Goryokaku was the Republic of Ezo's main fortress.
Enomoto Takeaki (front, right) and the leaders of his loyalist troops in Hokkaido, 1869. ...

Built by the French for the Tokugawa shogunate, it was located in the center of the port of Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaido. Shaped like a five-pointed star, it allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of "blind spots" where a cannon could not fire. Hokkaidō (Japanese: 北海道, literal meaning: North Sea Route, Ainu: Mosir), formerly known as Ezo, is the second largest island of Japan. ...

Attacked during the Imperial Army's final push to end the Boshin War, much of it was reduced to ruin. Today, Goryokaku is a park. The Boshin War (戊辰戦争 Boshin Sensō, literally War of the Year of the Dragon) was fought in 1868-1869 between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the pro-Imperial forces in Japan. ...

Another key fortress of the Republic of Ezo was Benten Daiba, built on the site formerly occupied by a shrine to Benten, the goddess of fortune. Much of the remnants of the famous Shinsengumi fought their last battle and surrendered there. Benzaiten (弁才天, 弁財天) is the Japanese name of Sarasvati (Saraswati), which was originally a mighty river in ancient India (see Vedic Saraswati River). ... Mannequins dressed in Shinsengumi outfits The Shinsengumi (Japanese: 新選組) were a special police force of the late shogunate period. ...