http://samurai-archives.com/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=LordAmeth&feedformat=atomSamuraiWiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T09:37:28ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.35.2http://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Manshu-ji&diff=44166Manshu-ji2024-03-05T10:22:03Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>[[File:Manshuji.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The main hall (''hondô'') of Manshû-ji.]]<br />
*''Japanese': 満舟寺 ''(Manshuu-ji)''<br />
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Manshû-ji is a Buddhist temple in [[Mitarai]], [[Hiroshima prefecture]], said to have been founded by [[Taira no Kiyomori]] when, caught in a storm on his way to [[Kyoto]], he came ashore there. Images enshrined there include one of the [[bodhisattva]] [[Jizo|Jizô]] associated with the curing of disease, and one of the 11-headed bodhisattva [[Kannon]] (possibly made by [[Gyoki|Gyôki]]).<br />
<br />
While the official origin story (''[[engi]]'') of the temple traces the temple's origin to Taira no Kiyomori and the 12th century, reliable historical records also speak of a Kannon hall, bell tower, and head priest's residence (''kuri'') being built beginning in the 1720s, and the temple being officially recognized by the domain as a [[Shingon]] temple under the name Manshû-ji in [[1751]].<br />
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The temple grounds include the grave of ''[[haikai]]'' poet [[Kurita Chodo|Kurita Chodô]]. A ''hengaku'' plaque hanging in the main hall of the temple was created by Kurita copying a work of calligraphy by [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan]] scholar-official [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]]; the original work of calligraphy is also in the temple's collection.<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.; plaques on-site at Manshû-ji.; ''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 2, Aug 1997, p2.; Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.; ''Naha shishi'' 那覇市史 vol 6 下, Naha City Office (1980), 794-795.; Kimura Yoshisato 木村吉聡 (ed.), ''Ryûkyû shisetsu no Edo nobori to Mitarai'' 琉球使節の江戸上りと御手洗, Shiomachi kankô kôryû Center 潮待ち館観光交流センター (2001), 18-21.</ref><br />
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The temple is also the location of a number of gravestones said to be among the oldest [[burial Practices|turtle-shaped gravestones]] in Japan that are not marking ''daimyô'' graves.<br />
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==References==<br />
*Plaques at Ondo Tourist Cultural Center Uzushio おんど観光文化会館うずしお, Kure, Hiroshima pref.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36861957252/sizes/k/]<br />
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36889622235/sizes/h/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36719337742/in/photostream/]<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Temples]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Manshu-ji&diff=44165Manshu-ji2024-03-05T10:21:48Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>[[File:Manshuji.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The main hall (''hondô'') of Manshû-ji.]]<br />
*''Japanese': 満舟寺 ''(Manshuu-ji)''<br />
<br />
Manshû-ji is a Buddhist temple in [[Mitarai]], [[Hiroshima prefecture]], said to have been founded by [[Taira no Kiyomori]] when, caught in a storm on his way to [[Kyoto]], he came ashore there. Images enshrined there include one of the [[bodhisattva]] [[Jizo|Jizô]] associated with the curing of disease, and one of the 11-headed bodhisattva [[Kannon]] (possibly made by [[Gyoki|Gyôki]]).<br />
<br />
While the official origin story (''[[engi]]'') of the temple traces the temple's origin to Taira no Kiyomori and the 12th century, reliable historical records also speak of a Kannon hall, bell tower, and head priest's residence (''kuri'') being built beginning in the 1720s, and the temple being officially recognized by the domain as a [[Shingon]] temple under the name Manshû-ji in [[1751]].<br />
<br />
The temple grounds include the grave of ''[[haikai]]'' poet [[Kurita Chodo|Kurita Chodô]]. A ''hengaku'' plaque hanging in the main hall of the temple was created by Kurita copying a work of calligraphy by [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan]] scholar-official [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]]; the original work of calligraphy is also in the temple's collection.<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.; plaques on-site at Manshû-ji.; ''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 2, Aug 1997, p2.; Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.; ''Naha shishi'' 那覇市史 vol 6 下, Naha City Office (1980), 794-795.; Kimura Yoshisato 木村吉聡 (ed.), ''Ryûkyû shisetsu no Edo nobori to Mitarai'' 琉球使節の江戸上りと御手洗, Shiomachi kankô kôryû Center 潮待ち館観光交流センター (2001), 18-21.</ref><br />
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The temple is also the location of a number of gravestones said to be among the oldest [[burial practices|turtle-shaped gravestones]] in Japan that are not marking ''daimyô'' graves.<br />
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==References==<br />
*Plaques at Ondo Tourist Cultural Center Uzushio おんど観光文化会館うずしお, Kure, Hiroshima pref.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36861957252/sizes/k/]<br />
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36889622235/sizes/h/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36719337742/in/photostream/]<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Temples]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Burial_Practices&diff=44164Burial Practices2024-03-05T10:19:49Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Buddhist Burial */</p>
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<div>[[File:Kammu-tomb.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The site of the mausoleum of [[Emperor Kammu]], as it appears today following the re-figuration of Imperial tombs under the [[State Shinto]] of the [[Meiji period]]]]<br />
Burial practices in Japan have changed considerably over time, and historically varied considerably according to social class, among other factors. Since the introduction of [[Buddhism]] in the 6th century or so, that tradition has dominated burial and memorial practices for the vast majority of Japanese, albeit with some notable exceptions: Imperial burials, for example, were divorced to a great extent from Buddhist trappings in the [[Meiji period]], and continue to be surrounded by constructions of [[State Shinto]] today.<br />
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==Kofun==<br />
[[File:Sujin-kofun.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The mound-tomb of [[Emperor Sujin]], as depicted in an [[1867]] handscroll painted by [[Okamoto Tori|Okamoto Tôri]]]]<br />
::''Main article: [[Kofun]]''<br />
From roughly the 3rd to 7th centuries CE, local elites across much of the Japanese archipelago were buried in massive tumuli, or tomb-mounds, called ''[[kofun]]''. The [[Kofun period]] of Japanese history is named after this practice. ''Kofun'' varied greatly in size, and experienced some notable shifts in shape over time. The largest were centered in the [[Kinai]] ([[Kansai]]) region, though a great many can be found across western Japan, including in [[Kyushu]], as well as on the Korean peninsula. ''Kofun'' were often topped or surrounded by clay figures known as ''[[haniwa]]'', which are believed to have performed some kind of spiritual protective function, or perhaps to have simply served as ornamentation, signalling the wealth or power of the occupant of the tomb. The tombs were composed largely of earth, atop a core of stone corridors, containing one or more chambers of grave goods, including weapons, armor, pottery, and ''[[magatama]]'' beads. <br />
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Commoners during this time were often buried in clay pots. Fields of such pots have been uncovered.<br />
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==Buddhist Burial==<br />
[[File:Murasaki-grave.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The grave of [[Murasaki Shikibu]] (d. c. 1014?) in [[Kyoto]]]]<br />
[[File:Sotoba.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A group of ''[[sotoba]]'' at Negishi Cemetery in [[Yokohama]]]]<br />
[[File:Shimazu-ujihisa.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The graves of [[Shimazu Ujihisa]] (d. [[1387]]) and his wife and daughter, at [[Fukusho-ji|Fukushô-ji]] in [[Kagoshima]]]]<br />
[[File:John Manjiro Grave.JPG|right|thumb|320px|The graves of [[John Manjiro|John Manjirô]] and his family, at [[Zoshigaya Cemetery|Zôshigaya Cemetery]] in [[Tokyo]]]]<br />
The spread of Buddhism brought the decline and eventual disappearance of the ''kofun''. Bodies continued to be buried, however, for some centuries before the practice of cremation became standard.<br />
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As late as the [[Heian period]], most graves, including those of top-ranking [[kuge|aristocrats]], were left unmarked. The early 12th century text ''[[Eiga monogatari]]'' is among the earliest describing the visit of a member of the [[Fujiwara clan]] to his father's grave, and even in this case the grave is unmarked, and the individual expresses his woe at being unable to find its precise location. The practice of cleaning or maintaining gravesites was also not standard at this time, and so he finds his father's grave (or, at least, its rough vicinity) overgrown with weeds. Prof. Hank Glassman suggests that the advent of the custom of visiting and maintaining gravesites may have been spurred by the adoption into Japan of [[Song Dynasty]] [[Neo-Confucianism]], which emphasizes [[filial piety]] (devotion and loyalty to one's parents).<ref name=glassman>Hank Glassman, "Remembering the Dead in Medieval Japan: On the Origins of Stone Grave Markers," talk given at University of California, Santa Barbara, 7 May 2015.</ref><br />
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The earliest grave markers were likely flat wooden slats, carved at one end into the shape of a ''[[gorinto|gorintô]]'' [[stupa]]. By the 12th century or so, these developed into fully three-dimensional wooden ''gorintô'' (wooden grave markers roughly in the shape of a five-story pagoda), and then later into stone ones. The custom of employing wooden slats survives, however, and it is quite standard today for the family of the deceased to pay Buddhist monks to inscribe Chinese & Sanskrit calligraphy on new wooden slats, called ''sotoba'', every day for the first week after burial, and on an annual basis from then on.<ref name=glassman/><br />
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This practice of marking graves with wooden, and later stone, markers is believed to have been imported from the Continent, although the ''gorintô'' form is a distinctively Japanese one, and does not generally appear on Chinese graves. The first stone ''gorintô'' grave markers were erected for members of the aristocracy, and elite monks, by Chinese stonecarvers who had been brought over to Japan to aid in the reconstruction of the great temple at [[Todai-ji|Tôdai-ji]], in [[Nara]], which had been destroyed in the [[Genpei War]] ([[1180]]-[[1185]]). Some of the very first such stone ''gorintô'' grave markers may have been erected at [[Mt. Koya|Mt. Kôya]]. The practice quickly spread, however, with stone markers of this type appearing in places as disparate as [[Hiraizumi]] (in the north, modern-day [[Iwate prefecture]]) and parts of Kyushu less than a century later. [[Yi Xingmo]] and a number of the other Chinese stonemasons remained in Japan, with their disciples and descendants developing into the [[Okura school|Ôkura]] and [[I school|I (Yi) schools]] of stoneworking.<ref name=glassman/><br />
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Many [[Kamakura period]] graves, as well as some [[Edo period]] ''daimyô'' graves, feature tombstones erected atop stone sculptures in the shape of a turtle. These ''kifu'' ("turtle seated") graves 亀趺墓 take the form of a "spirit turtle" (''reiki'' 霊亀) with hexagonal patterns on its shell and its head held up. It is a form that originated some 1500 years ago in China and continues to be widely used in China. The vast majority of Edo period turtle-shaped gravestones mark the graves of members of ''daimyô'' families; non-daimyô examples are rare. A group of such turtle-shaped gravestones at [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]] temple in the [[Inland Sea]] port town of [[Mitarai]] are said to be among the oldest in Japan outside of ''daimyô'' graves.<ref>Plaques on-site at Manshû-ji, Mitarai.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36719337742/in/photostream/]</ref><br />
