NENU:
・The Tokachi River in
the Four Seasons
・Natural surroundings
of the Tokachi River
・Profile of the Tokachi
River
・History of the Tokachi
River
・Quiz on the Tokachi
River
●Art Contest of Rivers
in Tokachi
History of the Tokachi River
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contents
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| ■Historical sketch of the Tokachi River
■Chronological table of floods
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In ancient times, tall primeval forests covered the earth, and herds of woolly mammoths shook the ground. The history of Tokachi began with this great primitive energy.
Ten thousand years ago, people in dugouts landed here. They made sharp-edged tools from stones and earthenware from clay along the Tokachi River, creating the Jomon period. Then Tokachi experienced the Post-Jomon period, followed by the Satsumon culture, which is peculiar to Hokkaido.
In 1635, a description of the Ainu was written on a map for geological research on eastern Hokkaido made by the Matsumae Domain (a feudal Japanese clan).
In 1643, the Ainu traveling by dugout saw a Dutch expeditionary ship off Tokachi. It is said that the expeditionary map owned by the Dutch already had the name "Tokachi" on it.
In 1800, Shudayu Minagawa, under orders from the Edo Shogunate, went up the Tokachi River from Otsu and researched the river course to defend and develop the northern regions. Here, Japanese people began trading in Hokkaido.
In 1858, Takeshiro Matsuura crossed the Karikachi Pass and described the Tokachi River, the area's climate and the lives of the basin inhabitants in detail. This "Tokachi Journal" put Tokachi in the limelight, resulting in the establishment of "Tokachi Subprefecture" in 1869.
Since prehistoric times, numerous creatures, including humans, have come and gone in this area. Aqua Cosmos in the Tokachi Plain is a symbol of their exchanges. A unique and precious climate has been nurtured here. A "mother river", the Tokachi, flows eternally, as a cradle of life.
