The development of Hokkaido required advanced technologies in the field of agriculture, architecture and civil engineering. Hokkaido brought these technologies from the world and trained many Japanese engineers. Thus, the Development Commission and Hokkaido Government Office served as the cradle that introduced technologies and engineers.

Tales of Former Hokkaido Government Office Building

The main building of the Hokkaido Development Commission and the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building were constructed in the Meiji era with the pick of the latest technologies of those days in Hokkaido.

The main building of the Hokkaido Development Commission was constructed in 1873. That stately building with an octagonal dome at the center was influenced by the American-Baroque style. It had been believed for a long time that the designer was N. W. Holt, an American engineer invited by the Development Commission. It was however later found that Yoshiyuki Adachi , a goyogakari official of the Development Commission, designed this building.

Adachi was born in Edo in 1827. He worked as a master-carpenter. When he turned 44, he was selected to the Building and Repairs Section, Accounting Bureau, Ministry of Engineering of the Meiji government. When he worked for the Development Commission, he was in charge of designing Hoheikan (Historical Guest House) and the Sapporo Clock Tower. We were surprised to learn how fast Japanese people in the Meiji era were absorbing Western architecture.

The Former Hokkaido Government Office Building was constructed in 1888 after the main building of the Hokkaido Development Commission had been destroyed by fire. Seijiro Hirai, an engineer in the Hokkaido Government Office, designed the office. He was a talented man, who was chosen as the first overseas student under the Ministry of Education, and studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the U.S. After entering the Development Commission, Hirai engaged in construction of the Horonai railway. When he was only 32, he was selected to design the Former Hokkaido Development Government Office Building.

The bricks used for the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building were burnt at Suzuki Brick factory and other brick factories operating in the suburbs of Sapporo called Shiroishi Village (current Shiroishi ward, Sapporo), where people found suitable soil for bricks. Flemish-bond brick laying, consisting of alternate laying of stretchers and headers produced its beautiful appearance. The Development Commission also adopted the Red-star mark image of the polar star as their symbol, and used it for decoration all over the building.

Seijiro Hirai later engaged in the construction of the Hakodate waterworks. After leaving Hokkaido, he actively participated in railway technology and assumed the position of the president of the Imperial Government Railways.

Inherited engineers’ spirit

The Development Commission and the Hokkaido Government Office, which subsequently took over the administration of the Development Commission, were the cradle of Seijiro Hirai and other engineers who strived for Hokkaido development.

During the development era, many foreign engineers directed development. They were Horace Capron, advisor to the Hokkaido Development Commission; Benjamin S. Lyman , who conducted geological surveys; Edwin Dun, who laid the foundation of Hokkaido agriculture; N.H. Holt, who was an industrial engineer; and Joseph U. Crawford, a railway engineer. There were 76 employed foreigners in total, and two thirds of them were from the U.S.

On the other hand, the Development Commission considered nurturing of Japanese engineers as their biggest challenge. Skilled personnel with techniques and knowledge were gathered, even if they were former retainers of shogun. They included Takeaki Enomoto, Keisuke Otori and Ikunosuke Arai, who had fought in the Hakodate War, Tokusaburo Yamauchi, who was an apprentice of Lyman, and Naritoyo Fukushi, a pioneer of Japanese meteorological observation.

The Development Commission also sent many young people abroad to study, and also established the Sapporo Agricultural College (current Hokkaido University) in 1876 as a place for personnel training. Besides teaching civil engineering, dynamics and mathematics at the Sapporo Agricultural College soon after its foundation, William Wheeler conducted surveys and measurement of canals, roads and road construction around the Sapporo area as a development engineer. He later took over Clark’s position of second Vice-Principal.

It was Isami Hiroi, of a second generation class of the Sapporo Agricultural College, who inherited Wheeler’s teachings as an engineer. He became a professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Sapporo Agricultural College, also doubling as an engineer for the Hokkaido Government Office. He focused on the construction of Otaru Port. In 1908, he completed the North Breakwater of Otaru Port: Japan’s first long concrete breakwater. It is still being used in the present day, more than 100 years later. It was selected as one of the first Civil Engineering Heritage Sites recommended by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. Hiroi cleverly calculated and designed a wave power formula. Hiroi’s formula is still being used to design ports, and he has therefore been called the Father of port engineering in Japan.

Bunkichi Okazaki, an engineer of the Hokkaido Government Office, was Hiroi’s student when Hiroi was a professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Sapporo Agricultural College. After unprecedented heavy flooding of the Ishikari River in Hokkaido in 1898, Okazaki decided to undertake flood control of the Ishikari River. He advanced with research on flood control and took leadership for planning it. He assumed the position as the head of Ishikari River Flood Control Office, facing this difficult task. He was later called the Founder of Ishikari River flood control. Naturalism concerning his thoughts on flood control, “see nature as a teacher and learn from the cases that nature presents,” is still being highly appreciated.