Matsumae clan
After the Matsumae clan settled on the southern tip of Hokkaido in 1590, they traded goods with the Ainu who lived in the area. In the Edo period, one of the 13 trading locations across the Ishikari plain was (Ainu: Shuma-o-mappu ()), which corresponds to the modern-day Shimamatsu River basin. The trading area was active until the end of the Edo era. Early Japanese contact with the area included in 1755, when jezo spruce trees were harvested along the Izari river, and in 1805, when the river was farmed for salmon and trout.