Shisō

Shisō lies in the mountains of northwestern Harima, where the Ibo River flows south from the ironmaking country. In the seventeenth century, merchants developed boat transport as far as Yamasaki, the district's castle town. Iron made in the northern mountains was gathered there and sent downstream to Aboshi. Furnace operators obtained access to forests managed by domains or the shogunate, using their iron sand and timber for the tatara works.