Ishikari coalfield

[1] It was explorer Matsuura Takeshirō (松浦 武四郎), who, during his journey through Hokkaido in 1857, first marked the coal seams on the banks of the Sorachi river near Akabira.

[2] In 1868, carpenter Kimura Kichitarō (木村 吉太郎) discovered coal in Horonai, Mikasa (三笠).

[3] However, it took another six years before the local government took action, and the mining engineers Benjamin Smith Lyman and Takeaki Enomoto welded an investigation.

Their findings were satisfactory, and the Meiji government decided to build in Horonai the first coalmine of the Ishikari coal basin.

Here in 1888, coal was discovered by engineer Ban Ichitarō (坂 市太郎, 1854-1920), a follower of Benjamin Smith Lyman, on the upper reaches of the river Shihorokabetsu (士幌加別川).