Cool shrimps ride the bus

Capitulo 1:ヨーロッパの雰囲気が漂う五稜郭/Goryokaku a hallmark with European airs.

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Sean bienvenidos a una nueva entrega de cultura e historia japonesa, en este caso vamos a hablar sobre Goryokaku, localizado en Hakodate en la prefectura de Hokkaido al norte de la isla de Honshu.

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Toponimia de Hokkaido en, el siglo XIX se llamaba Ezo, fue el último reducto del shogunato contra el nuevo orden creando una república (1868-1869). Hay que destacar que Japón estuvo cerrado al mundo durante 260 años de su historia (1603-1868), este periodo se le conoce como periodo Edo, bajo el régimen militar Tokugawa.

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En 1854 finalizaron los tratados de amistad con Estados Unidos, Gran Bretaña, Rusia. Hakodate se convirtió en una ciudad portuaria abierta al mundo exterior y en 1858, concluyendo el tratado comercial y al año siguiente se convirtió en puerto comercial. Hisaburo Takeda, estudio en Europa y se formó en fortalezas tipo estrelladas de traza italiana, en 1864 se completaron las contribuciones de la fortaleza.

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Espero que os guste y nos vemos en próximas publicaciones.

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Welcome to a new installment of Japanese culture and history, in this case we are going to talk about Goryokaku, located in Hakodate in the Hokkaido prefecture north of the island of Honshu.

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Toponymy of Hokkaido in the 19th century was called Ezo, the last stronghold of the shogunate against the new order creating a republic (1868-1869). It should be noted that Japan was closed to the world for 260 years (1603-1868), this period is known as the Edo period, under the Tokugawa military regime.

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In 1854 the friendship treaties with the United States, Great Britain, and Russia ended. Hakodate became a port city open to the outside world and in 1858, concluding the commercial treaty and the following year it became a commercial port. Hisaburo Takeda, studied in Europe and trained in Italian star-type fortresses, in 1864 the contributions of the fortress were completed.

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日本の文化と歴史の新しい記事へようこそ。今回は、本州の北、北海道の函館にある五稜郭について話します。

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19 世紀の北海道の地名は蝦夷と呼ばれ、共和制を樹立する新秩序（1868～1869 年）に対抗する幕府の最後の拠点でした。 日本は 260 年間 (1603 年から 1868 年まで) 鎖国していたことに注意してください。この期間は、徳川軍事政権下の江戸時代として知られています。

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1854 年にアメリカ、イギリス、ロシアとの友好条約が終了しました。 函館は対外に開かれた港湾都市となり、1858年に通商条約を締結し、翌年には商業港となりました。 武田久三郎はヨーロッパに留学し、イタリアの星型要塞で訓練を受け、1864 年に要塞の建設を完了しました。

This is NOT an accurate telling of the history of corn mazes. This is just a hypothesis.

So. What do we need for a corn maze? Well, we need cornfields, and we need the concept of a vegetation maze.

Hedge mazes are a European concept, first created in the mid 16th century.

And while indigenous Americans obviously had corn, they typically grew it alongside other plants and not in vast monocultures.

And so corn mazes can only exist after the widespread adoption of maize by Europeans AND the existence of hedge mazes.

But during this time, is a corn maze a good idea?

A corn maze isn’t something you make on a whim. It’s something that has to planned well in advance— and not only that, but with every path you draw, you’re losing some of your crop! And if you’re a farmer, that’s your entire livelihood! While the wealthy elite can afford to splurge on a purely decorative plant to make a maze from, you certainly can’t do the same with your product.

So a field with a maze needs to somehow bring in more money than a field without a maze to be worth considering. How does that happen?

Agritourism.

Agritourism only works as a concept when most of the population doesn’t already live on a farm. There’s no reason to draw people to your farm in colonial America, where 90% of everyone there sees a farm every day.

So this rules out any year before 1900 on principle alone.

Not only that, but to earn any actual revenue, you need a lot of middle and even lower-class people from cities and towns actually coming to your farm specifically. This isn’t feasible without the widespread adoption of the automobile.

And so corn mazes can only exist after 1920.

But why would anyone in 1920 focus on agritourism? The added costs of labor, advertising, and crop loss would far outweigh any revenue gained. The vast majority of family farmers were doing fine without it!

Until they weren’t.

As farming became more consolidated by massive corporations, family farms were suddenly seeing less and less money. All of a sudden, agritourism became a viable option. If you aren’t making that much money off of your crops in the first place, then it doesn’t matter too much if you hack them up a bit.

And when do we see a significant dip in the profits of family farms?

(from the USDA)

A large dip in 1975, and a nearly vertical slope around 1989.

Now the idea of a corn maze is a feasible one. Especially when the pressure to create new, novel experiences in your farm starts really packing on near the turn of the decade.