旧寺町界隈

函館市観光標識

江戸時代から明治初期まで、このあたりは浄玄寺（現真宗大谷派函館別院）、称名号、実行寺が立ち並び、参拝客で賑わったので寺町と呼ばれた。開港後の一時期、これらの寺はアメリカ、イギリス、ロシア領事の仮住居として使用された。また、浄玄寺は、明治５（１８７２）年に羅卒本営（警察）が置かれたり、同９年、明治天皇巡幸の際には、行在所として用いられたこともあった。　明治１２年の大火はこの一帯を焼き尽くし、これらの寺は新たな場所に再建された。浄玄寺と称名寺の跡地には、同１５年に弥生小学校が建てられた。石川啄木が、代用教員となったり、文芸評論家の亀井勝一郎が通った学校である。現在の校舎は昭和１３年に新築された。　　函館市

THE OLD TERAMACHI (THE TOWN OF TEMPLES) AREA

From the Edo period to early part of the Meijj period、 the three Buddhist temples: Jogenji、 Shomyoji、 and Jitsugyoji were located side by side in this area. This area was thus bustling with many people visiting these temples for worship. So is was called Teramachi (The town of temples). For a while after Hakodate port was opened to foreign vessels、 these temples were used as temporary residences for the British consul、 the American consul and the Russian consul. In 1872、 the headquarters of the old police department was located in Jogenji Temple、 and it was also used as Emperor Meiji's temporary quarters when he visited Hakodate in 1876. After the great fire in 1879、 these three temples were rebuilt in other places. On the site of the old Jogenji Temple and the old Shomyojj Temple、 Yayoi Primary School was built in 1882. The famous Japanese poet、 Ishikawa Takuboku once taught as a substitute teacher here. Furthermore、 this school is the alma mater of the famous literary critic Kamei Katsuichiro. The present school was rebuilt in 1938. 　　CITY OF HAKODATE