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All Emperors from [[Emperor Shomu|Shômu]] ([[724]]-[[749]]) to [[Emperor Komei|Kômei]] ([[1846]]-[[1867]]) were buried in Buddhist ceremonies; all those from [[Empress Jito|Empress Jitô]] ([[686]]-[[697]]) until the beginning of the [[Edo period]], with a few exceptions, were cremated. Early in that period, from Jitô (686-697) until [[Emperor Junna]] ([[823]]-[[833]]), the bones remaining after cremation were powdered and scattered.<ref name=amino>Amino Yoshihiko. "Deconstructing 'Japan'." ''East Asian History'' 3 (1992), 122.</ref><br />
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From [[Emperor Komyo|Emperor Kômyô]] ([[1336]]-[[1347]]) onwards, for a time, Emperors were buried at sites chosen by Buddhist ritual, nearby to a major temple; funerary rites associated with cremation were employed, but the bodies were actually buried.<ref>This and the previous statement seem to contradict one another; it is unclear from Amino's text which was the case.</ref> Beginning with [[Emperor Go-Kogon|Emperor Go-Kôgon]] ([[1352]]-[[1370]]),<ref>Or possibly [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] (r. [[1611]]-[[1629]]), as indicated in Amino, p141.</ref> a number of emperors were buried in simple graves, and without tumuli, at [[Sennyu-ji|Sennyû-ji]]; [[Emperor Go-Hanazono]] was an exception.<ref name=amino/><br />
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==Edo Period==<br />
As in earlier periods, burial practices in the Edo period differed considerably by hierarchical class. The tomb of [[Tokugawa Ietsugu]] (d. [[1716]]) at [[Zojo-ji|Zôjô-ji]] is perhaps indicative of the typical form of shogunal burial. A small stone pagoda-like structure stands at the center of a stone platform, ringed by a stone fence. The shogun is buried some distance below, underground, in a wooden coffin, within another wooden ([[paulownia]]) casket, within a burial chamber of cut stone.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, "What Graves say about Status and Wealth," National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/12591356384/sizes/o/]</ref> Shogunal tombs at [[Kan'ei-ji]] are each located within their own distinct section of the cemetery grounds, each with their own lavish vermillion-painted gateway, ornamented with a plaque inscribed by the Emperor himself.<ref>Plaques on-site at the mausoleum gates of shogunal graves, Kan'ei-ji.</ref><br />
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The grave of [[Makino Tadakazu]] (d. [[1735]]), lord of [[Nagaoka han]], at the [[Makino clan]] [[family temple]] of [[Saikai-ji]] in Tokyo, might be taken as an example of a typical ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' burial. Makino is also buried in a double set of wooden caskets, within a cut-stone burial chamber, though the above-ground portion of the tomb is far less extensive. It consists chiefly of a single ''hôkyôintô'' pagoda-like stone marker.<ref name=rekihaku/><br />
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The grave of a ''[[hatamoto]]'' of 400 ''tawara'' income, at Jishô-in, consists of a stone dolmen burial chamber, containing a Tokoname ware ceramic pot, within which the body was interred.<ref name=rekihaku/><br />
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For at least some portion of the commoner population, it was common to be buried in wooden caskets, sometimes rather roughly made ones, and buried alongside numerous others.<ref name=rekihaku/><br />
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==Meiji Period==<br />
A reconfiguration of Imperial burial practices was one of a number of key elements of the [[Meiji government|Meiji government's]] [[haibutsu kishaku|anti-Buddhist policies]], and construction of [[State Shinto]]. [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]] (d. [[1867]]) was the last emperor to be given a Buddhist funeral. When his consort, [[Empress Dowager Eisho|Empress Dowager Eishô]], died in [[1897]], she was given a funeral in the newly invented tradition of State Shintô, albeit on the grounds of Sennyû-ji. This was the last Imperial funeral to take place at a Buddhist temple. Their son, the [[Meiji Emperor]], was given a State Shintô funeral following his death in [[1912]]. A temporary structure called the ''sôjôden'' was constructed at the Aoyama Parade Grounds (today, the outer gardens of [[Meiji Shrine]]), where a funeral ceremony was performed before placing the imperial casket on a funeral train to Kyoto. The grave of the Meiji Emperor, the last emperor to be buried in Kyoto, was erected in Fushimi-Momoyama, near that of [[Emperor Kammu]], the first to rule in Kyoto, and the first to be buried there. Both subsequent emperors after Meiji have been buried in Tokyo, at the [[Musashi Imperial Graveyard]] in Hachiôji.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 148-152.</ref><br />
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==Graves in Okinawa==<br />
[[File:Ginowanudun-tomb.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The [[Ginowan-udun tomb]] in Sueyoshi Park. An 18th century tomb where members of the Gushichan and Ginowan-udun princely lineages were interred]]<br />
::''Main article: [[Okinawan tombs]]''<br />
Burial practices in Okinawa developed along a separate lineage from those of mainland Japan; though still closely tied to Buddhism, Okinawan graves and the practices surrounding them bear much more in common with customs from certain parts of southern China.<br />
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Burial in pots laid in natural caves or under rock outcroppings was once standard, but was later replaced by more elaborate stone tombs. Stone tombs in the form of houses, called ''hafû baka'' ("roofed graves"), are one of two chief forms these take; the royal mausoleum of [[Tamaudun]] is the most prominent example of this style. The [[Ginowan-udun tomb]] in Sueyoshi Park, in [[Naha]], is a famous example of the other, particularly distinctive, Okinawan style of tomb, which is said to resemble a turtle shell. Such tombs are called ''kaami nu kuu baka'' ("tortoise shell graves").<ref>"Shuri ma~i" 首里ま~い. Pamphlet. Naha City Board of Education Cultural Properties Division 那覇市教育委員会文化財課, 1989.</ref> The practice of constructing tombs in this "tortoise-shell" style first spread to Okinawa from southeastern China in the 17th century, and became popular among the [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|scholar-aristocrat]] elites, and then among the broader population by the end of the 18th century.<ref>Plaque at [[Izena dunchi tomb]], Shintoshin, Naha.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33589085720/sizes/o/]</ref> This spread of Chinese-style tombs coincided with the spread of popularity of ''[[feng shui]]'', and with a sinification more broadly of many aspects of Ryukyuan culture in the 18th century.<ref name=akamine90>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 90-91.</ref><br />
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Mound tombs remained quite common in Okinawa into the early modern period, and today it is quite standard among Okinawan people to have the whole family buried in a common family tomb. While Japanese families may also share a family tomb, with the cremated remains of family members being interred under a common tombstone, Okinawan tombs are small stone structures unto themselves, with several chambers under a single roof. When a family member passes away, their body is placed within the central chamber, and some time later the bones are washed in a ritual known as ''senkotsu'' (lit. "washing bones"), and placed in a ceramic or stone urn, which is then interred alongside the urns of other family members in one of the tomb's side chambers. Living family members gather and picnic in a small stone-paved area immediately in front of the tomb on ''[[shiimiisai]]'', a grave-cleaning festival related to the [[Qingming Festival]] observed in China. This small paved area may have been conceived of as a space for collecting and storing ''[[qi]]'', in accordance with ''feng shui'' philosophies.<ref name=akamine90/><br />
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==References==<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Buddhism]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Kurita_Chodo&diff=44163Kurita Chodo2024-03-05T10:01:20Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>[[File:Manshuji.JPG|right|thumb|400px|A wooden plaque (''hengaku'') at the Buddhist temple Manshû-ji, in [[Mitarai]], commissioned or produced by Kurita, based on calligraphy by Ryukyuan scholar-aristocrat [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]]]]<br />
*''Birth: [[1749]]''<br />
*''Death: [[1814]]/8/21''<br />
*''Other Names'': [[後藤]]政範 ''(birth name: Gotou Masanori)'', 蘭芝, 二畳庵, 息隠 ''(poetry names: Ranshi, Nijouan, Sokuin)''<br />
*''Japanese'': 栗田樗堂 ''(Kurita Chodou)''<br />
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Kurita Chodô was a ''[[haikai]]'' poet of the late 18th and early 19th century; he was considered one of the seven great ''haikai'' poets (the ''shichi-haijin'') of his time.<br />
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Kurita was born in [[1749]] in Matsuyama ([[Iyo province]], [[Shikoku]]), the son of ''[[sake|saké]]'' brewer Buzen-ya Kiemon, but married into the Kurita family, and took on that surname as his own. For over thirty years, from age 23 in [[1771]] until age 54 in [[1802]], he served as a local town elder (''machikata ô-toshiyori'') in one of the neighborhoods of Matsuyama. <br />
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Taking up an interest in ''haikai'', Kurita studied under Kyoto-based poet [[Kato Kyotai|Katô Kyôtai]]<!--加藤暁台 aka 久村暁台-->, and had close interactions with [[Kobayashi Issa]] and [[Inoue Shiro|Inoue Shirô]]. For example, he is known to have engaged in poetry recital alongside Kobayashi Issa on an occasion in [[1795]], at Matsuyama's famous [[Dogo Onsen|Dôgo Onsen]].<br />
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After retiring from his official civic position in Matsuyama, Kurita relocated sometime in the first years of the 1800s to the port town of [[Mitarai]] (today part of [[Kure]] City, [[Hiroshima prefecture]]), which lies roughly halfway between his home province of Iyo and the Honshû mainland. As Mitarai lay along the major [[Inland Sea]] trading routes, Kurita remained well-informed and well-connected, but also led a relatively quiet life in retirement, composing poetry, and publishing numerous poetry collections while living in a tiny two-[[tatami]] hermitage.<ref>Plaques on-site at Manshu-ji.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36055415304/sizes/h/]</ref><br />
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Kurita died on [[1814]]/8/21, and was buried at [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]] in Mitarai. A wooden plaque, or ''hengaku'', which still hangs in the temple's main hall (''hondô'') was created by Kurita, with the help of Kyoto-based woodcarver Yura Jûbei<!--由良重兵衛-->, as a copy of a work of calligraphy, also still today in the temple's collection, by [[Ryukyuan missions to Edo|Ryukyuan envoy]] [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]].<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.; plaques on-site at Manshû-ji.</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%A0%97%E7%94%B0%E6%A8%97%E5%A0%82 Kurita Chodô]," ''Nihon jinmei daijiten'' 日本人名大辞典, Kodansha, 2009.<br />
*''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 2, Aug 1997, p2. <br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Mitarai&diff=44162Mitarai2024-03-04T22:58:59Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Edo Period */</p>
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<div>*''Other Names'': 豊町御手洗 ''(Yutaka-machi Mitarai)''<br />
*''Japanese'': 御手洗 ''(Mitarai)''<br />
