We could trace back the building activities of emigrant carpenters from Echigo (present Niigata Prefecture) in Hokkaido since the seventeenth century to Meiji Era (1868-1912). After 1855 when the port of Hakodate was opened for foreign ships, there several large constructions fascinated many building workers including several capable carpenters from Echigo region. In early Meiji Era, the Kaitakushi (Colonial Department) gathered 51 carpenters in 1871 singularly from Maze, a tiny coastal village in Echigo, and next year 367 from Echigo for the constructions in Sapporo. Among them, and among those who emigrated after them, there were Kazaemon (c.1832-c.1892) and Yojiro (1864-1940) Shinoharas, Kyushiro Abe (1849-1910), Kametaro Ito (1863-1944) and others who founded their contractor companies of construction.
