tous sur le japon(et desole pour les fautes d'orthographe).laiss er des coms siouplait merci

lavender in Furano (Hokkaido)

Furano (富良野市, Furano-shi?) is a city located in Kamikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan.

As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 24,735 and a density of 41.2 persons per km². The total area is 600.97 km².

The city was founded on 1 May 1966.

The city is known for its lavender fields and other natural produce. However, in recent times it has become a popular winter holiday destination because of its ski slopes.

The town itself is split by the Sorachi river into two areas. The main commercial area of Furano is located on the east side of the river, while the Kitanomine ski area lies on the west.

Anpanman (アンパンマン?), written by Takashi Yanase, a Japanese writer of children's stories, is one of the most popular anime cartoon series for young children in Japan . It is produced by Nippon Television Network Corporation. Each animated cartoon is approximately 24 minutes long split into 2 episodes of approximately 12 minutes each.

Yanase has been writing Anpanman since 1968. The television series called Soreike! Anpanman (それいけ！アンパンマン, Go! Anpanman?) has been on the air in Japan since 1988.

As of September 26, 2006, Anpanman's books have collectively sold over 50 million copies in Japan.[1]

In 2005, according to research by Bandai, Anpanman is the most popular fictional character from age 0 to 12 years in Japan.[2] He particularly appeals to the younger end of that age group. Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product, from clothes to video games to toys to snack foods.

Yanase became inspired by the idea of Anpanman while struggling to survive as a soldier in World War II. He many times became faced with the prospect of starvation which made him dream about eating a bean-jam filled pastry called Anpan.

it's flag of Hakodate.
it's very beautiful =)

Hakodate (函館市, Hakodate-shi?) is a city and port located in Oshima, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture.

As of March 2008, the city has an estimated population of 287,691 and a density of 442.24 persons per km². The total area is 677.77 km².

History of Hakodate

Hakodate was founded in 1454, when Kono Kaganokami Masamichi constructed a large manor house in the Ainu fishing village of Usukeshi (the word for bay in Ainu). The mansion is said to have included a barricade and looked like a box from the distance giving the area its name, box mansion.[1]

After his death, Masamichi's son, Kono Suemichi, and family were driven out of Hakodate into nearby Kameda during Ainu rebellion in 1512 and little history was recorded for the area during the next 100 years. There was constant low level conflict in the Oshima peninsula at the time with the Ainu as armed merchants like the Kono family established bases to control trade in the region. This conflict culminated in an uprising from 1669 to 1672, led by Ainu warrior Shakushain after which the Ainu in the region were suppressed.[2]

Hakodate flourished during the Hoei period (1704–11) and many new temples were founded in the area. The town's fortunes received a further boost in 1741 when the Matsumae clan, which had been granted nearby areas on the Oshima Peninsula as a march fief, moved its Kameda magistracy to Masamichi's house in Hakodate.

In 1779, the Tokugawa shogunate took direct control over Hakodate, which triggered rapid development in the area. Merchant Takadaya Kahei, who is honoured as the founder of Hakodate port, set up trading operations, which included the opening the northern Etorofu sea route to the Kuril island fisheries. He is credited with turning Hakodate from a trading outpost into a thriving city. A Hakodate magistracy was established in 1802.[3]
Meiji restoration

The port of Hakodate was surveyed by a fleet of five U.S. ships in 1854 under the conditions of the Treaty of Kanagawa, as negotiated by Commodore Matthew Perry.

Hakodate port partially opened to foreign ships for provisioning in the following year and then completely to foreign trade on 2 June 1859 as one of three Japanese open ports designated in the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed with the U.S.

A mariner in Perry's fleet died during a visit to the area and became the first U.S. citizen to be buried in Japan when he was interred in Hakodate's cemetery for foreigners.

British merchant, naturalist and spy, Thomas Blakiston, took up residence in Hakodate in the summer of 1861 to establish a saw milling business and in doing so acquainted the city with western culture. He stayed in Hakodate until 1884, during which time he documented the local natural environment, equipped the local meteorological station and ran guns to the Boshin War rebels.[4]

As one of few points of Japanese contact with the outside world, Hakodate was soon host to several overseas consulates. The Russian consulate included a chapel from where Nicholas of Japan is credited with introducing Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Japan in 1861 (now the Japanese Orthodox Church). The Orthodox church is neighbored by several other historical missionary churches, including Anglican and Catholic.

Hakodate also played a central role in the Boshin War between the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Emperor which followed Perry's opening of Japan. Shogunate rebel Enomoto Takeaki fled to Hakodate with the remnants of his navy and his handful of French advisers in winter 1866, including Jules Brunet. They formally established the Republic of Ezo on December 25. The republic tried unsuccessfully to gather international recognition to foreign legations in Hakodate, including the Americans, French, and Russians.

The rebels occupied Hakodate's famous European-style Goryokaku fort and used it as the centre of their defences in southern Hokkaidō. Government forces defeated the secessionists in the Battle of Hakodate in 1869 and the city and fort were surrendered to emperor. Military leader, Hijikata Toshizo, was one of those slain in the fighting.

In 1878, Isabella Bird reported of the city in her travelogue:

The streets are very wide and clean, but the houses are mean and low. The city looks as if it had just recovered from a conflagration. The houses are nothing but tinder... Stones, however, are its prominent feature. Looking down upon it from above you see miles of grey boulders, and realise that every roof in the windy capital is “hodden doun” by a weight of paving stones.

[edit] 20th century to present day

Hakodate was awarded city status on August 1, 1922. The city escaped most of the ravages of World War II. Areas around Hakodate-yama were fortified and access restricted to the public. Many prisoners of war were interned in Hakodate and historians record a total of 10 camps.[5] The city was subjected to two Allied bombing raids on 14 and 15 July 1945. Around 400 homes were destroyed on the western side of Hakodate-yama and an Aomori-Hakodate ferry was attacked with 400 passengers killed.


Hakodate's size nearly doubled on December 1, 2004 when the neighboring municipalities of Toi, Esan and Todohokke (from Kameda District) and Minamikayabe (from Kayabe District) were merged into it.