函館とその周辺

ROUTE 62. HAKODATE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 1. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON YEZO. 2. HAKODATE. 3. WALKS NEAR HAKODATE: YACHIGASHIRA, THE PEAK, GORYŌKAKU.

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1.—GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON YEZO. No mention of Yezo is made in the earlier historical records, and it was probably unknown to the Japanese until the period when the last of the Ainos were expelled from their ancient homes in the Main Island of Japan. Tradition asserts that Yoshitsune, a favourite hero of historical romance, found refuge here from the unnatural enmity of his elder brother; and to this day his memory is revered by the simple aborigines.

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Later on Yezo was colonised and partly conquered by Takeda Nobuhiro, to whose descendant, Matsumae Yoshihiro, the lordship of the island was granted in 1604 by Ieyasu. Matsumae's successors, whose seat of government was at the town of Matsumae, recently re-named Fukuyama, continued to rule over the W. portion of the island down to 1868. From towards the end of the 18th century, the eastern half had, with the exception of a break from 1820 to 1854, been administered by officials of the Shogunate.

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After the overthrow of the Tokugawa family and the consequent mediatisation of the Daimyōs, Yezo was placed under a special department of the new government, entitled Kaitakushi (Colonisation Commission), created ad hoc, and henceforth was regarded as a part of Japan proper. It received the designation of Hokkaidō, or 'Circuit of the Northern Sea,' and was divided into nine provinces, in order to assimilate it more closely to the rest of the Empire.

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Yezo had formerly been resorted to by the Northern Japanese chiefly for the sake of the fisheries; but attempts were now made to induce natives of other parts of Japan to migrate thither as agricultural settlers, and, with the aid of a number of Americans, headed by General Capron, public works were commenced on an extensive scale with the object of developing the resources of the island. After large sums had been expended without any adequate return, the more ambitious of these schemes were abandoned in 1881. The Kaitakushi was dissolved, and the government of the island assimilated to the prefectural system of the rest of the Empire.

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The present capital is Sapporo, founded in 1870; the chief ports are Hakodate, Mororan, Kushiro, and Nemuro on the S.E. coast, and Otaru, not far from Sapporo, on the west. The interior is still for the most part covered with a primeval forest, rarely penetrated except by the aboriginal Ainos in quest of bears and deer. The characteristics of Yezo, both natural and artificial, differ in many ways from those of the Main Island of Japan. The climate is colder, the country newer, the people less polished and more independent. Few if any old temples or other historical monuments exist; but there are interesting remnants of the Aino race, which once peopled not Yezo only, but a great portion of Northern Japan.

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In many places, too, relics of the stone age, which for this island has only recently passed away, are to be met with. The Aino villages most easy of access from Hakodate are Yurappu and Oshamambe on the shore of Volcano Bay, and Horobetsu, Shiraoi, and Chitose on the way from Mororan to Sapporo. Zoologically, Yezo belongs to a different sub-region from Japan proper, the deep Straits of Tsugaru

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forming what is called 'Blakiston's line,' from the name of Captain T. W. Blakiston, R.A., whose researches are well-known to science. On the Yezo side of this line there are no pheasants and no monkeys, while there is a species of grouse; the bears are of a different species from those found on the Main Island. There are numerous other divergences both in the fauna and flora, adding their testimony to the fact that Yezo and the Main Island, though so close to each other, have been separated during long geological ages.

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The chief productions are herrings, salmon, iwashi, sea-ears, and above all kombu (or kobu), a broad, thick, and very long species of seaweed, a great favourite with the cooks not only of Japan but of China, to which latter country large quantities are exported. There are comparatively few good roads, the inns are often far apart, and jinrikishas and carriages used only in a few districts. Most journeys are performed in the saddle, horses being very numerous, though not particularly good or cheap. In 1891 the usual charge was from 12 to 20 sen a ri.

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For six months Yezo is under snow and ice, the snow averaging about 2 ft. at Hakodate and from 6 ft. to 8 ft. in the N. and W. of the island. The lowest reading of the thermometer at Hakodate during the past ten years has been 5°.5 Fahrenheit. On the other hand, the second half of July and the first half of August are intensely hot, mosquitoes are very troublesome, and there is an additional pest of gad-flies (abu), whose attacks are so violent that it is necessary to keep both face and hands well-protected when riding about the country. The best time for visiting Yezo is from the middle of May to the middle of July, and from the beginning of September to the beginning of November.

