The site of in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan, is that once occupied by the Shinori Fort or Fortified Residence (as denoted by the tate or date ending). This was the easternmost of the so-called "Twelve Garrisons of Southern Hokkaido", built on the Oshima Peninsula by the Wajin from the fourteenth century. The site was designated a National Historic Site in 1934 and is one of the Japan Castle Foundation's Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles.

Shinori fort

Shinoridate is located some to the east of the center of Hakodate, along a stretch of coast with many good natural harbours. A short distance inland from Shinori Fishing Port, with the mouth of the Shinori River to the west, the gently sloping site overlooks the Tsugaru Strait and Shimokita Peninsula, with views also towards Mount Hakodate.

The earthworks rise to a height of on the north side and to the south and are interrupted by an opening on both the east and the west sides. The moat is wide on the north and west sides and up to deep and is crossed by two earth bridges, that to the west particularly well-preserved.

First laid out around the end of the fourteenth century, Shinoridate features in the Matsumae Domainal history Shinra no Kiroku, which tells of it being sacked by the Ainu in Chōroku 1 (1457), during Koshamain's War, and again falling to the Ainu in Eishō 9 (1512), after which its occupants, the , became subject to the Matsumae clan.「長禄元年五月十四日夷狄蜂起来而、攻撃志濃里之舘主小林太郎左衛門尉良景…殺狄之酋長胡奢魔允」("On the fourteenth day of the fifth month of the first year of the Chōroku era (1457), a barbarian uprising occurred, and in an attack on Shinori Fort, its lord Kobayashi Tarō Saemon-no-jō Yoshikage...was killed, the barbarian tribal leader being Koshamain") 「永正九年四月十六日宇須岸志濃利與倉前三舘所攻落夷賊…小林太郎左衛門尉良景之子彌太郎良定」("On the sixteenth day of the fourth month of the ninth year of the Eishō era (1512), the three forts of Usukeshi, Shinori, and Yokuramae fell in an attack by barbarian bandits and...Kobayashi Tarō Saemon-no-jō Yoshikage's son Yatarō Yoshisada was killed")

The Hakodate City Board of Education conducted excavations and surveys of the enclosure and surrounding area between 1983 and 1985, uncovering the remains of a number of buildings, palisades, a well, artefacts made of bronze, iron, stone, and wood, celadons and white porcelain from southern China, as well as domestic Suzu, Echizen, and Seto ware.

Three different intercolumnar measurements were used in the construction of the buildings, the style of the well is that found in Heian-kyō in the late Kamakura period, while many of the ceramics are typical of the early fifteenth century.

Accordingly, three main phases have been identified: the end of the fourteenth or early-fifteenth century; mid-fifteenth century; and sixteenth century or later. With the archaeological evidence pushing back the origins of the fort at least half a century before Koshamain, its construction can no longer be understood as an immediate response to the contingencies of 1457, and other explanations are required.

Shinori hoard

In July 1968, during widening work on the prefectural road (now National Route 278) that runs past the fort, a Nanbokuchō-period (C14) coin hoard was unearthed some inland from the mouth of the Shinori River, at a location above sea level. This is the largest hoard found to date in Japan in terms of the number of coins it contains.

The three large vessels excavated weighed, together with their contents, . Ninety-three different types of coin have been identified: a handful in total of early Japanese coinage of the Asuka, Nara and early Heian periods, late tenth-century Vietnamese coinage of the Đinh and Early Lê dynasties, and late eleventh-century Goryeo coinage from Korea; the bulk comprising Chinese coinage, primarily of the Song dynasty, issues ranging in date from 4 Zhu Ban Liang minted in the fifth year of Emperor Wen of Han (175 BC) to Hongwu Tongbao from the first year of the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming dynasty (1368). The 374,435 coins from this hoard now at the Hakodate City Museum have been designated an Important Cultural Property.

A 1999 study of 275 Japanese hoards, totalling 3,530,000 coins, found that the Chinese copper coins used in Japan in the Middle Ages were brought over in the largest number in the thirteenth century, were used primarily in commerce or for paying soldiers, and were buried largely for reasons of security, although there were also instances of ritual or votive deposits. The dating of the Shinori hoard precludes its burial as a response to Koshamain's War; instead it may relate to trade, the local Shinori or Kaga kombu featuring alongside Ezo salmon in the Nanboku-chō period text . Produce from the area would have been traded along the Hokuriku coast to reach the markets of Kyōto and Ōsaka.

