This is a reproduction of the type of boat that was used to transport rice and coal down the Onga Rive and Horikawa Canals to Wakamatsu. Construction of the Horikawa Canals started in 1621 and they were completed in 1762 after some great effort. The transportation of coal via Kawahirata boats reached a peak around the middle of the Meiji period. When the Chikuho Kogyo Railway opened between Nogata and Wakamatsu in 1891, the canals were made obsolete by railway transportation.