The left bank district in the middle reaches of the Kizu river in Osaka city was, until the end of the Meiji period, open farmland with a few villages. Between Meiji 43-44, the city undertook redevelopment1 of extensive farmland north of the then Kotsuma village (covering Tamade, Senbon and Kishinosato) dividing it into a neat grid pattern, with the intention of creating a residential area which would connect to the developing Osaka city center. From the Taisho period into the Showa, a diverse range of factories such as spinning, textile, shipbuilding, steel, iron and mechanical instrument manufacturing, as well as chemical and power plants were clustering around the mid to lower reaches of the Kizu. Rentable homes for the factory workers were built largely on the redeveloped farmland and conversion of agricultural land to residential land continued to take place. Shops catering for the workers also opened and thrived.