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The scenery of the island, though less striking than that of Japan proper, has a charm of its own and a certain resemblance to North Central Europe. There is good salmon fishing in several places in the month of June. There is snipe and duck shooting in the autumn, with occasionally a bear for a change, not the brown bear of the Main Island, but a larger species resembling the grizzly. The Japanese inhabitants of Yezo are a mixed community, being chiefly settlers from one or other of the Northern provinces. The consequence is that there is no special local dialect, but only a general use of various Northern patois.

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The traveller who is acquainted with the Japanese language as spoken at Tōkyō will do well to remember that i is constantly changed into u, and is sometimes dropped altogether. Thus, when he hears matsu and midzu (almost mdz), he must understand machi and michi. Ni ri (almost n' r') means ni ri, two ri. In fact, the Northern people seem to try to speak without opening their mouths.

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2.—HAKODATE. Hakodate. Inns.—Kakujō, Chigai-sangi, Kitō. Restaurants.—Gotō-ken, in Suehiro-chō, where plain European food may be obtained; also at the Kyōdō-kwan in the Public Gardens, where passable accommodation for the night may be had. Stores.—Kanemori, Ima-Ichi, Yama-San, and Kane-Ni, all in the Main Street. The town clusters at the foot of the bold rock, often compared to Gibraltar and known to foreigners as Hakodate Head, whose summit, locally called the Peak, is 1,157 feet high. Among the largest buildings are the Japanese Club, Public Hall, and Naval School.

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The number of foreign residents is small, some 15 families, and the town, notwithstanding its growing size and prosperity, is of little account as a port for foreign trade. At the west end of the town is a fort recently dismantled. In 1889 water-works were constructed, Hakodate being the second town in the Empire to have water supplied in this manner. The water is conveyed in iron pipes from the river Akagawa, 7 m. distant among the mountains. There is regular communication with Yokohama three times a week by the Nippon Yūsen Kwaisha steamers. Occasionally steamers run down the West Coast to Akita and Niigata.

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There is also regular communication with the other ports of Yezo, namely Otaru, which is the terminus for the Sapporo railway, Kushiro, Nemuro, etc., and also with Aomori on the Main Island. The chief exports are edible seaweed (kombu), bêche-de-mer, dried fish of various sorts, fish-manure (nishin no kasu), etc.

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3.—WALKS NEAR HAKODATE. To the Public Gardens and Yachigashira. The Public Gardens, which are on the E. outskirts of the town, contain a small but interesting Museum (Hakubutsujo), where may be seen numerous zoological specimens, including a large collection of Japanese birds presented by Mr. T. W. Blakiston, a collection of shells brought together by Prof. Morse, specimens of Aino work and of the natural products of Yezo, etc., and relics of the stone age. Yachigashira (often mispronounced Yatsugashira) is the name of a picturesque dell lying beyond the Public Gardens.

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Besides being a pleasant walk, it offers the attraction of a charming restaurant called Asada-ya, situated in its own grounds and commanding a good view. The Shintō temple of Hachiman is also prettily placed on the hill-side. The village on the near sea-shore which is seen from here is Shiri-sawabe, passing through which a walk of about 4 m. may be taken to a spot known to foreigners as 'East Point,' just at the back of which there is a curious arched rock. Up the Peak, which takes about 3/4 hr. from the end of the town. There are numerous narrow paths leading to the summit,

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whence an extensive view is obtained, embracing S.E. Shiokubi, distant 13 m. (Cape Blunt on the charts), and the volcano of Esan beyond, bearing E. by N., 22 1/2 m. Lying nearly N. rise Yorozu-yama, 12 m., and next the volcano of Koma-ga-take, 22 m.; Nanae, Arikawa, etc., are across the bay. Also across the bay to the W. lies Moheji, a pretty village with a small river running through it, and a lighthouse standing on a prominent rock, N.W. of the Peak. Distant 28 m. is the mountain called Nigorigawa-yama. Behind Moheji, distant 13 m., is Karasuka-dake, while to the S.W. rises Shiriuchi-dake, 22 m. The high land on the other side of the straits is plainly visible, and on a clear day Iwaki-san to the S.W. of Aomori may be distinctly seen.

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In the opposite direction, namely turning out of the main street to the right, a walk or ride may be taken past the gaol and barracks to a fort called Goryōkaku. This disused fort, erected in the latter days of the Tokugawa régime, is about 4 m. from the town. The moat affords excellent skating, the ice being planed and swept; and when it is about 12 inches thick, it is cut and exported to the southern ports.

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