American Contributions to the Geological Mapping of Hokkaido, Late Nineteenth Century

During 1861-1862 Raphael Pumpelly (1838-1923) was engaged by the Japanese Government (the Tokugawa Shogunate) to review mineral resources and advise on mining operations. Political pressures against the Government's employ of foreigners resulted in his investigation being confined to southern Hokkaido and, at the end of 1862, led to the termination of his contract. Pumpelly completed a geological sketch map with structural cross-sections, provided formation descriptions, interpretations of landforms, suggestions for mine development, and interpretations of the tectonic history of the island. Remarking on the general parallelism of Asian mountain ranges, major valleys, coastlines and the Japanese islands, Pumpelly envisioned a NE-SW-trending system of tectonic elevation and depression that governed the geomorphic configuration of the Northern Hemisphere worldwide. In 1878, under the new leadership of the Emperor following the Meiji Restoration, foreign specialists were welcomed to Japan in order to modernize government, science, and industry. Benjamin Smith Lyman (1835-1920) and Henry Smith Munroe (1850-1933) undertook geologic studies of Hokkaido, focusing on mineral resources, and produced a regional stratigraphy, structural synthesis and geologic map for the entire island. Their work, published by the development agency for Hokkaido (the Kaitakushi), served as a foundation for further studies by Japanese researchers, many of whom began as assistants to Lyman and Munroe.