The Aspects of Historical Understanding on ‘Shuchikan’ in Hokkaido: Dark Tourism and the Alterity in the Modern Society

In recent years, `Shuchikan' in Hokkaido has been becoming tourist attraction. Shuchikan were the predecessor of modern-day prisons created in the Meiji period. Starting in Kosuge and Miyagi in 1879, Shuchikan were built across the country under the direct control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. As for the reason why many Shuchikan were built in Hokkaido, it has been said that there was an intention to keep prisoners to stay in Hokkaido after their release in order to increase Hokkaido's population which was fewer at that time. We know, however, it was not true. The great deal of prisoners of the Abashiri prison engaged in reclamation and road construction works in Hokkaido, and then they lost their lives. Meiji government forced prisoners to work in road excavation and mine development to lay the foundations of Hokkaido development in the late 19th century. Many prisoners were sacrificed in the process. Now we can experience their history at Abashiri Prison Museum and Kabato Museum. Visiting these museums, we can recognize their history as mimesis by seeing real heritage. In this paper, we gave an overview of the previous research on prisoner's work in road excavation and mine development serving as a foundation for pioneer history of Hokkaido, and also considered the difference of the historical understanding on Shuchikan.departmental bulletin pape