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Mitarai was a port town in [[Hiroshima han]], located on Ôsaki-Shimojima, one of the Geiyo Islands in the [[Inland Sea]], located roughly halfway between the cities of [[Kure]] (in [[Hiroshima han]]) and [[Imabari]] (in [[Iyo province]], on [[Shikoku]]). Today, Mitarai has been absorbed into Kure City.<br />
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[[File:Mitarai.jpg|center|thumb|1000px|The port of Mitarai in [[1904]]]]<br />
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The town's name literally means "hand washing," and depending on the source one refers to, the placename derives from either [[Izanagi]], [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]], or [[Sugawara no Michizane]] having washed their hands there at one time. Numerous rivers, ponds, and other sites across Japan share the same name (sometimes pronounced Mitarashi or Mitarase, but written with the same [[kanji]]).<ref>''Mitarai tsûshi'' 御手洗通志 16 (July 2005), 5, 8.</ref><br />
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==Medieval==<br />
Mitarai was a major site of naval strategic significance since early times, and in the [[Kamakura period]], the [[Kurushima clan|Kurushima]] [[Murakami clan]] established a maritime checkpoint there. In the [[Sengoku period]], numerous battles took place between groups such as the Murakami and the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi clan]], trying to gain control of the port and/or of the waters around Mitarai. Around the time of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Toyotomi Hideyoshi's]] [[1585]] [[Invasion of Shikoku (1585)|Invasion of Shikoku]], [[Kato Kiyomasa|Katô Kiyomasa]] constructed a castle or fortress at Mitarai. Some portions of the walls of that fortress, or of another Sengoku-era fortress, survive today as part of the grounds of the Buddhist temple [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]]. These walls once faced directly, or nearly directly, onto the sea; however, the land was filled in sometime in the mid-[[Edo period]], such that the temple and the walls are a bit more inland today.<ref>Plaques on-site at Manshû-ji temple.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36889622235/sizes/h/]</ref><br />
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==Edo Period==<br />
<br />
Mitarai got its start as an officially designated port around [[1666]], when the domain granted permission for the construction of divided homes; it's said that as of the 1630s, there was not a single residence,<ref>Or at least no residences of a certain type; presumably there must have been farmhouses of some sort, but according to records from the time, there were no ''yashiki'' 屋敷.</ref>, but only fields and orchards. As both official (shogunate and ''daimyô'') and merchant ships increasingly began to sail through the center of the Inland Sea, rather than only closer to the coast as they had done in the medieval period, Mitarai was able to grow in centrality and importance.<ref>Kimura Yoshisato 木村吉聡 (ed.), ''Ryukyu shisetsu no Edo nobori to Mitarai'' 琉球使節の江戸上りと御手洗, Shiomachi kankô kôryû Center 潮待ち館観光交流センター (2001), 3.</ref> ''Machi toshiyori'' (town elders), under the jurisdiction of Ôchô village, were first established at Mitarai in [[1713]]. The town thus quickly grew into a significant port over the course of the 17th to 18th centuries, and all the more so in the early 19th century as the Japan-wide "travel boom" burgeoned. As late as the 1690s, when [[Engelbert Kaempfer]] passed through, he estimated there were only about forty homes in the town.<ref>Kimura, 5.</ref> And yet, he writes that there were many ships anchored in the area, waiting for winds or tides, and that the port was well-known among Inland Sea sailors.<ref>Kimura, 6-7.</ref> By [[1748]], there were some 83 homes. Twenty years later, the town had grown somewhat to number 106 homes housing over 530 people, and by [[1801]], the population had roughly tripled, to over 1,500.<ref>Kimura, 1.</ref> The local ''shôya'' (town or village headman) was split off from the jurisdiction of Ôchô village to become its own jurisdiction unto itself in [[1808]]. A branch of [[Sumiyoshi Shrine]] was established around [[1830]], along with a wharf (''hatoba'') and a certain amount of landfill, extending the size of the town somewhat.<br />
<br />
Like many other prominent Inland Sea ports, Mitarai was chiefly home to warehousers, affiliated with wealthy, powerful warehousing guilds in [[Osaka]]; essentially they served as middlemen, buying, storing, and selling a variety of goods which sea captains transported across the Inland Sea and beyond. A number of western Japanese [[han|domains]] maintained ''[[funayado]]'' in Mitarai - places run by merchants with a particular loyalty to that domain (''[[goyo shonin|goyô shônin]]''), and where officials or merchants associated with that domain would have a designated place to stay, and to do business with (or through) in Mitarai. [[Kagoshima han|Kagoshima]], [[Kumamoto han|Kumamoto]], [[Choshu han|Chôshû]], [[Nakatsu han|Nakatsu]], [[Nobuoka han|Nobuoka]], [[Obi han|Obi]]<!--飫肥-->, [[Kokura han|Kokura]], [[Fukuoka han|Fukuoka]], [[Uwajima han|Uwajima]], and [[Ozu han|Ôzu domains]] all maintained such establishments in Mitarai.<ref>Kimura, 5.</ref><br />
<br />
During the [[Edo period]], Mitarai became one of the more typical stops for ''daimyô'' and their entourages to stop during their ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys to and from [[Edo]]; [[VOC|Dutch]], [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] also stopped here, and a ''hengaku'' plaque featuring calligraphy by Ryukyuan envoy [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]] can be found in the temple of [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]] in the town.<ref>Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.</ref> Numerous other notable figures visited Mitarai, including [[Ino Tadataka|Inô Tadataka]] in [[1806]], [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]] in [[1826]], [[Yoshida Shoin|Yoshida Shôin]] in [[1853]], [[Sanjo Sanetomi|Sanjô Sanetomi]] and [[Fall of Seven Nobles Incident|several other court nobles]] in [[1864]].<br />
<br />
Like many such port towns, Mitarai was home to a number of [[prostitution|brothels]], catering to sailors and travelers. Hiroshima domain authorities paid little attention to regulating or forbidding prostitution; Mitarai competed with other neighboring ports which offered other entertainments, including plays, lotteries, and teahouses. There were four main brothels in Mitarai: the Sakaiya, Wakaebisuya, Tomitaya, and Ebiya. In the mid-18th century, the town had a population of just over 500, of whom roughly 100 were indentured women. However, by the 19th century, this proportion dropped considerably. In the 1860s, the Wakaebisuya, which employed around a hundred women by itself at its peak time, now had only around a dozen; meanwhile, the other brothels were on the brink of closing.<br />
<br />
By the [[Bakumatsu period]], Mitarai began to decline as many sea captains bypassed the warehousers and simply bought and sold directly with producers in cities like [[Onomichi]] and consumers in places like Osaka. By that time, too, fears of foreign ships led to Mitarai being equipped with shore batteries.<br />
<br />
Though long a part of Ôchô Village, Mitarai officially became its own separate municipality in [[1879]]. Today, it is part of Kure City, and is officially known as Yutaka-machi Mitarai.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 163-187.<br />
*''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 1, Dec 1996, p11.<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
==External Links==<br />
*[http://www.yutaka-kanko.jp/ Mitarai Official Tourist Webpage] (Japanese)<br />
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yutakamachimitarai,+Kure,+Hiroshima+Prefecture,+Japan/@34.2051563,132.7893314,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x3550158a07dd2d1f:0x399ab9134939078d Mitarai on Google Maps]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cities and Towns]]<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Manshu-ji&diff=44161Manshu-ji2024-03-04T22:49:59Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Manshuji.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The main hall (''hondô'') of Manshû-ji.]]<br />
*''Japanese': 満舟寺 ''(Manshuu-ji)''<br />
<br />
Manshû-ji is a Buddhist temple in [[Mitarai]], [[Hiroshima prefecture]], said to have been founded by [[Taira no Kiyomori]] when, caught in a storm on his way to [[Kyoto]], he came ashore there. Images enshrined there include one of the [[bodhisattva]] [[Jizo|Jizô]] associated with the curing of disease, and one of the 11-headed bodhisattva [[Kannon]] (possibly made by [[Gyoki|Gyôki]]).<br />
<br />
While the official origin story (''[[engi]]'') of the temple traces the temple's origin to Taira no Kiyomori and the 12th century, reliable historical records also speak of a Kannon hall, bell tower, and head priest's residence (''kuri'') being built beginning in the 1720s, and the temple being officially recognized by the domain as a [[Shingon]] temple under the name Manshû-ji in [[1751]].<br />
<br />
The temple grounds include the grave of ''[[haikai]]'' poet [[Kurita Chodo|Kurita Chodô]]. A ''hengaku'' plaque hanging in the main hall of the temple was created by Kurita copying a work of calligraphy by [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan]] scholar-official [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]]; the original work of calligraphy is also in the temple's collection.<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.; plaques on-site at Manshû-ji.; ''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 2, Aug 1997, p2.; Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.; ''Naha shishi'' 那覇市史 vol 6 下, Naha City Office (1980), 794-795.; Kimura Yoshisato 木村吉聡 (ed.), ''Ryûkyû shisetsu no Edo nobori to Mitarai'' 琉球使節の江戸上りと御手洗, Shiomachi kankô kôryû Center 潮待ち館観光交流センター (2001), 18-21.</ref><br />
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{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Plaques at Ondo Tourist Cultural Center Uzushio おんど観光文化会館うずしお, Kure, Hiroshima pref.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36861957252/sizes/k/]<br />
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36889622235/sizes/h/]<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Temples]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Mitarai&diff=44160Mitarai2024-03-04T22:44:13Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Other Names'': 豊町御手洗 ''(Yutaka-machi Mitarai)''<br />
*''Japanese'': 御手洗 ''(Mitarai)''<br />
<br />
Mitarai was a port town in [[Hiroshima han]], located on Ôsaki-Shimojima, one of the Geiyo Islands in the [[Inland Sea]], located roughly halfway between the cities of [[Kure]] (in [[Hiroshima han]]) and [[Imabari]] (in [[Iyo province]], on [[Shikoku]]). Today, Mitarai has been absorbed into Kure City.<br />
<br />
[[File:Mitarai.jpg|center|thumb|1000px|The port of Mitarai in [[1904]]]]<br />
<br />
The town's name literally means "hand washing," and depending on the source one refers to, the placename derives from either [[Izanagi]], [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]], or [[Sugawara no Michizane]] having washed their hands there at one time. Numerous rivers, ponds, and other sites across Japan share the same name (sometimes pronounced Mitarashi or Mitarase, but written with the same [[kanji]]).<ref>''Mitarai tsûshi'' 御手洗通志 16 (July 2005), 5, 8.</ref><br />
<br />
==Medieval==<br />
Mitarai was a major site of naval strategic significance since early times, and in the [[Kamakura period]], the [[Kurushima clan|Kurushima]] [[Murakami clan]] established a maritime checkpoint there. In the [[Sengoku period]], numerous battles took place between groups such as the Murakami and the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi clan]], trying to gain control of the port and/or of the waters around Mitarai. Around the time of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Toyotomi Hideyoshi's]] [[1585]] [[Invasion of Shikoku (1585)|Invasion of Shikoku]], [[Kato Kiyomasa|Katô Kiyomasa]] constructed a castle or fortress at Mitarai. Some portions of the walls of that fortress, or of another Sengoku-era fortress, survive today as part of the grounds of the Buddhist temple [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]]. These walls once faced directly, or nearly directly, onto the sea; however, the land was filled in sometime in the mid-[[Edo period]], such that the temple and the walls are a bit more inland today.<ref>Plaques on-site at Manshû-ji temple.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36889622235/sizes/h/]</ref><br />
