Top historic sites in Hokkaido

Goryokaku Fortress

Goryōkaku (五稜郭) (literally, 'five-point fort') is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. Goryōkaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō and Jules Brunet. Their plans was based on the work of the French architect Vauban. The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the coll ...
Founded: 1855-1866 | Location: Hakodate, Japan

Sapporo Beer Museum

The Sapporo Beer Museum is registered as one of the Hokkaidō Heritage sites in 2004, the museum is the only beer museum in Japan. The red-brick building was erected originally as a factory of the Sapporo Sugar Company in 1890, and later opened as a museum in July 1987. The building also houses the Sapporo Beer Garden in the south wing. The history of the Sapporo Beer Museum dates back to Meiji period, when William Smith ...
Founded: 1890 | Location: Sapporo, Japan

Abashiri Prison Museum

The Abashiri Prison Museum is an outdoor museum of history. Today the buildings are preserved and open to the public. Older parts of the prison were relocated to the base of Mount Tento in 1983, where they operate as the country"s only prison museum. In April 1890, the Meiji government sent over a thousand political prisoners to the isolated Abashiri village and forced them to build roads linking it to the more popu ...
Founded: 1890 | Location: Abashiri, Japan

Matsumae Castle

Matsumae Castle is a castle located in Matsumae in Hokkaidō, Japan, and is the northernmost castle in Japan. The only traditional style Edo period castle in Hokkaidō, it was the chief residence of the han (estate) of the Matsumae clan. First built in 1606 by Matsumae Yoshihiro under orders from the Tokugawa shogunate, which required his clan to defend the area, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu  ...
Founded: 1606 | Location: Matsumae, Japan

Historical Village of Hokkaido

Historical Village of Hokkaido (北海道開拓の村, Hokkaidō Kaitaku no Mura) is an open-air museum in Sapporo. It opened in the Nopporo Shinrin Kōen Prefectural Natural Park in 1983. It includes fifty-two historical structures from the 'frontier days' of the Meiji period to the Shōwa period that have been relocated and reconstructed or recreated, divided into four zones: town (with thirty-one buildings) ...
Founded: 1983 | Location: Sapporo, Japan

Hokkaido Museum

Hokkaido Museum (北海道博物館, Hokkaidō Hakubutsukan) was opened in Sapporo in 2015. Located within Nopporo Shinrin Kōen Prefectural Natural Park, the permanent exhibition is dedicated to the nature, history, and culture of Hokkaido. The Main Exhibition introduces two concepts: “Hokkaido as Part of Northeast Asia” and “The Interrelationships of Nature and Humans” through five themes integrating Hokkaido ...
Founded: 2015 | Location: Sapporo, Japan

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Krickenbeck Castle

Krickenbeck moated castle is one of the oldest on the lower Rhine. Its history dates back to the year 1104, when the castle was first mentioned. It is unclear why the old castle, which was certainly inhabited by Count Reginar, was abandoned or destroyed. In the mid-13th century the castle was moved to the current location. At the end of the 14th century the new castle belonged to the Counts of Kleve.

Johann Friedrich II of Schesaberg converted the castle into a Baroque mansion between 1708-1721. On September 7, 1902, a fire destroyed the entire mansion. From 1903 to 1904, a three-winged castle was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. Today Krickenbeck is a conference center.