The Meiji government created the Hokkaidō Development Commission (Kaitakushi) to administer, develop, and secure Japan’s northern frontier (then commonly called Ezo/Ezochi). It became the central institution driving state-led colonization and industrial modernization in Hokkaidō.
The Meiji state formally adopted the name Hokkaidō for the former Ezochi region, aligning administration with a new territorial and development framework under the Kaitakushi. Explorer-administrator Matsuura Takeshirō is closely associated with proposing the name.
The Kaitakushi shifted its main office to Sapporo, reinforcing the city’s role as the administrative center for colonization, urban planning, and state-led industrial projects in Hokkaidō.
The Kaitakushi hired foreign specialists (oyatoi gaikokujin), prominently Horace Capron (former U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture), to help introduce overseas techniques and policies for agriculture and development—an emblematic feature of Meiji modernization in Hokkaidō.
The Kaitakushi began recruiting tondenhei (soldier-settlers), combining frontier defense with agricultural colonization—an important mechanism for expanding Japanese settlement in Hokkaidō.
The first large group of tondenhei families arrived and settled in Kotoni, near Sapporo, marking an early, organized wave of state-supported agrarian colonization in western Hokkaidō.
Japan and Russia signed the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, exchanging Japan’s claims in Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands; the settlement shaped northern territorial administration and security concerns that underpinned Kaitakushi development policy.
The Kaitakushi founded Sapporo Agricultural College (later Hokkaido University) to train personnel for frontier development and modern agriculture, including instruction by U.S.-recruited faculty such as William S. Clark.
A government-owned Kaitakushi beer brewery was completed in Sapporo, tying industrial policy to local agriculture (barley/hops) and helping launch what became the Sapporo beer tradition.
The Kaitakushi-backed development of the Horonai Coal Mine began in earnest with the opening of its first adit, supporting fuel needs for industrialization and transport projects in Hokkaidō.
Rail service began between Temiya (Otaru area) and Sapporo, a foundational transport link for moving coal and goods—crucial infrastructure for Kaitakushi industrial and settlement policy.
A major political scandal broke over plans to sell Kaitakushi assets at heavy discounts to a connected consortium; the controversy became a key trigger for the commission’s abolition and administrative reorganization.
A rail connection associated with the Horonai coal development was completed, strengthening the logistics chain from mine to coastal shipping points and expanding the scale of coal output and distribution.
The Meiji government abolished the Kaitakushi and reorganized Hokkaidō administration into Hakodate, Sapporo, and Nemuro prefectures, ending the commission’s direct role in colonization and industrial enterprise management.
The three prefectures created after the Kaitakushi were consolidated into Hokkaidō-chō (Hokkaidō Government), creating a new centralized administrative structure for continued development and governance.
A new red-brick Hokkaidō Government Office building in Sapporo was inaugurated, becoming a landmark of Meiji-era public architecture and symbolizing the institutional continuity of Hokkaidō governance after the Kaitakushi era.
Hokkaido Colonization and Kaitakushi Development Projects (1869–1897)