<br />
==Edo Period==<br />
<br />
Mitarai got its start as an officially designated port around [[1666]], when the domain granted permission for the construction of divided homes; it's said that as of the 1630s, there was not a single residence,<ref>Or at least no residences of a certain type; presumably there must have been farmhouses of some sort, but according to records from the time, there were no ''yashiki'' 屋敷.</ref>, but only fields and orchards. As both official (shogunate and ''daimyô'') and merchant ships increasingly began to sail through the center of the Inland Sea, rather than only closer to the coast as they had done in the medieval period, Mitarai was able to grow in centrality and importance.<ref>Kimura Yoshisato 木村吉聡 (ed.), ''Ryukyu shisetsu no Edo nobori to Mitarai'' 琉球使節の江戸上りと御手洗, Shiomachi kankô kôryû Center 潮待ち館観光交流センター (2001), 3.</ref> The town thus quickly grew into a significant port over the course of the 17th to 18th centuries, and all the more so in the early 19th century as the Japan-wide "travel boom" burgeoned. As late as the 1690s, when [[Engelbert Kaempfer]] passed through, he estimated there were only about forty homes in the town.<ref>Kimura, 5.</ref> And yet, he writes that there were many ships anchored in the area, waiting for winds or tides, and that the port was well-known among Inland Sea sailors.<ref>Kimura, 6-7.</ref> By [[1748]], there were some 83 homes. Twenty years later, the town had grown somewhat to number 106 homes housing over 530 people, and by [[1801]], the population had roughly tripled, to over 1,500.<ref>Kimura, 1.</ref> Like many other prominent Inland Sea ports, Mitarai was chiefly home to warehousers, affiliated with wealthy, powerful warehousing guilds in [[Osaka]]; essentially they served as middlemen, buying, storing, and selling a variety of goods which sea captains transported across the Inland Sea and beyond. A number of western Japanese [[han|domains]] maintained ''[[funayado]]'' in Mitarai - places run by merchants with a particular loyalty to that domain (''[[goyo shonin|goyô shônin]]''), and where officials or merchants associated with that domain would have a designated place to stay, and to do business with (or through) in Mitarai. [[Kagoshima han|Kagoshima]], [[Kumamoto han|Kumamoto]], [[Choshu han|Chôshû]], [[Nakatsu han|Nakatsu]], [[Nobuoka han|Nobuoka]], [[Obi han|Obi]]<!--飫肥-->, [[Kokura han|Kokura]], [[Fukuoka han|Fukuoka]], [[Uwajima han|Uwajima]], and [[Ozu han|Ôzu domains]] all maintained such establishments in Mitarai.<ref>Kimura, 5.</ref><br />
<br />
During the [[Edo period]], Mitarai became one of the more typical stops for ''daimyô'' and their entourages to stop during their ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys to and from [[Edo]]; [[VOC|Dutch]], [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] also stopped here, and a ''hengaku'' plaque featuring calligraphy by Ryukyuan envoy [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]] can be found in the temple of [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]] in the town.<ref>Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.</ref> Numerous other notable figures visited Mitarai, including [[Ino Tadataka|Inô Tadataka]] in [[1806]], [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]] in [[1826]], [[Yoshida Shoin|Yoshida Shôin]] in [[1853]], [[Sanjo Sanetomi|Sanjô Sanetomi]] and [[Fall of Seven Nobles Incident|several other court nobles]] in [[1864]].<br />
<br />
Like many such port towns, Mitarai was home to a number of [[prostitution|brothels]], catering to sailors and travelers. Hiroshima domain authorities paid little attention to regulating or forbidding prostitution; Mitarai competed with other neighboring ports which offered other entertainments, including plays, lotteries, and teahouses. There were four main brothels in Mitarai: the Sakaiya, Wakaebisuya, Tomitaya, and Ebiya. In the mid-18th century, the town had a population of just over 500, of whom roughly 100 were indentured women. However, by the 19th century, this proportion dropped considerably. In the 1860s, the Wakaebisuya, which employed around a hundred women by itself at its peak time, now had only around a dozen; meanwhile, the other brothels were on the brink of closing.<br />
<br />
By the [[Bakumatsu period]], Mitarai began to decline as many sea captains bypassed the warehousers and simply bought and sold directly with producers in cities like [[Onomichi]] and consumers in places like Osaka. By that time, too, fears of foreign ships led to Mitarai being equipped with shore batteries.<br />
<br />
Though long a part of Ônaga Village, Mitarai officially became its own separate municipality in [[1879]]. Today, it is part of Kure City, and is officially known as Yutaka-machi Mitarai.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 163-187.<br />
*''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 1, Dec 1996, p11.<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
==External Links==<br />
*[http://www.yutaka-kanko.jp/ Mitarai Official Tourist Webpage] (Japanese)<br />
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yutakamachimitarai,+Kure,+Hiroshima+Prefecture,+Japan/@34.2051563,132.7893314,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x3550158a07dd2d1f:0x399ab9134939078d Mitarai on Google Maps]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cities and Towns]]<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Urasoe_yodore&diff=44159Urasoe yodore2024-02-02T09:39:21Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Urasoe-yodore-2.JPG|right|thumb|400px|The inner plaza of the mausoleum, with the entrance to the earlier tombs in white, and the entrance to the tomb of [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] beyond it, also on the right in this image]]<br />
[[File:Urasoe-yodore.JPG|right|thumb|400px|The outer walls of the Urasoe yôdore complex]]<br />
*''Other Names'': 浦添極楽山 ''(Urasoe gokurakuzan)''<br />
*''Japanese/Okinawan'': [[浦添]]夕凪 ''(Urasoe youdore)''<br />
<br />
Urasoe yôdore, located in a cave on a cliff to the northeast<ref name=compact>"Urasoe yôdore." ''[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-40437-storytopic-121.html Okinawa Konpakuto Jiten]'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003. Accessed 25 September 2009.</ref> of [[Urasoe castle]] on [[Okinawa]], is a mausoleum housing the remains of three 13th-14th century rulers of the island, along with one king of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]] separated from the others by several centuries. It is associated with [[Gokuraku-ji]], the first Buddhist temple to be established in Ryûkyû.<ref>''Kenchiku kankei ryaku nenpyô'' (Architectural Abbreviated Chronology), gallery label, [[Tamaudun]].[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15282589387/]</ref><br />
<br />
The mausoleum was established in [[1261]], during the reign of [[Eiso]], when Okinawa was ruled by a network of local chieftains under the leadership of one head chieftain or "king," before the island was divided into [[Sanzan period|three kingdoms]]. The mausoleum consists of three chambers cut directly into the limestone cliff, including two for entombment, and one for ''[[senkotsu]]''<ref>A key element of traditional Ryukyuan funerary ritual, in which remains are stored for a period, before the bones are later washed and more fully, properly, laid to rest.</ref>. Eiso and two others were entombed at Urasoe yôdore in that period, in sarcophagi of a Chinese diorite stone<ref name=compact/>; excavations have discovered bodies wrapped in textiles.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Okinawa Prefectural Museum]], August 2013.</ref> Statues of the [[bodhisattva]]s [[Kannon]] and [[Jizo|Jizô]] stand inside the cave<ref>Shinzato, Keiji et al. ''Okinawa-ken no rekishi'' (沖縄県の歴史, "History of Okinawa Prefecture"). Tokyo: Yamakawa Publishing, 1996. p36 (Appendix).</ref>.<br />
<br />
More than 300 years later, King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] requested to be buried at Urasoe and not in the Shô family royal mausoleum of [[Tamaudun]]. His reign had seen the [[invasion of Ryukyu]] by forces from Japan's [[Satsuma province]], and the subjugation of the kingdom to Satsuma's suzerainty, and thus it is believed that he felt he had dishonored his family and his kingdom, and was not worthy of being buried with his ancestors<ref>Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp165-166.</ref>.<br />
<br />
The site was severely damaged in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, but was restored by the [[Government of the Ryukyu Islands]] in 1955, under the supervision of [[Yamazato Eikichi]] (head of the Cultural Properties Protection Committee) and architect [[Nakaza Hisao]].<ref>「山里永吉」、『私の戦後史』, vol 2、Okinawa Times sha (1980), 101.</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Sho_Jun_(1873-1945)&diff=44158Sho Jun (1873-1945)2023-12-27T02:41:34Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>[[File:Sho Jun1918.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Shô Jun in a 1918 photograph of the family.]]<br />
[[File:Grave-sho-jun.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Grave of Shô Jun in Tama Cemetery, Tokyo]]<br />
*''Born: [[1873]]/4/6''<br />
*''Died: 1945/6/16''<br />
*''Titles: Member of the House of Peers (''帝国議会議員'', Teikoku gikai giin)'', 松山王子 ''(Prince Matsuyama)''<br />
*''Other Names'': 鷺泉 ''(Rosen)''<br />
*''Japanese'': [[尚]] 順 ''(Shou Jun)''<br />
<br />
Shô Jun was a prince of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], the fourth son of King [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]], the last king of the kingdom. He played a major role in founding many 20th century institutions in [[Okinawa]], including the ''[[Ryukyu Shimpo|Ryûkyû Shimpô]]'' newspaper in [[1893]], the [[Bank of Okinawa]], the ''Taishô Gekijô'' theater, and a canning factory, and was a major figure in both the Japanese political and investment worlds of his time.<br />
<br />
Following the abolition of the kingdom in 1879, Shô Jun, along with the rest of the Ryukyuan royal family, was made a noble in the new Japanese ''[[kazoku]]'' system of peerage. His father, King Shô Tai, was made marquis (侯爵, ''kôshaku''), while Shô Jun was named "baron" (''danshaku'') in [[1896]]. After former king Shô Tai's death in 1901, Shô Jun's eldest brother [[Sho Ten|Shô Ten]] inherited the title of Marquis. After the end of the formal mourning period, the Shô family gave up the trappings, rituals, and formal costume of Ryukyuan royalty and adopted the lifestyle and customs of the Japanese aristocracy.<ref>Kerr, George H. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People'' (revised ed.). Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2003, pp. 452-453.</ref><br />
<br />
Shô Jun was elected to the [[House of Peers]] of the [[Imperial Diet]] in 1904, and served two terms. After resigning his government post, he took over the administration of the Shô family's finances and other formal affairs.<ref>"Shō Jun." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). [http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41741-storytopic-121.html Ryukyu Shimpo] (琉球新報). 1 March 2003. Accessed 3 January 2009.</ref><br />
<br />
In his later years, he managed the Tôbaru Plantation in [[Shuri]], and created a tropical botanical garden on Gogayama in [[Nakijin]]. He became known as a man of culture and refinement in many fields of interest and as a calligrapher as well.<br />
<br />
Shô Jun died in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. According to [[Yamazato Eikichi]], he fled south, as many people did, as the battle enveloped the central portions of [[Okinawa Island]]; lacking for food, he died of starvation or illness.<ref>Yamazato Eikichi 山里永吉, "Yamazato Eikichi" 「山里永吉」, ''Watashi no sengoshi'' 『私の戦後史』, vol. 2, Okinawa Times (1980), 93.</ref> His children included [[Sho Sen|Shô Sen]] (尚詮, 1926-1990), whose wife [[Sho Hiroko|Shô Hiroko]] (b. 1932) is perhaps the most prominent member of the Shô family alive today.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*"Shō Jun." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996, p. 40.<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]<br />
