because it provides an objective perspective on the war without making one group seem worse than the other. It also created a basic foundation for the events of the civil war for our group to work from. More time will have to be spent at the site in order to learn more on the war, as there was not a large amount of information on Hikijata Toshizo, one of the leaders of the rebel group. External research will also be done in order to acquire more details on the civil war. Hopefully through these methods we will be able to deeply grasp the significance of the war.

We also spoke with one of the Hakodate University students and asked her about her knowledge of the Hakodate civil war and Hijikata Toshizo, but she did not know very much on either subject. She had said that students could select what kind of humanities they could take and that she did not take Japanese history at that time. This may shed light on the true popularity of Hijikata Toshizo in the present day and that his impact historically may not have been that influential.

Overall, initial research done at Goryokaku Tower and Park have been very interesting and informative, but more external research will have to be done before any clear conclusions can be drawn.

--VY