Abstract
There were many port towns which had prospered by river transport in the Edo period. The river trans-port on the Yoneshiro river was unique in dealing with rich timber of natural Japanese cedar and mineral resources in the situation that most goods handled in river transport was rice,
At the junction of Fujikoto river and Ani river, tributary of Yoneishiro river, Kagoyama mine refinery introduced the latest refining technology was constructed and prospered immense profit to the domain of Akita.
Along the Yoneshiro river, some towns had been formed gradually with the flowing of goods and people. The aim of the present paper is to make clear the process of town formation of Yoneshiro basin towns from the view point of the influence of river transport. Two towns were selected for this study; Noshiro as a thriving distribution center of goods and Futatsui as a thriving main loading and reshipping harbor on the Yoneshiro basin.
