The local government of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, had completed the 1：10,000, 1：50,000 and 1：200,000 map series in 1890’s, which was one of the earliest Mapping Projects in Japan although his survey environment was so hard.

Hokkaido’s survey system was different from the later works by the authoritative Land Survey Burau who certainly controlled maps by a dense triangulation network, proceeded by topographic survey with plane tables. Hokkaido conducted, under the name of the “Triangulation project”, a triangulation, an astronomical observation, a coastline traverse and meander surveys in parallel. The latter two surveys revealed topography, through the noting and sketching on field note, instead of plane table. The former two surveys compensated the latter two systematic survey errors. Consequently, they worked out a fast mapping than the system of the Land Survey Burau. The Hokkaido survey followed the 19 centuries’ mapping system of developing North America by the instruction of American experts, who had poor road networks and little landmark,

Besides the Mapping Project, Hokkaido undertook subdivision works of his large public land into lots for pioneers since 1886. The rectangular and topographic surveys were also carried out for the purpose. The Mapping project have been regarded as conducted independently, but this study reveals the survey for the land subdivision works closely corporate in the same Geographical Section of the Hokkaido Administration.

Local government are obliged to close corporation between sections or divisions and could share a limited resource, whereas hierarchical military organization might be poor in that aspect, even though it is powerful. Hokkaido employed an appropriate survey system suitable for the climate.

Ino maps of the final edition completed in 1821 cover the whole Japanese Islands including Hokkaido and the belonging islands. However, Ino Tadataka surveyed the southern coast of the Hokkaido only once 1800. Comparing the final edition map and the map completed in 1804 which was drawn only by his own survey, contribution by Ino can thus be separated.

We conclude that the results by Ino, for example, azimuth measurements to mountain summits and traverse line surveys along coasts, although these two are main parts of Ino works, are not used in the map of Hokkaido of the final edition. Place names too were newly collected by someone. Only the latitude values obtained by Ino with astronomical measurements of culmination altitude of stars were used for the final edition.