[[Category:Royalty]]<br />
[[Category:Meiji Period]]<br />
[[Category:Meiji Politicians and Officials]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Tokugawa_seasonal_observances&diff=44157Tokugawa seasonal observances2023-11-14T05:29:15Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div><br />
Under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'', ''[[hatamoto]]'', other retainers, and others in service to the shogunate<ref>Including [[court painters]], [[Noh]] performers, priests and monks of certain temples and shrines, and artisans & merchants who were official providers of goods to the shogunate.</ref> were obliged to appear at [[Edo castle]] to pay obeisances, and/or to offer gifts, on certain occasions of every year.<br />
<br />
These included the New Year, five occasions (''[[gosekku]]'') marking the turn of seasons, and a number of days marking events related to [[Tokugawa clan]] history. The shogun also held audiences with certain categories of individuals on the 1st, 15th, and 28th days of each month.<ref>At some point in the early 19th century, this third monthly audience, held on the 28th, was reduced from taking place every month, to instead taking place only in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 12th months of the year. Asao Naohiro (ed.), ''Fudai daimyô Ii ke no girei'', Hikone Castle Museum (2004), 57.</ref><br />
<br />
Annual ritual events in which the shogun himself participated also included visits to the shogunal mausolea at [[Zojo-ji|Zôjô-ji]], [[Kan'ei-ji]], and [[Momijiyama]], on the anniversaries of the deaths of his predecessors.<ref name=asao59>Asao, 59. In the late Edo period, shoguns visited such sites quite frequently; as many as ten days every month might involved trips to one of these mortuary sites. And each trip required considerable purification practices, including periods of sexual abstinence. Walthall, 334.</ref><br />
<br />
==New Year==<br />
[[File:Ohiroma.JPG|center|thumb|1000px|A model of the ''Ôhiroma'', Edo castle's largest audience hall, on display at the Edo-Tokyo Museum]]<br />
New Year's observances at [[Edo castle]] included the [[shogun]]'s reception of ''daimyô'' and other retainers, among others, on the first three days of the new year. All ''daimyô'' resident in [[Edo]] at the time were obliged to appear at the castle on each of these first three days. These practices were first put into place by [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and were continued by his successor, becoming standard practice by the time of Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]] (r. [[1716]]-[[1751]]).<ref>Walthall, 353n13.</ref><br />
<br />
On the first day of the new year, the shogun would first receive the lord of the [[Tayasu Tokugawa clan]] and other close relatives in the ''goza-no-ma'', where they formally presented swords (actually, just a document indicating the presentation of a sword)<ref>This was standard practice in samurai audience ritual; gifts were rarely if ever presented directly, but rather were presented merely as a formal document listing the gifts. The actual objects were sometimes displayed on the veranda or garden adjoining the audience hall, but were transported by castle staff, and were not directly handled during the ceremony by either the figures formally giving or receiving the gifts.</ref> to the shogun, and bowed at the threshold at the entrance of the room. They then shared with the shogun a ceremonial cup of saké, and some small plates of food. The shogun then granted audiences to the remainder of his direct relatives, the lords of the [[Maeda clan]], and the chief ''fudai daimyô'' (including the ''[[roju|rôjû]]''), who were received in the castle's ''kuroshoin'' and ''shiroshoin'', respectively the innermost (and thus most private/elite) and middle-ranking of the castle's three chief audience halls. These ''daimyô'' presented swords as gifts to the shogun and bowed in designated ways, at designated places within (or just outside of) the room, in accordance with their rank, shared a cup of [[sake|saké]] with the shogun, and received gifts from him, including "seasonal clothing" (''jifuku''.<ref name=asao59/> The shogun was often accompanied by his heir in most or all ceremonial audiences over the course of these three days.<ref name=edojo>''Edojô'' 江戸城, Tokyo: Gakushu Kenkyusha (1995), 120-123.</ref><br />
<br />
Following a banquet, these ''daimyô'' would then arrange themselves on the lowest of the three levels (''dan'') in the ''Ôhiroma'', the outermost, least private/elite, but largest and most formal of the audience halls, which was used for receptions of those lower in rank, or with less strong relationships with the shogunate; the remaining ''daimyô'', both ''fudai'' and ''tozama'', were arranged in the "second" and "third" rooms attached to the audience hall (''ni-no-ma'' and ''san-no-ma''), along with a multitude of ''[[hatamoto]]'', priests and doctors (bearing the honorary monastic rank of ''hôin'' or ''hôgan''), court painters, and the like. They all lay prostrate as the sliding screens (''fusuma'') separating these secondary rooms from the main audience hall were opened, and the shogun silently surveyed the gathering. A member of the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' then declared, on behalf of the shogun, an expression of good wishes for the new year; the screens were closed, and the shogun took his place in the upper level (''jôdan'') of the ''Ôhiroma''. After a reception in which [[sake|saké]] was drunk, the shogun returned to the ''shiroshoin'', where he received New Year's greetings from staff members of his court, including [[Noh]] performers, painters, and pages. Meanwhile, those who had received audience in the ''ni-'' and ''san-no-ma'' were now given seasonal clothing and other "bestowals" from the shogunate. ''[[Soshaban|Sôshaban]]'' (castle officials overseeing ceremonial matters) received an audience in the Great Hall (''Ôrôka''), presenting swords to the shogun and bowing before him.<ref name=edojo/><br />
<br />
Later that same day, shogunal pages (''koshô'') received audience in the ''tsugi-no-ma'' (lit. "adjacent room") of the ''shiroshoin''. Court artists including [[Kano school|Kanô school]] painters, [[Goto school|Gotô school]] metalworkers, and members of the Hon'ami school received audience on the veranda. Scribes, kitchen officials, and ''[[koke|kôke]]'' (castle officials overseeing ceremonial matters) received audiences in the ''kuroshoin'' kitchens (''katte'') or by the Yazu cedar door<!--八頭杉戸-->. The shogun then returned to the ''shiroshoin'', where some sixteen ''daimyô'' lined up on the veranda bowed to him and presented swords; then, finally, he returned to the ''Ôhiroma'', where proxies for ''daimyô'' not currently present in Edo offered swords in their lords' stead.<ref name=edojo/><br />
<br />
Various ''daimyô'' who did not enjoy audiences on the first day instead received audiences with the shogun on the second day of the New Year. The day began with the shogun sitting in the upper level (''jôdan'') of the ''Ôhiroma'' and receiving the ''[[gosanke]]'' in audience. Another nine or so high-ranking ''daimyô'' came next, each approaching the shogun individually to present a sword, bow at the threshold of the lower level, and then withdraw back to their seat. When this was completed, they all shared a ceremonial cup of saké with the shogun, received bestowals of seasonal clothing, and then withdrew. How far up a ''daimyô'' approached, and whether they presented the sword themselves, or had their documents presented for them by a ''sôshaban'', differed depending on rank. The shogun (and his heir) then moved to the lower level, as they had the previous day, and faced east into the ''ni-'' and ''san-no-ma'', granting an audience to various lower-ranking ''daimyô'' and other officials gathered there. He then took a seat in the upper level to exchange a ceremonial cup of saké with a gathered group of ''Dayû'' (an official title), and then returned to the lower level, to once again grant audience to figures gathered in the ''san-no-ma'': this time, ''[[rusuiyaku]]'' or other retainers serving as representatives (proxies) for ''daimyô'' not currently present in Edo.<ref name=edojo/> <br />
<br />
While most ''daimyô'' and officials received seasonal clothing and other bestowals in the audience hall immediately after the audience ceremony (after the shogun withdrew from the hall), the lord of the [[Kitsuregawa clan]], among others, received these things afterward in the ''tsugi-no-ma''. A number of ''[[renga]]'' poets, physicians, and others lacking any official rank or title shared a ceremonial cup of saké with the shogun in the Great Hall (''Ôrôka'').<ref name=edojo/><br />
<br />
The third day of audiences began in the ''shiroshoin'', where officials in charge of public works (''fushin''), among others, as well as various figures lacking official title or rank, received audience. ''Edo machi toshiyori'' and others of similar position sat in the adjoining room (''tsugi-no-ma'') and received audience there.<br />
<br />
The first Noh performance of the year generally took place on the third day of the year. The shogun and his heir sat in the center of the middle level of the ''Ôhiroma'', alongside roughly eight ''daimyô'', facing south. The Noh stage was visible through the lower level of the ''Ôhiroma'', directly to the south across the garden. After the performance, there was a ceremonial sharing of cups of saké, and then the performers received new robes, as formal gifts, on behalf of the shogun. The third day of the month also included audiences with prominent merchant officials from Edo, [[Kyoto]], [[Nara]], [[Fushimi]] and [[Osaka]], as well as elders from some of the chief cities and ''fudai'' [[han|domains]].<br />
<br />
Lower-ranking samurai retainers who would not normally be entitled to a shogunal audience were permitted to prostrate themselves and offer New Year's greetings on the sixth day of the new year; the abbot of [[Rinno-ji|Rinnô-ji]] in [[Nikko|Nikkô]] enjoyed a private face-to-face meeting with the shogun on the first day of the second month each year.<br />
<br />
==Gosekku==<br />
The five seasonal observances observed both in the Imperial court, and by the Tokugawa shogunate, were:<ref> Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), Told Round a Brushwood Fire, University of Tokyo Press (1979), 286n122.; Gallery label, Freer Gallery of Art, "Gosekku: The Five Ancient Festivals of the Imperial Court," Ikeda Koson, set of five hanging scrolls, c. 1830, F1999.5.1a-f. </ref><br />
<br />
*''Jinjitsu no sekku'' - 1st month, 7th day. Seven herbs were eaten. Also known as ''Nanakusa no sekku'', ''Wakana no sekku''.<br />
*''Jômi no sekku'' or ''Jôshi'' - 3/3, Girls' Festival, Dolls Festival, aka [[Hina matsuri]].<br />
*''[[Tango no sekku]]'' - 5/5, Boys' Festival.<br />
*''[[Tanabata]]'' - 7/7, the festival of the Weaver Star.<br />
*''Chôyô no sekku'' - 9/9, Chrysanthemum Festival. A festival in connection with the rice harvest, and related to one in China which involved the drinking of chrysanthemum wine. <br />
<br />
==Tokugawa Festivals==<br />
Festival days specifically associated with commemorating or celebrating events related to the shogunate included:<br />
<br />
*''Kashô'' 嘉祥, celebrated on 6/16. A celebration of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Tokugawa Ieyasu's]] victory in the [[1573]] [[battle of Mikatagahara]]. After the battle, his retainer Ôkubo Fujigorô supposedly gifted Ieyasu with an amount of sweets, as a gift in celebration of the victory; Ieyasu then distributed the sweets among some number of his other retainers, and in commemoration or reenactment of this event, every year on ''kashô'', the shogun would receive retainers in audience in the Ôhiroma (Grand Audience Hall) of [[Edo castle]], and would distribute sixteen types of sweets, including ''[[manju]]'' and ''[[yokan|yôkan]]'', to his retainers.<ref name=edojo/> <br />
<br />
