Japan Heritage story
Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
江差の五月は江戸にもない
"Esashi in May beats even Edo," people sang. Herring fishing and trade made this small port in southwest Hokkaido rich, and its merchant houses and storehouses still step down the slope to the sea.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Festivals and rituals, Food and sake
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Hokkaido, Chubu, Kansai, Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 江差の五月は江戸にもない
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ニシンの繁栄が息づく町
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 北海道（江差町）
The story
In the early Edo period, Esashi was a string of small villages. Then the herring came. The Matsumae domain made it an official trade port, helped by Kamome-jima, a gull-shaped island offshore that works as a natural breakwater. Merchants arrived from Omi (Shiga) and Hokuriku, and built along a narrow strip under the coastal terrace, because life here was all about herring.
Their houses look wooden but are plastered earthen storehouses, wrapped in boards against winter storms. They step down the slope to the sea, ending in hanedashi warehouses with huge house marks that ships at anchor could read. Wealth bought blue Shakudani stone from Echizen for foundations and roof tiles from Wakasa, Noto and Iwami. When herring arrived in early spring, even the merchants ran down the lanes to the beach to help.
What to see
- The main street: gable-roofed merchant houses, each with its house mark on curtains, signs and walls.
- The lanes to the sea: storehouses and stone foundations stepping down the slope.
- The view from the terrace: red and black tiled roofs with Kamome-jima beyond.Google Maps かもめ島 江差町 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Hokkaido guide and see more history and heritage.
Good to know
- Try reading the house marks as you walk: they are built from simple symbols.
- Look at the foundation stones after rain, when the Shakudani stone turns a deeper blue.
- The lanes down to the sea are sloping, so wear comfortable shoes.
Questions travellers ask
What does "Esashi in May beats even Edo" mean?
It's an old saying about the herring season, when Esashi was busier and richer than the capital.
Why are the storehouses covered in boards?
To protect their plaster walls from the strong winter winds and snow.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Coal, steel and port: Hokkaido's northern industrial revolution
- Echizen-Fukui: 400 years of towns built in stone
- Fukiya: the birthplace of Japan Red
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Iwami kagura: gods and demons dance the old myths
- Iwami's volcanoes: Jomon forest and silver mountain in Oda
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Izumo's tatara: a thousand years of making iron
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Komatsu: 2,300 years of stone, from jewels to castle walls
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.