Construction began in January 1880; a test run was done in October from Temiya to Zenibako, and regular operations began at the end of November, running from Temiya to Sapporo. While the first railways in Japan, in the Keihin and Hanshin regions, were designed on English models, this was the first railway in Japan to be designed by Americans. Though the American engineers suggested the use of gauge track, as was standard in the United States, Kuroda thought ahead and it was decided that use of the British standard of would allow the Hokkaidō system to be compatible with, and perhaps in the future connected to, the Honshū network.