Korsakov (from 1869 to 1908 - the Korsakov post, from 1908 to
1946 - Oodomari; Japanese 大 泊) is a port city in Russia, the
administrative center of the Korsakov urban district of the Sakhalin
region. The second most populous city in the region, one of the
centers of the regional industry and the most important transport
hub in the region ("South Gate of Sakhalin"). Since 2016 it has been
included in the Free Port of Vladivostok zone.
The history of
Korsakov is directly related to the history of the early development
of the island by both Russians and Japanese. However, back in 1643,
the Dutchman De Vries landed at the Ainu village on the site of the
present city. In 1679, samurai from the Matsumae principality
arrived in this village and established their first post, which
lasted for several years. The first Russians to visit here in 1805
were the participants of the round-the-world expedition of IF
Kruzenshtern. On September 22 (October 4), 1853, G.I. Nevelskoy
proclaimed Sakhalin a Russian possession and established the
Muravyov post in Kusunkotan, evacuated 10 months later for foreign
policy reasons.
By train
Suburban trains between Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Korsakov
run from 1 to 3 times a day, and in winter they may not be available at
all on weekends. Travel time is about 1 hour. The Korsakov station
itself is located on the outskirts of the city, but all trains run from
/ to the Five Corners station, located in the center.
Convenient
route: get to Korsakov by bus, return by evening train. He walks along
the ocean, in the summer you can see the sunset from it.
By bus
Minibuses run between the city and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, departing as they
fill up with passengers. The fare is 130 rubles. Travel time is from 15
minutes to half an hour, depending on the conditions on the road. You
can get there by bus number 115 for 130 rubles, but the journey will
take 60 minutes. The bus stops at all stops, payment in cash to the
driver.
By car
On a ferryboat
Ferry line to Wakkanai,
(Hokkaido) closed in 2019
Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Kuril Islands - the
passenger ship Igor Farkhutdinov departs in this direction, in 2022 it
runs according to the schedule.
It is possible to sail to the
mainland, but again, the schedule is not available. It is best to use
regular flights from Kholmsk.
The town is small, so it can be walked. There are buses and taxis. The main street is Sovetskaya, which is crossed by smaller streets. Neighboring villages are accessible by bus.
Of the architecture of the Karafuto period, the building of the
former branch of the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank (北海道 拓殖 銀行), built in
1929 at the intersection of Sakaemachi and Ginza streets, is best
known. In Soviet times, it also housed banking institutions, then
during the 1990s-2010s it was in an abandoned state, gradually
collapsing (although back in 1999 it received the status of an
architectural monument of regional significance). In 2016, it was
decided to reconstruct it; it is planned to house a branch of the
Sakhalin Regional Museum in the building.
Other Japanese
buildings survived: two school pavilions "hoanden" (Japanese 奉安 殿):
one was located on the street. Ushakova not far from school number 3
(until in 2018 it was transferred to the territory of the city
museum), another - on the street. Green (both in the areas of the
location of the non-preserved buildings of the Japanese elementary
school and the men's gymnasium, respectively); a brick storage for
documents ("bunseko", Japanese 文 書庫), built at the beginning of the
20th century (now on the territory of secondary school No. 1 on
Krasnoflotskaya Street); warehouses-kuro (jap. 倉) made of glazed
bricks along Oktyabrskaya and Admiralteyskaya streets, as well as
buildings on the territory of the former corrugated packaging
factory and individual wooden dwelling houses in different parts of
the city; military pillboxes with underground tunnels along
Putinnaya street and in the area of the abandoned construction
site of the nautical school.
The monument to those who fell
for the liberation of Korsakov from the Japanese militarists in its
original form was erected in June 1951 on Shkolnaya Street in the
city square (now Memorial Square). In 1956, the monument was
reconstructed, and in 1959 - a complete replacement. In 1971, the
object was registered as an architectural monument of regional
significance. The opening of the renewed monument, faced with black
polished slabs, took place in early December 2007.
Among
other sights of the Soviet period, a mosaic panel on the building of
a children's art school built in 1977 is distinguished, as well as
the longest (about 40 m) thematic panel on the island, erected on
the fence of the northern region of the port on the 110th
anniversary of the birth of V.I.Lenin and consisting of three parts,
reflecting the main milestones in the formation of the USSR.
At the old cemetery, there is a Monument to the inhabitants of
Otomari who died in 1945, which is a four-sided pyramid with a
three-stage base and metal plaques with texts in Japanese and
Russian: "Let us pray for the repose of the souls of those who rest
here, for peace and friendship between peoples." It was created in
1993 with the assistance of the Japanese side, which took over the
financing. Dedicated including to those who were buried in a nearby
Japanese cemetery and whose graves were later lost. Belonged to the
monuments of history and culture of the Sakhalin region (Decree of
the Administration of the Sakhalin region of 12.03.1999 No. 80).