*''[[Hassaku]]'' 八朔, celebrated on 8/1. This date was a harvest festival traditionally, but in the Tokugawa period was simultaneously observed as a celebration of Tokugawa Ieyasu's first victorious entry into [[Edo]] in [[1590]].<ref name=edojo/> A celebration of the autumn harvest, and of the first fruits of the agricultural year, ''hassaku'' was also a traditional occasion for samurai (as well as Imperial Court nobles, and others) to give gifts to their lords or superiors, as a show of gratitude for their favor. This was one of two annual festivals during which ''daimyô'' presented swords, as a show of fealty, to the shogun.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Anne Walthall, "Hiding the shoguns: Secrecy and the nature of political authority in Tokugawa Japan," in Bernard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen (eds.) ''The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion'', Routledge (2006), 338-340. <br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]<br />
[[Category:Events and Incidents]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Yamazato_Eikichi&diff=44156Yamazato Eikichi2023-10-23T03:08:28Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Born: [[1902]]''<br />
*''Died: 1989''<br />
*''Japanese'': [[山里]] 永吉 ''(Yamazato Eikichi)''<br />
<br />
Yamazato Eikichi was an Okinawan playwright, writer, painter, and political commentator and activist known for his works celebrating the history and culture of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] and essays opposing loyalty to Japan.<br />
<br />
Born in [[1902]], he attended the ''Nihon Bijutsu Gakkô'' (Japan Art School), but ultimately left the school before completing the program.<ref>"[https://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-43233.html Yamazato Eikichi]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 2003.</ref> While in Tokyo became a member of Mavo, a now-famous 1920s radical performance art group. He returned to Okinawa in 1927, at the age of 25, and became a playwright and novelist, publishing the latter serially in newspapers.<br />
<br />
His plays include ''Ikkô-shû hônan-ki'' (一向宗法難記), ''Naha yomachi mukashi kishitsu'' (那覇四町昔気質), and ''Giwan Chôho no shi'' (宜湾朝保の死, "Death of [[Giwan Choho|Giwan Chôho]]"). Perhaps his most famous play, ''[[Shurijo akewatashi|Shurijô akewatashi]]'' (The Surrender of [[Shuri castle]]) portrays the forced turn-over of Shuri castle to [[Meiji government]] authorities in [[1879]] in concert with the [[Ryukyu shobun|dissolution and annexation of the kingdom]]. Originally written in 1916, it premiered in 1930, and has been staged numerous times since then.<br />
<br />
In the postwar period, he became head of the Ryukyu Museum established by USCAR (the US military occupation authorities), serving in that position from 1955-1958,<ref>''Okinawa kenritsu hakubutsukan nenpô'' 25 (1992), 6.</ref> and of the Ryukyu Performing Arts Federation (''Ryûkyû geinô renmeikai''). He also came to serve as chairman of the Ryukyu Government Cultural Property Protection Commission and as vice president of the "Okinawa for the Okinawans" Association.<br />
<br />
In 1969, as the US Occupation of Okinawa approached its 25th year and as calls for Reversion to Japanese administration were growing stronger, Yamazato penned a series of columns for the China Post which were later translated and published by Joe Hung under the title "Japan is Not Our Fatherland." In this short piece (14 pages in English translation), Yamazato argues for Okinawan independence and against false notions of Okinawans as being Japanese or as belonging to Japan, highlighting the colonial oppression and violence committed by Japan against Okinawa and its people.<br />
<br />
He died in 1989 at the age of 87.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*"[https://kotobank.jp/dictionary/japan20/299/ Yamazato Eikichi]," ''20 seiki Nihon jinmei jiten'' 20世紀日本人名事典. Nichigai Assoc., 2004.<br />
*"Shurijo Castle and Performing Arts," exhibition pamphlet, National Theater Okinawa, October-December 2020.<br />
*Yamazato Eikichi, Joe Hung (trans.), ''Japan is Not Our Fatherland'', 1969.<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]<br />
[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Yamazato_Eikichi&diff=44155Yamazato Eikichi2023-10-23T02:43:28Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Born: [[1902]]''<br />
*''Died: 1989''<br />
*''Japanese'': [[山里]] 永吉 ''(Yamazato Eikichi)''<br />
<br />
Yamazato Eikichi was an Okinawan playwright, writer, painter, and political commentator and activist known for his works celebrating the history and culture of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] and essays opposing loyalty to Japan.<br />
<br />
Born in [[1902]], he attended the ''Nihon Bijutsu Gakkô'' (Japan Art School), but ultimately left the school before completing the program.<ref>"[https://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-43233.html Yamazato Eikichi]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 2003.</ref> While in Tokyo became a member of Mavo, a now-famous 1920s radical performance art group. He returned to Okinawa in 1927, at the age of 25, and became a playwright and novelist, publishing the latter serially in newspapers.<br />
<br />
His plays include ''Ikkô-shû hônan-ki'' (一向宗法難記), ''Naha yomachi mukashi kishitsu'' (那覇四町昔気質), and ''Giwan Chôho no shi'' (宜湾朝保の死, "Death of [[Giwan Choho|Giwan Chôho]]"). Perhaps his most famous play, ''[[Shurijo akewatashi|Shurijô akewatashi]]'' (The Surrender of [[Shuri castle]]) portrays the forced turn-over of Shuri castle to [[Meiji government]] authorities in [[1879]] in concert with the [[Ryukyu shobun|dissolution and annexation of the kingdom]]. Originally written in 1916, it premiered in 1930, and has been staged numerous times since then.<br />
<br />
In the postwar period, he became head of the Ryukyu Museum established by USCAR (the US military occupation authorities), and of the Ryukyu Performing Arts Federation (''Ryûkyû geinô renmeikai''). He also came to serve as chairman of the Ryukyu Government Cultural Property Protection Commission and as vice president of the "Okinawa for the Okinawans" Association.<br />
<br />
In 1969, as the US Occupation of Okinawa approached its 25th year and as calls for Reversion to Japanese administration were growing stronger, Yamazato penned a series of columns for the China Post which were later translated and published by Joe Hung under the title "Japan is Not Our Fatherland." In this short piece (14 pages in English translation), Yamazato argues for Okinawan independence and against false notions of Okinawans as being Japanese or as belonging to Japan, highlighting the colonial oppression and violence committed by Japan against Okinawa and its people.<br />
<br />
He died in 1989 at the age of 87.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*"[https://kotobank.jp/dictionary/japan20/299/ Yamazato Eikichi]," ''20 seiki Nihon jinmei jiten'' 20世紀日本人名事典. Nichigai Assoc., 2004.<br />
*"Shurijo Castle and Performing Arts," exhibition pamphlet, National Theater Okinawa, October-December 2020.<br />
*Yamazato Eikichi, Joe Hung (trans.), ''Japan is Not Our Fatherland'', 1969.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]<br />
[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Fukuzen-ji&diff=44154Fukuzen-ji2023-10-19T16:55:06Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Fukuzenji-daiichi.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The view of [[Sensuijima]] from the Taichôrô]]<br />
*''Established: c. [[950]]''<br />
*''Japanese'': 海岸山千手院福禅寺 ''(Kaiganzan Senjuin Fukuzenji)''<br />
<br />
Fukuzen-ji is a [[Shingon]] Buddhist temple in [[Tomonoura]], [[Hiroshima prefecture]], famous for its Taichôrô guest room, which hosted [[Korean embassies to Edo]] on a number of occasions.<br />
<br />
The temple was founded in the [[Heian period]], around [[950]], on the orders of [[Emperor Murakami]].<br />
<br />
In [[1694]],<ref>Gallery labels, "Taichôrô," Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, October 2023.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/53270321503/in/dateposted/]</ref> a guesthouse was constructed adjacent to, and attached to, the temple's ''hondô'' (main hall). The guestroom is in simple ''[[irimoya]]'' construction, with 11.8 meter beams, and a tiled roof.<br />
<br />
[[Yi Bang-eon]], a member of the [[1711]] Korean mission to Edo, famously declared the view of the [[Inland Sea]] from the guesthouse to be the greatest in Japan. The head of the [[1747]] mission, [[Hong Gyehui]]<!--洪啓禧-->, later named the guesthouse "Taichôrô," or "Tower Facing the Tides."<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36225369823/sizes/l]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Temples]]<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Fukuzen-ji&diff=44153Fukuzen-ji2023-10-19T16:48:52Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Fukuzenji-daiichi.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The view of [[Sensuijima]] from the Taichôrô]]<br />
*''Established: c. [[950]]''<br />
*''Japanese'': 海岸山千手院福禅寺 ''(Kaiganzan Senjuin Fukuzenji)''<br />
<br />
Fukuzen-ji is a [[Shingon]] Buddhist temple in [[Tomonoura]], [[Hiroshima prefecture]], famous for its Taichôrô guest room, which hosted [[Korean embassies to Edo]] on a number of occasions.<br />
<br />
The temple was founded in the [[Heian period]], around [[950]], on the orders of [[Emperor Murakami]].<br />
<br />
In [[1694]],<ref>Gallery labels, "Taichôrô," Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, October 2023.</ref> a guesthouse was constructed adjacent to, and attached to, the temple's ''hondô'' (main hall). The guestroom is in simple ''[[irimoya]]'' construction, with 11.8 meter beams, and a tiled roof.<br />
<br />
[[Yi Bang-eon]], a member of the [[1711]] Korean mission to Edo, famously declared the view of the [[Inland Sea]] from the guesthouse to be the greatest in Japan. The head of the [[1747]] mission, [[Hong Gyehui]]<!--洪啓禧-->, later named the guesthouse "Taichôrô," or "Tower Facing the Tides."<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36225369823/sizes/l]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Temples]]<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Robert_Browne_Incident&diff=44152Robert Browne Incident2023-08-20T10:44:08Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Date: [[1852]]-[[1853]]''<br />
<br />
The ''Robert Browne'' was an American ship taken over by the coolies it was carrying to California, and steered to [[Ishigaki Island]]. <br />
<br />
Some time after the ship left Amoy on [[1852]]/int.2/1 (on the Japanese calendar), some number of the 410 Chinese coolies on board mutinied; as the ship approached Ishigaki (one of the southern islands in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] chain), the Chinese, now in control of the ship, steered it towards the beach. The [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] had a long tradition of aiding castaways and the like, and welcomed the ship. Several hundred coolies, along with some members of the crew, disembarked, and told the local islanders that the ship had been damaged and needed repair. However, in the meantime, members of the crew remaining on the ship overpowered their captors and regained control of the ship; it was not in fact damaged, and they set sail, abandoning the hundreds of people who had gone onto the island.<br />
<br />
The people of Ishigaki were left to feed and care for these hundreds of castaways, a task which proved a heavy burden for the small island. Two weeks later, the USS ''Saratoga'', HMS ''Riley'', and HMS ''Contest'' appeared on the horizon. They pulled into port, and American and British troops seized as many of the coolies as they could find, though many escaped and fled elsewhere on the island. The warships departed with only 70 captives.<br />
<br />
[[Shuri]] (i.e. the royal government of Ryûkyû) had been informed about the incident, as had Chinese officials in Fujian province. The incident is of significance because of Shuri's considerable concern about Western intervention in the islands' affairs. It was feared that American or British troops might return, land on Ishigaki, and severely disrupt local goings-on in their efforts to find the mutineers.<br />
<br />
The incident came to a resolution when two ships departed Ishigaki on [[1853]]/6/1 carrying 280 of the escaped Chinese.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*[[George Kerr|Kerr, George]]. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp295-296.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]<br />
[[Category:Ships]]<br />
[[Category:Events and Incidents]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Robert_Browne_Incident&diff=44151Robert Browne Incident2023-08-20T10:43:02Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Date: [[1852]]-[[1853]]''<br />
