Research of the history of fishermen's houses in Hokkaido and the utilization of local features

involvement in city planning based on research on the remaining fishermen's houses

Abstract

The aim of this research is to make an analysis of the features of each area in Hokkaido, through researching the current condition of fishermen's houses built between the Edo period and the 1950's. The research covers 285 fisherman’s houses. Some of the buildings were previously surveyed, either in 1970 by the Hokkaido Government Board of Education or in 2010 by the Architectural Institute of Japan.The research concludes that out of the 65 houses from the 1970’s, only 30 houses remain. Most of these houses were found in the Shiribeshi area where herring fisherman’s houses are treated as tangible culture assets. In the Shiribeshi area, 16 out of 27 houses(60%) remain.I also introduce a house of herring fishing in the Syukutsu area in Otaru and Utasutsu in Suttu as an example of utilizing a historical fisherman's house.The Ibaraki family’s fisherman’s house in the Shukutsu district is utilized as an activity space for children with the support of NPOs. The house of the Sato family in Suttsu has been under repair work. It has also been under investigation as a heritage of herring fishing. Future utilization of the house has been discussed at the same time.