Tsukigata Kiyoshi (月形潔)
Kiyoshi TSUKIGATA (1846 - 1894) was a government official of the Meiji Period. He was involved in the reclamation of Hokkaido as Tengoku (director) of Hokkaido Kabato Shujikan (former prison) and Guncho (mayor of county) of the three counties such as Kabato, Uryu and Kamikawa. The town name called Tsukigata-cho, Kabato County derives from his family name.
Personality
He was born as a child of a feudal retainer of the Fukushima Domain. In 1865, his uncle, Senzo TSUKIGATA, resisted Edo bakufu as a chieftain of Chikuzen Kinnoto (loyalist clique), so his whole family including young Kiyoshi was restrained and imprisoned. After the Meiji restoration, he was hired by the new government, and began to work as Fukuoka-han Gonnosho Sanji (Councilor of Gonnosho of Fukuoka Domain). At this time, Kiyoshi was ordered to investigate the counterfeit bill case committed by the domain as an organization. The case itself was settled by a political solution, but his achievement was highly evaluated enough to be appointed as a chief patrol officer of police in 1877, and he worked on the suppression of Seinan War. After that, he successively worked as Hachito Shusshi (the 8th grade attendant) of the Ministry of Justice, Shokenji (lower-grade prosecutor) of Tokyo Court and Goyogakari (general official) of Ministry of Home Affairs (Japan).
From around the time after the end of Seinan War, the government had to rush the construction of facilities to detain arrestees from domestic conflict that successively occurred. The original purpose was to isolate such dangerous elements, but the government of the time had a policy to protect the north by encouraging reclamation of Hokkaido, in order to be ready for Russia's advancing southward. However, as reclamation of Hokkaido was progressing so slowly, Hirobumi ITO, Secretary of Interior, proposed to use prisoners as labors at a low cost for the reclamation, and determined the policy for constructing prisons in Hokkaido. The government asked Kiyotaka KURODA, Hokkaido Development Commissioner, for recommendation of the candidate site where prisons would be constructed, and for the land survey, seven people including Kiyoshi, who were already evaluated highly, were chozen as government officials. He was being trusted by Hirobumi ITO and Aritomo YAMAGATA.
Leading reclamation as Tengoku
The candidate sites for prisons selected by development commissioners were three locations such as the riverside of Tokachi River, the foot of a mountain in Okugoshi, Usu County (Mt. Yotei) and the upriver district of Ishikari River, and TSUKIGATA and others conducted land survey separated in three groups. The upriver district of Ishikari River where TSUKIGATA conducted a survey was the land called 'Shibetsubuto (also referred to as 'Kami Shibetsu Atari')' and it is said to have been just like a virgin forest with thick trees. For the reason that it could use any water transportation with Ishikawa River and that it was close to Sapporo City compared to the other candidates, they decided it to be the construction site, and in 1881, the construction was launched. TSUKIGATA was appointed as the 1st Tengoku (director of prison) of Kabato Shujikan where construction had just completed, and two thousands prisoners were detained. TSUKIGATA began with a transfer of his family register from Fukuoka to Kabado, and took the initiative for reclamation. Prisoners led by TSUKIGATA proceeded the reclamation effectively, and the prototype of the roads that later became the main roads in Hokkaido such as National Route 12 was formed by them. In 1884, Kari-mido (hall) of Hokuzen-ji Temple among others were constructed. At the time, as there was no official residence in Kabato Shujikan, TSUKIGATA slept in the same place as prisoners although he was Tengoku. In Shujikan of the times when TSUKIGATA served as Tengoku, Torakichi NISHIKAWA known for 'Torakichi handling Gosun-kugi long nail' and Choan KUMASAKA, a famous creator of forfeit bills and others were detained. KUMASAKA is said to have taught painting to village people while he was in Kabato. Also, Shinpachi YONEKURA, a survivor of Shinsengumi, also was teaching swordplay. The village people praised these TSUKIGATA's achievements and made a proposal to give the site the name of 'Tsukigata Village', which the Ministry of Interior also approved, so it became Tsukigata Town, Kabato County. In 1885, Kiyoshi had trouble with his lungs, and took a rest cure in his hometown Fukuoka Prefecture. He passed away in 1894.
Kabato Shujikan in later years
The reclamation by prisoners proceeded even after TSUKIGATA's death, and in 1886, a water supply that is said the first in Japan was constructed. This is referred to as Tsukigata Suido (water supply) or Kangoku (prison) Suido. In 1896, Enpuku-ji Temple was constructed. Cultural exchanges between residents and prisoners proceeded, and it is said that, sometimes, prisoners built a house for the local people. In 1909, the main hall of Hikuzen-ji Temple, where Kari-Mido had been constructed, was completed. In 1919, Kabato Shujikan was closed, but it was being used as Tsukigata-mura Village Hall up to 1973. Afterward, there was no more prisons on the land of Tsukigata, but after 1970, a movement welcoming the construction of prisons began. Around this time, a relocation of Nakano Prison in Tokyo was under consideration, and thanks to the movement, Tsukigata Prison was set up in 1983.
As Tsukigata-cho Town Hall (back in 1953, Municipal organization was established) moved out to a new building in 1973, Old Kabato Shujikan was newly renovated as 'Hokkaido Gyokei Shiryokan (Imprisonment Museum)', and in 1996, the name changed to 'Tsukigata Kabato Museum'. In Tsukigata Town, the bronze statue of Kiyoshi TSUKIGATA was also built.