The cityscape of Hakodate and Great Fire
The pop-up card was updated. This time, I made the pop-up cards of the buildings in Hakodate City, Southern Hokkaido.
If it says “Hakodate Great Fire" without the year, mostly it means the great fire of 1934.
Even so, Hakodate has been hit by big fires many times in the past. Since the Meiji era, there have been 10 fires (including 1934) that burned down more than 1000 houses.
A fire that burned down more than 1000 houses in Hakodate (after the Meiji era) (Reference materials are on the Hakodate City website)
| date | burnt houses | |
| 1871.09.12 | 1,123 | |
| 1873.03.22 | 1,314 | |
| 1879.12.06 | 2,326 | The main parts of the city burned dow |
| 1896.08.26 | 2,280 | |
| 1899.09.15 | 2,429 | |
| 1907.08.25 | 12,390 |
| date | burnt buildings | burnt households | |
| 1913.05.04 | 572 | 1,532 | |
| 1916.08.02 | 942 | 1,763 | |
| 1921.04.14 | 1,309 | 2,141 | |
| 1934.03.21 | 11,105 | 22,667 | 2,166 dead |
After the big fire, Hakodate City has changed the design of the city, such as widening the road and installing a firebreak. The existing green belt was installed for disaster prevention after the great fire of 1934. And it had recommended fireproof buildings such as brick buildings and reinforced concrete buildings. Through such a history, the current cityscape of Hakodate has been formed.
I uploaded two pop-up cards. The first pop-up card is the former Endo Kippei Store.
This brick building was built about 1885. Brick building was chosen with fire prevention in mind after the great fire of the 1879.
The second one is former the head office of Hakodate Mutual Loan Company.
This building was built in 1923. After the great fire of 1921, reinforced concrete construction was recommended. So the building was built with reinforced concrete.
It was demolished in 2011 due to aging. In recent years, it had been used as a general house, so it was difficult to maintain the building.
This time, I upload the pattern of former the head office of Hakodate Mutual Loan Company.
Please use it if you like.
Postscript
(2020.05.28) the pattern was closed.
(Translated 2021.03.01)