+ Coins in the Shinori hoard Type Date/First minted Quantity Origin 1 4 Zhu Ban Liang (Buntei 5) 7 2 Wu Zhu (Gentei 2) 39 3 Huo Quan 14 (Tenpō 1) 6 4 Kaiyuan Tongbao 621 30,816 5 Qian Yuan Zhong Bao 758 (Kengen 1) 1,422 6 Wadōkaichin 708 1 7 Mannen Tsūhō 760 1 8 Jinkō Kaihō 765 4 9 Ryūhei Eihō 796 2 10 Fuju Shinpō 818 4 11 Jōwa Shōhō 835 1 12 Jōgan Eihō 870 1 13 Engi Tsuhō 907 1 14 Tong Zheng Yuan Bao 915 8 15 Tian Han Yuan Bao 917 17 16 Guang Tian Yuan Bao 918 17 17 Qian De Yuan Bao 919 79 18 Xian Kang Yuan Bao 925 19 19 Da Tang Tong Bao 944 2 20 Han Yuan Tong Bao 948 15 21 Zhou Yuan Tong Bao 955 87 22 Tang Guo Tong Bao 959 393 23 Song Yuan Tong Bao 960 1,288 24 Thái Bình Hưng Bảo 970 3 25 Tai Ping Tong Bao 976 3,512 26 Thiên Phúc Trấn Bảo 984 19 27 Chun Hua Yuan Bao 990 3,258 28 Zhi Dao Yuan Bao 995 5,851 29 Xian Ping Yuan Bao 998 6,400 30 Jing De Yuan Bao 1004 8,139 31 Xiang Fu Yuan Bao 1008 9,322 32 Xiang Fu Tong Bao 1008 5,384 33 Tian Xi Tong Bao 1017 7,943 34 Tian Sheng Yuan Bao 1023 17,924 35 Ming Dao Yuan Bao 1032 1,813 36 Jing You Yuan Bao 1034 5,384 37 Huang Song Tong Bao 1039 47,031 38 Qing Li Zhong Bao 1045 1 39 Qing Ning Tong Bao 1055 1 40 Zhi He Yuan Bao 1054 4,452 41 Zhi He Tong Bao 1054 1,416 42 Jia You Yuan Bao 1056 4,478 43 Jia You Tong Bao 1056 8,729 44 Zhi Ping Yuan Bao 1064 7,002 45 Zhi Ping Tong Bao 1064 1,154 46 Xian Yong Tong Bao 1065 2 47 Xi Ning Yuan Bao 1068 34,897 48 Xi Ning Zhong Bao 1071 12 49 Da Kang Tong Bao 1075 2 50 Yuan Feng Tong Bao 1078 43,009 51 Yuan You Tong Bao 1086 33,904 52 Shao Sheng Yuan Bao 1094 14,917 53 Shao Sheng Tong Bao 1094 2 54 Dong Guk Tong Bo 1097 7 55 Dong Guk Chung Bo 1097 2 56 Hae Dong Tong Bo 1097 18 57 Hae Dong Jung Bo 1097 1 58 Sam Han Tong Bo 1097 1 59 Sam Han Jung Bo 1097 2 60 Yuan Fu Tong Bao 1098 5,721 61 Sheng Song Yuan Bao 1101 14,333 62 Chong Ning Tong Bao 1102 3 63 Chong Ning Zhong Bao 1102 2 64 Da Guan Tong Bao 1107 4,230 65 Zheng He Tong Bao 1111 15,206 66 Xuan He Yuan Bao 1119 1 67 Xuan He Tong Bao 1119 1,412 68 Jianyan Tong Bao 1127 88 69 Shaoxing Yuan Bao 1131 149 70 Shaoxing Tong Bao 1131 16 71 Zheng Long Yuan Bao 1158 479 72 Tian Sheng Yuan Bao 1158 3 73 Longxing Yuan Bao 1163 1 74 Qiandao Yuan Bao 1165 2 75 Chunxi Yuan Bao 1174 2,366 76 Da Ding Tong Bao 1178 22 77 Shaoxi Yuan Bao 1190 774 78 Qingyuan Tong Bao 1195 938 79 Jiatai Tong Bao 1201 549 80 Kaixi Tong Bao 1205 356 81 Jiading Tong Bao 1208 1,735 82 Dasong Yuan Bao 1225 84 83 Shaoding Tong Bao 1228 614 84 Duanping Yuan Bao 1234 49 85 Jiaxi Tong Bao 1237 161 86 Chunyou Yuan Bao 1241 530 87 Huangsong Yuan Bao 1253 285 88 Kaiqing Tong Bao 1259 20 89 Jingding Yuan Bao 1260 475 90 Xianchun Yuan Bao 1265 583 91 Zhi Da Tong Bao 1310 110 92 Zhi Zheng Tong Bao 1341 3 93 Hongwu Tongbao 1368 12 12,901 Total 374,435

See also List of Historic Sites of Japan (Hokkaidō) List of Cultural Properties of Japan - archaeological materials (Hokkaidō) Hakodate City Museum Shiryōkaku Shakushain's revolt Chashi Kitamaebune National Ainu Museum

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Shinoridate