Japan Castle Atlas
北海道
Explore the castles and castle sites of Hokkaido through photographs, municipalities and research status.
In-depth article
Nemuro, Hokkaido
根室半島チャシ跡群
Number one on Japan's list of 100 great castles has no keep and no stone walls: just ditches and earth mounds dug by the Ainu on headlands above the sea.
In-depth article
Hakodate, Hokkaido
五稜郭
From above it is a giant star ringed by a moat: a fort the shogunate built on the European model, designed for the age of cannon.
In-depth article
Matsumae, Hokkaido
松前城
Built on the shogunate's orders to face down foreign ships, this was the last and northernmost castle built in the traditional Japanese style, with seven gun batteries lined up toward the sea.
In-depth article
Hakodate, Hokkaido
志苔館
Right next to this earthwork fort, three huge jars packed with more than 380,000 coins were dug up. Overlooking the sea, it was an outpost of Japanese settlers who thrived on northern sea trade.
In-depth article
Kaminokuni, Hokkaido
上ノ国勝山館
A fort on the Sea of Japan built by the founder of the Matsumae clan, where over 500 bone and antler tools of the kind used by the Ainu turned up among the finds, suggesting Japanese settlers and Ainu lived side by side.
Basic information
Hokkaido
チャシ
Basic information
Hakodate, Hokkaido
宇須岸館
Basic information
Abashiri, Hokkaido
桂ヶ岡砦跡
