Directory_and_Chronicle_1900 — Page 518

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

HAKODATE

This, the most northerly of the treaty ports of Japan, is situated in the south of Yezo in the Straits of Tsugaru, which divide that island from Honshiu. The port lies in latitude 41 deg. 47 min. 8 sec. N., and longitude 140 deg. 45 min. 34 sec. E., and the harbour is nearly land-locked. The town clusters at the foot and on the slope of a bold rock known to foreigners as Hakodate Head. 1,106 feet in height. The surrounding country is billy, volcanic, and striking, but the town itself possesses few attractions. A row of fine temples, with lofty picturesque roofs, occupying higher ground than the rest of the town, are the most conspicuous buildings. There are some Public Gardens at the eastern end of the town, which contain a small but interesting Museum. Water- works for supplying the town with pure water were completed in 1889. The climate of Hakodate is healthy and bracing. The hottest month is August, but the thermome ter then rarely rises above 90 degrees Fahr.; in the winter it sometimes sinks to 18 degrees. The mean temperature throughout the year is about 48 degrees. The population of Hakodate at the close of 1897 was 74,000. The number of foreign resi- dents was 118, of whom 43 were British.

The foreign trade of the port is small. The value of the imports declined from 8676,534 in 1890 to $12,101 in 1892, but increased by an average of slightly over a hundred per cent. each year to yen 820,820 in 1898. The exports in 1898 amounted to yen 1,248,719, against yen 1,264,267 in 1897. The agricultural resources of Yezo have been to some extent developed under the auspices of the Kaitakushi or Colonization Department. The rich pasture lands are wel! adapted for breeding cattle. In the valuable and extensive fisheries on the coast, however, the chief exports of the future from Hakodate are to be looked for. Increasing quantities of dried fish and seaweed are exported annually, mostly to China. The mineral resources of Yezo are large, and may also some day yield a valuable addition to the exports of this port. There are now three large coal mines in operation, one in Poronai, one at Ikushunbetsu, and a third at Sorachi. "Hakodate is connected with the capital by telegraph. A railway from Otaru to Sapporo, 22 miles long, was opened to public traffic on the 28th November, 1880, and has since been carried on to Poronai, where are some large coal mines, the total length of the line being 56 miles. A branch to Ikushun- betsu, seven miles, has since been made, and another line from the coal mines to Mororan, a port on the south-east of the island, a distance of 143 miles, has been ompleted and was opened to traffic in July, 1892.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1900 — Page 518

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