<br />
The ''Robert Browne'' was an American ship taken over by the coolies it was carrying to California, and steered to [[Ishigaki Island]]. <br />
<br />
Some time after the ship left Amoy on [[1852]]/int.2/1 (on the Japanese calendar), some number of the 410 Chinese coolies on board mutinied; as the ship approached Ishigaki (one of the southern islands in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] chain), the Chinese, now in control of the ship, steered it towards the beach. The [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] had a long tradition of aiding castaways and the like, and welcomed the ship. Several hundred coolies, along with some members of the crew, disembarked, and told the local islanders that the ship had been damaged and needed repair. However, in the meantime, members of the crew remaining on the ship overpowered their captors and regained control of the ship; it was not in fact damaged, and they set sail, abandoning the hundreds of people who had gone onto the island.<br />
<br />
The people of Ishigaki were left to feed and care for these hundreds of castaways, a task which proved a heavy burden for the small island. Two weeks later, the USS ''Saratoga'', HMS ''Riley'', and HMS ''Contest'' appeared on the horizon. They pulled into port, and American and British troops seized as many of the coolies as they could find, though many escaped and fled elsewhere on the island. The warships departed with only 70 captives.<br />
<br />
[[Shuri]] (i.e. the royal government of Ryûkyû) had been informed about the incident, as had Chinese officials in Fujian province. The incident is of significance because of Shuri's considerable concern about Western intervention in the islands' affairs. It was feared that American or British troops might return, land on Miyako, and severely disrupt local goings-on in their efforts to find the mutineers.<br />
<br />
The incident came to a resolution when two ships departed Ishigaki on [[1853]]/6/1 carrying 280 of the escaped Chinese.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*[[George Kerr|Kerr, George]]. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp295-296.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]<br />
[[Category:Ships]]<br />
[[Category:Events and Incidents]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Kikoe-ogimi&diff=44150Kikoe-ogimi2023-08-02T03:21:34Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Other Names'': 聞得大君加那志 ''(O: chifijin ganashi)''<br />
*''Japanese/Okinawan'': 聞得大君 ''(kikoe oogimi / chifijin)''<br />
<br />
''Kikoe-ôgimi'' was a title held by the top high priestess in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. The position was created in [[1478]] by King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]], who reorganized much of the royal court, aristocratic, and spiritual/religious official hierarchies at that time. From that time until the [[Ryukyu Shobun|abolition of the kingdom]] in [[1879]], fifteen women held the position, beginning with Shô Shin's younger sister [[Utuchitunumuigani|Gessei]]. The last woman to hold the position died in 1944, but members of the former royal family continue to perform ritual offerings to the ancestors, the ''[[agari umaai]]'' "eastern pilgrimage," and other rituals.<ref>Ronald Nakasone, “An Impossible Possibility,” in Nakasone (ed.), ''Okinawan Diaspora'', U Hawaii Press (2002), 6, citing William Lebra, ''Okinawan religion, belief, ritual, and social structure''. Honolulu: University<br />
of Hawai‘i Press (1966), 21.</ref><br />
<br />
The newly-created position intentionally eclipsed and replaced the priestess of [[Baten utaki]], who had been among the most prominent and influential spiritual figures in the kingdom under the First Shô Dynasty (c. 1400-1469); whenever a new priestess became ''kikôe-ôgimi'', she made a pilgrimage to a site near Baten and took on the deity name Tedashiro (太陽代, proxy of the sun), appropriating that which had been the domain of the Baten priestess.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 130.</ref> The ''kikôe-ôgimi'' also came to be associated with the [[kami]] [[Benzaiten]], a goddess associated with the sea and with the number three; Benzaiten, enshrined in a hall in the [[Ryutan|Ryûtan]] pond below [[Shuri castle|the castle]], also came to be a guardian deity of the kingdom.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 164-165.</ref><br />
<br />
Typically a sister or other female relation to the king, the ''kikoe-ôgimi'' oversaw and managed an extensive hierarchy of priestesses and shamanesses, including the ''[[noro]]'' and ''[[yuta]]'' of the traditional [[Ryukyuan religion]]. It was believed that women had greater spiritual power, and that men, being spiritually weak and vulnerable, required women to protect them; to that end, the ''kikoe-ôgimi'', seen as a sister spirit or sister goddess (姉妹神、おなり神), performed or led various rituals for the protection and prosperity of king and kingdom, for good harvests, and safe voyages. Together with the king she appointed ''noro'' to the various regions of the kingdom,<ref>[[George Kerr]], ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People'', Revised ed., Tuttle Publishing (2000), 111.</ref> and oversaw their activities through a hierarchy of priestesses; directly beneath the ''kikoe-ôgimi'' in this hierarchy were three priestesses known as the ''[[Oamushirare]]'', who each oversaw one-third of the kingdom's ''noro'' and ''[[utaki]]'' (sacred spaces).<ref>Plaque at former site of Jiibu dunchi, the residence of one of the Oamushirare.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9444384199/in/photostream/]</ref><br />
<br />
A new ''kikoe-ôgimi'' was inducted into the position through, in part, a ritual called ''Oaraori'' (御新下り, O: ''uaara uri''), performed at [[Sefa utaki]], one of the most sacred places on [[Okinawa Island]]. Some 200 attendants accompanied the high priestess to the ''utaki'', entering the sacred space around midnight, and performing succession rituals through the night, including worship of [[Kudaka Island]]. The rituals ended with the singing of sacred songs.<ref>Gallery labels, "Kikoe-ogimi and Oaraori," Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30407646735/in/dateposted-public/]</ref><br />
<br />
The ''kikoe-ôgimi'' was provided with her own mansion, in the aristocratic town of [[Shuri]] below the [[Shuri castle|castle]]. Containing both residence and shrine, the mansion, known simply as ''kikoe-ôgimi udun'', was relocated a number of times over the course of the kingdom era. Its final location, in the Tera-chô neighborhood of Shuri, covered roughly 3,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]'' (9.9 km<sup>2</sup>). Following the fall of the kingdom, the shrine was relocated to the Crown Prince's residence of [[Nakagusuku udun]], and the remaining residential buildings stood for a time until they were removed to create private agricultural fields. This land was bought by the Okinawa Normal School in 1929 and used for agricultural and educational purposes until the end of World War II, after which Shuri Middle School was built on the site.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==List of Kikoe-ôgimi==<br />
#[[Utuchitunumuigani]] (aka Tsukiyora/Gessei, younger sister of Shô Shin)<br />
#[[Bainan]] (daughter of King [[Sho Iko|Shô Ikô]])<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#Great-grandmother of King [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]] (name?)(d. [[1869]]).<br />
#<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Plaque on-site at former site of ''Kikoe-ôgimi udun'', just outside Shuri Middle School, at 2-55 Tera-chô, Shuri, Naha.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9444382739]<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]<br />
[[Category:Religious Figures]]<br />
[[Category:Women]]<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Kikoe-ogimi&diff=44149Kikoe-ogimi2023-08-02T03:19:43Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Other Names'': 聞得大君加那志 ''(O: chifijin ganashi)''<br />
*''Japanese/Okinawan'': 聞得大君 ''(kikoe oogimi / chifijin)''<br />
<br />
''Kikoe-ôgimi'' was a title held by the top high priestess in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. The position was created in [[1478]] by King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]], who reorganized much of the royal court, aristocratic, and spiritual/religious official hierarchies at that time. From that time until the [[Ryukyu Shobun|abolition of the kingdom]] in [[1879]], fifteen women held the position, beginning with Shô Shin's younger sister [[Utuchitunumuigani|Gessei]]. The last woman to hold the position died in 1944.<ref>Ronald Nakasone, “An Impossible Possibility,” in Nakasone (ed.), ''Okinawan Diaspora'', U Hawaii Press (2002), 6, citing William Lebra, ''Okinawan religion, belief, ritual, and social structure''. Honolulu: University<br />
of Hawai‘i Press (1966), 21.</ref><br />
<br />
The newly-created position intentionally eclipsed and replaced the priestess of [[Baten utaki]], who had been among the most prominent and influential spiritual figures in the kingdom under the First Shô Dynasty (c. 1400-1469); whenever a new priestess became ''kikôe-ôgimi'', she made a pilgrimage to a site near Baten and took on the deity name Tedashiro (太陽代, proxy of the sun), appropriating that which had been the domain of the Baten priestess.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 130.</ref> The ''kikôe-ôgimi'' also came to be associated with the [[kami]] [[Benzaiten]], a goddess associated with the sea and with the number three; Benzaiten, enshrined in a hall in the [[Ryutan|Ryûtan]] pond below [[Shuri castle|the castle]], also came to be a guardian deity of the kingdom.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 164-165.</ref><br />
<br />
Typically a sister or other female relation to the king, the ''kikoe-ôgimi'' oversaw and managed an extensive hierarchy of priestesses and shamanesses, including the ''[[noro]]'' and ''[[yuta]]'' of the traditional [[Ryukyuan religion]]. It was believed that women had greater spiritual power, and that men, being spiritually weak and vulnerable, required women to protect them; to that end, the ''kikoe-ôgimi'', seen as a sister spirit or sister goddess (姉妹神、おなり神), performed or led various rituals for the protection and prosperity of king and kingdom, for good harvests, and safe voyages. Together with the king she appointed ''noro'' to the various regions of the kingdom,<ref>[[George Kerr]], ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People'', Revised ed., Tuttle Publishing (2000), 111.</ref> and oversaw their activities through a hierarchy of priestesses; directly beneath the ''kikoe-ôgimi'' in this hierarchy were three priestesses known as the ''[[Oamushirare]]'', who each oversaw one-third of the kingdom's ''noro'' and ''[[utaki]]'' (sacred spaces).<ref>Plaque at former site of Jiibu dunchi, the residence of one of the Oamushirare.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9444384199/in/photostream/]</ref><br />
<br />
A new ''kikoe-ôgimi'' was inducted into the position through, in part, a ritual called ''Oaraori'' (御新下り, O: ''uaara uri''), performed at [[Sefa utaki]], one of the most sacred places on [[Okinawa Island]]. Some 200 attendants accompanied the high priestess to the ''utaki'', entering the sacred space around midnight, and performing succession rituals through the night, including worship of [[Kudaka Island]]. The rituals ended with the singing of sacred songs.<ref>Gallery labels, "Kikoe-ogimi and Oaraori," Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30407646735/in/dateposted-public/]</ref><br />
<br />
The ''kikoe-ôgimi'' was provided with her own mansion, in the aristocratic town of [[Shuri]] below the [[Shuri castle|castle]]. Containing both residence and shrine, the mansion, known simply as ''kikoe-ôgimi udun'', was relocated a number of times over the course of the kingdom era. Its final location, in the Tera-chô neighborhood of Shuri, covered roughly 3,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]'' (9.9 km<sup>2</sup>). Following the fall of the kingdom, the shrine was relocated to the Crown Prince's residence of [[Nakagusuku udun]], and the remaining residential buildings stood for a time until they were removed to create private agricultural fields. This land was bought by the Okinawa Normal School in 1929 and used for agricultural and educational purposes until the end of World War II, after which Shuri Middle School was built on the site.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==List of Kikoe-ôgimi==<br />
