Hakodate Hachimangū Audio Guide

Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine

   Welcome to Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine, known in Japanese as 函館八幡宮. It sits on the southeastern foot of Mount Hakodate, facing east, so the shrine grounds look out over the city below. Locals call it Hachiman-san, a nickname that tells you how much affection the place has earned. This is a shrine with a long, restless story. Tradition says it began in 1445, long before Hakodate was a port town, and that it moved several times before settling where you stand today. Along the way it became linked with the shogunate's magistrate's office, with Hokkaido's pioneering age, and with a grand shrine hall finished in 1915. Over the next few stops we will follow that journey: the medieval fortress where the story begins, the moves that carried the shrine around Hakodate, the unusual architecture of the main hall, and the treasures and living traditions that make this a working neighborhood shrine as well as a landmark. Take a slow breath, and let's begin.

2. 02

   Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine and the Fortress of Kono Masamichi

   The shrine's own tradition starts in 1445. That year, a lord named Kono Masamichi, who governed the Kameda district, is said to have built a fortress at what is now the Motomachi area of Hakodate. In its southeastern corner he enshrined Hachiman, the deity of the warrior and protector. The spot is traditionally placed near today's Motomachi public hall. That fortress is also tied to the city's name. Legend says the fortress was shaped like a box, and the word for box in the old spelling of the town's name gave Hakodate its identity. Treat that as a local legend rather than settled fact, but it shows how closely this shrine is woven into the town's origin story. The early centuries were turbulent. In the early sixteenth century, the Kono clan was driven out of its fortress by attackers from the Ezo side. The family fled to Akagawa village, in the area now called Akagawa-cho in Hakodate, carrying the deity with them. So the god of the fortress became a refugee, and the shrine survived because people carried it to safety.

3. 03

   Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine on the Move

   Few shrines have traveled as much as this one. After the flight to Akagawa, a shrine priestess named Ichime received a divine message, and around 1649 she brought the deity back to Motomachi, onto the old site of the Kono residence. Then history intervened again. In 1799 the shogunate took the eastern part of Ezo under its direct control and planned a magistrate's office, and the shrine's land was needed for it. In 1804 the shrine was relocated at the shogunate's expense to the Kaisho-machi district. In the Edo period it is also remembered as a place of prayer for the Hakodate magistrate's office. The Meiji era brought more change. The Hokkaido Development Commission named the shrine an object of reverence in 1871, and in 1877 it was ranked as a national small shrine. A fire in 1878 destroyed its buildings. New halls were built at the present site with government funds, and the deity was enshrined here in 1880. In 1896 the shrine was raised to the rank of national medium shrine. In 1936 Emperor Showa, visiting Hakodate, came to pay his respects here. After the war it joined the Association of Shinto Shrines and became one of its special shrines in 1948.

4. 04

   Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine: A Hall Built from Two Worlds

   Now look at the main hall, because it rewards a slow look. The current building was completed in 1915, in the fourth year of the Taisho era. It is built in a style called Shotei Yatsumune-zukuri, and the roofs rise and overlap in gentle curves. Seen from the front or from the side, the layered rooflines give the hall a weight and grace that visitors tend to remember. The main hall, the hall of offerings and the hall of worship are joined into one structure. Its designer was Ando Tokizo, who also designed Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. The hall is highly regarded as a masterpiece of Taisho-era shrine architecture, and some accounts say this style is found at no other shrine in the country. There is a quiet symbolism in the materials, too. The builders used timber from Hokkaido but applied traditional shrine-building techniques from Honshu, so the hall is often read as a fusion of the two cultures. Hokkaido's wood and the main island's craft meet in one roofline. It is a fitting message for a shrine long revered as a protector of pioneers.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine

   Before you move on, look for the smaller treasures around the grounds. The shrine keeps a large octagonal portable shrine made in 1894, which Hakodate City has designated a cultural property. Above the hall hangs a plaque reading Shin'i, meaning divine majesty, written by Prince Kan'in Kotohito. There is also a great zelkova tree, listed by Hokkaido as a tree marking 100 years since the opening of the region. The shrine is known as a place that watches over pioneering, sea voyages and fishing, and it is said to draw the largest crowd in Hakodate at New Year. Because it stands on the hillside, you can also take in the view toward the city and the Tsugaru Strait. As you wander, ask yourself which part of this story you can still feel here: the refugee deity of the fortress, the shrine that was moved again and again, or the hall that joins Hokkaido timber and Honshu craft. Each is worth another look.