Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company

Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company (北海道炭礦鉄道, Hokkaidō Tankō Tetsudō)[1] was a company engaged in coal mining, railway operation and shipping in Hokkaidō, Japan.

The company was established in 1889 when the state-owned Horonai Coal Mine (幌内炭鉱, Horonai Tankō) and Horonai Railway were sold to the company. The company developed coal mines and transported coal to consumers by its own railways and a fleet of steamships.[2]

The railway of the company was nationalized on October 1, 1906 under the Railway Nationalization Act. At this time the company was renamed Hokkaido Colliery & Steamship Co., Ltd. (北海道炭礦汽船, Hokkaidō Tankō Kisen), which continued mining until 1995 and is in business of coal importing from Russia as of 2014.[2]

  1. ^ Company advertisement, p. 195 of Handbook of Japan and Japanese exhibits at World's fair, St. Louis, 1904
  2. ^ a b Hokkaido Colliery & Steamship Co., Ltd. 当社のあゆみ (in Japanese). Retrieved August 23, 2014.