Past and Present of Hokkaido-History of Ishikari and Sorachi-

RJE3 Special Seminar I: Past and present of Hokkaido: history of Ishikari and Sorachi (31 August, 2021 – 3 September, 2021)

I watched the presentations on this topic by the professor Asahiko Shirakizawa. I studied not only the history of the origin of the island of Hokkaido, but also interesting stories about transport links, about the colonization of Hokkaido, about famous sights and architectural monuments.

On September 3, an online discussion of answers to questions of the Prof. Shirakizawa took place in zoom.

I asked him a question about the architecture of Hokkaido: « On the island of Hokkaido, interesting architectural monuments are well preserved. Are there any modern buildings in the traditional Japanese style, other than foreign architectural styles? ».

Prof. Shirakizawa said: “Japanese traditional buildings are well seen in Kyoto, or in Kyushu, but in Hokkaido, it is less preserved. This is mainly because of the difference of climate. In the area where snow are less, and in southern area such as Matsumae, there are some traditional buildings. Because of the snow, traditional materials were replaced to the different ones which could stand for the severe climate.”

・About future course

I would like to study a course on the history of architecture and urban planning and the history of the development of the island of Hokkaido.

I would like the program RJE3 to take place in a normal and full-time form. It would be good to understand and learn the new courses and details. It is more convenient than online. Online can cause us stress, fatigue and personal problems.