Former British Consulate of Hakodate
函館市旧イギリス領事館 | |
 Gate to the current 1913 building | |
 | |
| Location | Hakodate, Japan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°45′57.4″N 140°42′38.5″E / 41.765944°N 140.710694°E |
| Website | hakodate-kankou.com/british |
The Former British Consulate of Hakodate (Japanese: 函館市旧イギリス領事館, Hepburn: Hakodate-shi kyū Igirisu ryōjikan), also officially known as the Opening-Port Memorial Hall and commonly called the Old British Consulate, is a historic house museum meant to preserve the now-defunct consulate of the United Kingdom to Hakodate, Japan and memorialize the opening of Hokkaido to foreign trade.
History
Hakodate was one of the first Japanese ports to open up to foreign trade after the Perry Expedition alongside Yokohama and Nagasaki in 1859.[1] In response, a number of countries, along with all the other buildings they had constructed, set up consulates there. The United Kingdom established a consulate there the same year, being the third opened after the consulates of the United States and Russia. It was moved from its original location to a plot next to the Orthodox church at the Russian consulate four years later.[2] The site was affected by a number of fires, which led to the repeated rebuilding of the consulate; the current building was finished in 1913 and hosted the British Consulate until it closed in 1934.[3][4]
The building then saw use as a city hospital.[5] In 1979, the city of Hakodate gave the building the designation of "tangible culture property", later converting it into its current status as a "memorial hall" in 1992 and opening it to the public after being restored two years later.[6][1][4] It is currently host to exhibits on the opening of Hakodate on the first floor, a recreation of the consul's office and living room, alongside other displays, on the second floor, and a tea room named "Victoria Rose".[1][7]
See also
- Vladimir K. Arseniev Museum of Far East History – another consulate that has also become a museum
Japan portal
United Kingdom portal
Museums portal
References
- ^ a b c "Historic Old British Consulate in Hakodate reopens to public". The Japan Times. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "Historic buildings link Hakodate with world". Yomiuri Shimbun. Tokyo. 14 August 2004.
- ^ "Hakodate Port Tourist Information". Cruises Hokkaido. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
- ^ a b "Hakodate Old British Consulate(Memorial of Opening a Port)". Hokkaido Tourism Organization. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "Hakodate City looking to sell former Russian Consulate". Japan Property Central. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "Old British Consulate". Japan Location Database. Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "Former British Consulate of Hakodate". Travel Hakodate. City of Hakodate. Retrieved 26 February 2021.