Ishikari City, Hokkaido

Ishikari was one of the destinations for Kitamae-bune which had overcome the raging rough waves of the Sea of Japan on their way to Hokkaido. When the period of the Matsumae clan and prohibition of Kitamae-bune visiting ports other than Esashi, Hakodate, and Matsumae was over, many Kitamae-bune headed north in search of dried and pressed boiled herring. In the age of Kitamae-bune, herring was traded at a high price, mainly as a fertilizer for crops such as cotton and indigo cultivated in Setouchi, not as food.

  • ports of call

Cultural Properties of Ishikari City

  • Former Nagano Store

    A store and stone warehouse of the Nagano Store merchants who made their wealth through Kitamae-bune

  • Japanese restaurant Kindaitei

    A Japanese restaurant used by shipowners and merchants of Kitamae-bune.

  • Omikoshi (portable shrine) of Kotan Shrine

    Omikoshi dedicated by a shipowner of a Kitamae-bune (the Hisayoshimaru).

  • Funa-ema of Atsuta Shrine

    Funa-ema dedicated by the shipowners of Kitamae-bune.

  • Torii of the Ishikari Hachiman Shrine

    A torii made of granite that was transported by Kitamae-bune

  • Komainu (Guard Dog Statues) of the Ishikari Benten Shrine

    A pair of Komainu made of Shakudani stone that dedicated to prayer for the safety of voyages

  • The Former Shiratori Banya (Ishikari City Hamamasu Folk Museum)

    The fishery architecture that produced Nishin-shimekasu (fish fertilizer made from herring) transported by Kitamae-bune

  • Hamamasu Okiageondo (song for the herring fishing)

    A worker's song of fishery catching herring transported by Kitamae-bune