Memorial to the Sakhalin Koreans, victims of Japanese militarism
- on Primorsky Boulevard, on the so-called Sadness Mountain (korean
의). Opened November 3, 2007. The author of the stele is a professor
at Seoul University Choi Ying Su (Korean 최인수).
An observation
deck with views of the city, bay and sea. Originally arranged by the
Japanese in the 1910s as part of Kaguraoka Park (я 楽 岡), which in
the early 1960s received a new development as a Park of Culture and
Leisure and in 1968 was named in honor of the 50th anniversary of
the Komsomol.
Alpha Hotel, Krasnoflotskaya St., 31 (On the corner of Lenin Square). ☎ +7(42435) 41-010. The only hotel in the city, the price per room is from 5600 rubles. Rooms are new and big
Korsakov is one of the first two Russian settlements on Sakhalin
and in the region as a whole, established by Russian sailors in 1853
as military posts. Officially, the founding day of Korsakov is
September 22 (October 4), 1853. City Day is celebrated annually on
the third Sunday of September.
Period before 1853
Initially, Ainu villages were located on the site of the future
city, the first documentary evidence of which dates back to the 17th
century. In July 1643, the Dutch navigator De Vries was the first
European to explore the coast of Sakhalin on the ship Castricum,
giving the name to Aniva Bay. On July 16, 1643, he landed near the
village within the boundaries of present-day Korsakov and fixed its
local name as Aniva-Tamari - the same as that of the neighboring
cape and the adjacent bay (later the variant "Tomari-Aniva" was
fixed). In 1679, Japanese samurai from the Matsumae clan arrived
from Hokkaido to the Ainu settlement called Kusunkotan (Kusun-kotan
or Kusunkotan, Jap. 久春古丹) and established a post that lasted until
the early 1680s. Later studies have shown that the toponyms
Tomari-Aniva and Kusunkotan are synonymous. Of the other villages
within the current city, Hakka-Tomari (Akkatuwari; Hahka-Tomari;
Jap. ハツコトマリ; 函泊) and Poro-an-Tomari (Jap. ポロアン; 大泊) are regularly
mentioned in the second half of the 19th century.
In 1790,
the principality of Matsumae sent a contractor, Murayama Dembei, to
organize a fishing site on the island, who built trading warehouses
in Kusunkotan, and organized a trading post in Shiranushi, an Ainu
village near Cape Crillon. In 1800, the principality transferred the
administration of Sakhalin under its direct jurisdiction, and the
practical affairs of administration were entrusted to Sibai Chodai,
who founded a trading station in Siranusi, and a business post in
Kusunkotan as its branch.
In May 1805, I.F. Kruzenshtern,
during the first Russian round-the-world expedition on the Nadezhda
sloop, visited the south of Sakhalin, including Tomari-Aniva,
mentioning two Ainu villages. According to him, one of them, the
larger one, discovered by Lieutenant Commander M. I. Ratmanov, “is
probably the main place of Japanese trade carried out by them in the
Aniva Bay. He saw in it 100 houses of the Ainoskys and more than 300
people engaged in cleaning and drying fish, five small masted ships
and one large one.
On October 6, 1806, the brig "Juno" under
the command of Lieutenant Nikolai Khvostov, on a secret assignment
from Count Rezanov, anchored in Aniva Bay. Thus began the first of
the raids (known in historiography under the general name "the
incident of Khvostov and Davydov"). The next day, the team landed
and visited one of the Ainu villages "on the eastern side of the
Aniva Bay" not far from Kusunkotan. On October 8, Khvostov, without
official authority and in violation of the secret instructions given
to him by N.P. Rezanov, proclaimed the island a possession of the
Russian Empire. On October 9, having moved to Kusunkotan, which at
that time was already the most important Japanese fishing industry
on Sakhalin, the sailors ravaged Japanese shops and trading posts,
and also captured four watchmen of the Matsumae clan, who remained
there to spend the winter. Then all Japanese buildings and stocks of
timber were burned. A week later, the Juno left the bay and returned
8 months later along with the Avos tender under the command of
Davydov: on May 3, 1807, they marched along the coast and burned
warehouses and houses in Kusunkotan.
On April 29, 1807, the
Japanese government decided to withdraw under its direct control the
Ezo lands (including southern Sakhalin and the southern Kuriles)
from the jurisdiction of the principality of Matsumae due to its
inability to cope with the protection of the territories. The
defense of Karafuto was entrusted to the clans from the north of
Honshu, and the Japanese garrison was stationed in Kusunkotan, which
became the administrative center. The island returned to its former
jurisdiction in December 1821. Since then, every year at the end of
May, the Matsumae principality sent another shift of samurai to
Kusunkotan to oversee the fishing and conduct the omusya (オムシャ)
ceremony, during which the Ainu "greeted" the representatives of the
prince and received goods in return. In early July, the garrison
departed for Siranushi and from there returned to Ezo at the end of
August.
Muravyov post (1853-1854) and the period until 1869