宇須岸河野館跡

函館市観光標識

享徳３年（１４５４年）津軽の豪族安東政季に従って、武田信広（松前氏の始祖）河野政通らが蝦夷地に渡来した。　政通は、当時「宇須岸」と呼ばれていたこの地に「館」を築いたが、これが「宇須岸河野館」で、その大きさは、市立函館病院から元町公園に至る、東西９２ｍ、南北１１５ｍ、四方に土塁を築き、乾壕をめぐらしていたといわれる。　この「宇須岸」を遠くから見ると箱に似ていたことから、「箱館」と呼ばれるようになり、地名発祥の基となった。　永正９年（１５１２年）アイヌの反乱で、河野季通（政通の子）ら一族が敗れたため和人は亀田に移り、箱館は以後百余年にわたって衰退した。　箱館は宝永年間（１７０４年〜１７１１年）になって、住民の増加に伴い相次いで寺院が建ち、また、寛保元年（１７４１年）には松前藩の亀田奉行所が「河野館」跡地に移されるなど、再び栄えてきた。　寛政１１年（１７９９年）幕府は東蝦夷地を直轄地とし、享和２年（１８０２年）この地に箱館奉行所を設置した。　この頃から高田屋嘉兵衛の活躍などもあって箱館は大きく発展した。　箱館奉行庁舎は、明治に入ってから開拓使の庁舎となり、その後．北海道庁函館支庁庁舎となるなど、「河野館」跡は函館の行政の中心地であった。　　函館市

Site of Usukeshi Kono's House In 1454 Nobuhiro Takeda (the father of Matsumae) and Masamichi Kono came to Ezochi (Hokkaido). They cam to Ezochi following Masasue Ando、 a member of a powerful family in Tsugaru. Masamichi built his house here. This area was called Usukeshi in those days. The grounds covered the area now occupied by the Hakodate Hospital and the Motomachi park、 that is 92 meters from east to west and 115 meters from north to south. He is said to have constructed a barricade around the house. When his house was seen from a distance、 it looked like a box. From this the name Hakodate、 which literally meansbox mansion was derived. After Suemichi Kono (the son of Masamichi) and his family were defeated during a rebellion by the Ainu race in 1512、 the Japanese moved to Kameda and nothig was heard about Hakodate for 100years. During the Hoei period (1704-1711 many temples were built in Hakodate. These temples were built one after another keeping step with the increase in population. Also Hakodate started to flourish again in 1741 when the Kameda magistracy of the Masumae clan was moved to the site of Kono' s house in Hakodate. In 1779 the shoguneate government took Hakodate under it sdirect control. Then in 1802 they set up the Hakodate magistracy here. Since then Hakodate、 helped by Kahei Takadaya's activities、 developed rapidly. The Hakodate magistracy became the Hakodate Branch of the Hokkaido Development office in the Meiji period. Later it became the Oshima Branch of the Hokkaido prefectural Government The site of Kono's house was always in the midtown area .　　 The city of Hakodate