#[[Utuchitunumuigani]] (aka Tsukiyora/Gessei, younger sister of Shô Shin)<br />
#[[Bainan]] (daughter of King [[Sho Iko|Shô Ikô]])<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#Great-grandmother of King [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]] (name?)(d. [[1869]]).<br />
#<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Plaque on-site at former site of ''Kikoe-ôgimi udun'', just outside Shuri Middle School, at 2-55 Tera-chô, Shuri, Naha.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9444382739]<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]<br />
[[Category:Religious Figures]]<br />
[[Category:Women]]<br />
[[Category:Ryukyu]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Nikko_Toshogu&diff=44148Nikko Toshogu2023-05-10T08:05:41Z<p>LordAmeth: /* History */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:Yomeimon.jpg|right|350px]]<br />
*''Established: [[1636]]''<br />
*''Japanese'': 日光東照宮 ''(Nikkou Toushouguu)''<br />
<br />
Nikkô Tôshôgû is a [[Shinto shrine]] in [[Nikko|Nikkô]], dedicated to Tôshô-gongen, the deified [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]. Originally constructed in the early 17th century, the many buildings in the complex are the defining example of the elaborately decorative ''[[gongen-zukuri]]'' architectural style.<br />
<br />
==Layout==<br />
One of the most famous sights within the Tôshôgû complex is the Yômeimon, a large ''karamon'' ("Chinese gate") loaded with intricately detailed carving and decorative elaboration. Named after one of the gates to the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace]], the Yômeimon includes over 500 relief depictions of animals and people, including ones of elephants, giraffes, and other creatures about which knowledge was surely second or third-hand. Paintings of dragons by [[Kano Tanyu|Kanô Tan'yû]] are located inside the gateway.<br />
<br />
The five-story pagoda at Tôshôgû was originally built in [[1650]], destroyed by fire, and rebuilt in [[1818]].<br />
<br />
One of the many large [[torii]] on the site bears calligraphy from the hand of [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] reading "''Tôshô Dai-gongen''."<br />
<br />
The stables at the shrine house a special white horse, closely associated with the Emperor; in recent decades, each successive white horse has been a gift to Japan from the government of New Zealand. The stables also bear, within their carved decorations, what may be the original depiction of the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" monkeys (J: ''mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru''). The famous monkeys are attributed to [[Hidari Jingoro|Hidari Jingorô]].<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 55.</ref><br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The site was chosen by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself for this purpose, i.e., namely, the location of a mausoleum and shrine to him as a deified protector of the country. As Nikkô is located directly north of the Tokugawa capital of [[Edo]], some have suggested that the site was chosen as part of a discourse connecting Tôshô-daigongen (the deified Ieyasu) with the North Star, as a protective deity.<ref>Maehira Fusaaki, "''Edo bakufu to Ryûkyû shisetsu - Tôshôgû sankei wo chûshin ni''" 江戸幕府と琉球使節~東照宮参詣を中心に, in ''Ryûkyû shisetsu, Edo he iku!'', Okinawa Prefectural Museum (2009), 67.</ref><br />
<br />
Following his death, Ieyasu was first enshrined at [[Kunozan Toshogu Shrine|Kunôzan Tôshôgû]], and then less than a year later his body and spirit were relocated to a shrine at Nikkô, as a result of efforts by the Buddhist priest & shogunal advisor [[Tenkai]]. Tenkai also established another Tôshôgû within his [[Tendai]] school that same year ([[1617]]), and the shogunate established yet another, within the grounds of [[Edo castle]], the following year. Further Tôshôgû shrines were established at [[Owari han|Nagoya]] in [[1619]] and [[Mito han|Mito]] and [[Wakayama han|Kishû]] in [[1621]]. Many other ''daimyô'' and major Buddhist temples followed suit.<ref>Morgan Pitelka, ''Spectacular Accumulation'', University of Hawaii Press (2016), 147.</ref><br />
<br />
Construction at Nikkô on a fuller, grander, shrine began in [[1634]] under the third Tokugawa shogun, [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]]. This project cost, in the end, some 568,000 [[currency|gold ''ryô'']], 100 ''kanme'' of silver, and 1,000 ''[[koku]]'' of rice; by some estimates, this amounted to roughly 1/5th of Iemitsu's total inheritance from his father.<ref>Adam Clulow, ''The Company and the Shogun'', Columbia University Press (2014), 250.</ref> The new structures were among the most ornate in the entire realm, and are decorated with 644 images of animals, 950 of birds, and 1,423 of plants. The expansion project was completed in roughly two years, in time for mourning ceremonies for the 20th anniversary of Ieyasu's death, held on [[1636]]/4/17.<ref>Pitelka, 149.</ref><br />
<br />
A mission was sent from the Imperial Court in [[1646]] to visit Nikkô. Shoguns and other members of the Tokugawa family paid formal visits to the shrine as well on seventeen occasions over the course of the Edo period, beginning in 1617 (with most of these visits taking place early on, during the reigns of Tokugawa Hidetada and Iemitsu). Additional "shogunal" visits to the shrine were performed by shogunate officials (''[[koke|kôke]]'', specifically) acting as the shogun's proxy.<ref>Daniele Lauro, "Displaying authority: Guns, political legitimacy, and martial pageantry in Tokugawa Japan, 1600 - 1868," MA Thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2013), 34.</ref> Further, on several occasions in the 17th century, [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] were obliged to journey to the shrine as well (beginning in the 18th century, they visited [[Ueno Toshogu|Ueno Tôshôgû]] instead). A visit to the shrine by [[Tokugawa Ieharu]], if it can be taken as typical, involved a nine-day journey, and the shogun was accompanied by roughly 230,000 porters, 620,000 guards, and 305,000 horses.<ref>Anne Walthall, "Hiding the shoguns: Secrecy and the nature of political authority in Tokugawa Japan," in Bernard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen (eds.) ''The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion'', Routledge (2006), 352n3.</ref><br />
<br />
The shrine has undergone repair and restoration efforts on numerous occasions, including one effort in the 1740s-1750s, in which [[Miyagawa Choshun|Miyagawa Chôshun]] took part.<br />
<br />
The complex was divided in three by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1871]] - Tôshôgu and [[Futaarasan Shrine]] as Shinto shrines, and [[Rinno-ji|Rinnô-ji]] as a [[Buddhist temple]].<ref name=unesco>"[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/913 Shrines and Temples of Nikko]." UNESCO World Heritage Sites official webpage. UNESCO, 2012.</ref> This came at a time when a nationalist/Imperial cult of Shinto was being constructed, and the "foreign" religion of Buddhism was losing favor in the government. [[Matsudaira Katamori]] became the chief priest of the shrine in [[1880]].<br />
<br />
The "Shrines and Temples of Nikko [sic]" were named a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1999.<ref name=unesco/><br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]<br />
[[Category:Shrines]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Pieter_Nuyts&diff=44147Pieter Nuyts2023-05-10T08:03:39Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Born: [[1598]]''<br />
*''Died: [[1655]]''<br />
<br />
Pieter Nuyts was an officer of the [[Dutch East India Company]], who had a number of notable conflicts with the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], both as ''opperhoofd'' (factor, i.e. head) of the Company's base in Japan c. [[1627]], and as head of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch base on [[Taiwan]], in [[1628]].<br />
<br />
Nuyts was a graduate of Leiden University, and arrived in Japan with titles including "extraordinary councilor of the Indies" and "special ambassador to the shogun of Japan." His first mission to [[Edo]], in [[1627]], however, was a failure. After arriving in the city in a large and expensive procession some 300-men strong, bearing extensive gifts for the shogun, the embassy was for some reason rejected. About one month after arriving in Edo, Nuyts and his men fled the city in the middle of the night, having never been granted audience with the shogun, nor official permission (leave) to depart from the city. Historian [[Adam Clulow]] writes of these events evocatively, noting the size and grandeur of the Dutch retinue, and Nuyts' own arrival into the city in a grand palanquin, carried through the streets by six bearers, in stark contrast to their departure, with a far smaller group, hastily arranged, and with palanquin bearers who abandoned Nuyts in the middle of the street when confronted by guards.<ref>Adam Clulow, ''The Company and the Shogun: The Dutch Encounter with Tokugawa Japan'', Columbia University Press (2014), 1-2.</ref><br />
<br />
The following year, Nuyts was appointed head of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch base on Taiwan. Reportedly bearing resentments against the Japanese (whether because of the rejected mission, or other reasons, is unclear), Nuyts had the Dutch harass a number of Japanese trading ships traveling to or from Southeast Asia. In response, a group of some 500 Japanese "adventurers", led by trader [[Hamada Yahyoee]]<!--浜田弥兵衛-->, and supposedly acting on orders from ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'' [[Suetsugu Heizo|Suetsugu Heizô]], attacked the Fort, and managed to capture Nuyts. They released him soon afterwards, but took his son and four others captive, later trading these captives for Nuyts himself.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "The Formation of a Japanocentric World Order," ''International Journal of Asian Studies'' 2:2 (2005), 189.</ref> The [[Tokugawa shogunate]], though not in any way involved in this attack or hostage-taking, was nevertheless angered by Nuyts’ actions, and impounded nine Dutch vessels, banned Dutch trade in Japan for three years, and demanded that either Nuyts, or the Fort, be turned over to shogunate authorities. Though the VOC was quite hesitant, they eventually gave in and turned Nuyts over in [[1632]]. He was then imprisoned for three and a half years.<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 8, 61-63.</ref><br />
<br />
Nuyts was eventually freed in [[1636]]. The Dutch gift of a massive brass chandelier to the shogunate - still displayed at [[Nikko Toshogu|Nikkô Tôshôgû]] today - is said to have played a notable role in effecting his release.<ref>Clulow, 246-249.</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Merchants|Nuyts]]<br />
[[Category:Foreigners|Nuyts]]<br />
[[Category:Edo Period|Nuyts]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Shiryohensanjo&diff=44146Shiryohensanjo2023-03-02T01:48:04Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Shiryohensanjo.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The entrance to Shiryôhensanjo, at the University of Tokyo]]<br />
*''Japanese'': 史料編纂所 ''(shiryou hensan jo)''<br />
<br />
The ''Shiryôhensanjo'', also known as the Historiographical Institute of the [[University of Tokyo]], is one of the most preeminent scholarly archives in Japan. Among a great many other materials, the Institute houses a [[National Treasure]], the Documents of the Shimazu clan (''Shimazu ke monjo'').<br />
<br />
The Institute traces its origins to a ''[[wagaku]]'' (Japanese studies) lecture hall established by ''[[kokugaku]]'' scholar [[Hanawa Hokiichi]]<!--塙 保己一--> in [[1793]], which was reorganized in [[1869]] into the ''Shiryôhenshû kokushi kôseikyoku'' (roughly, "document editing/compiling national history school & office"). Three years later, a history section was created within the Dajôkan, and the ''shiryôhenshû kyoku'' became the ''shûshikyoku'' (history compilation office). The office was then absorbed into the newly established Tokyo Imperial University (est. [[1877]]) in [[1888]].<br />
<br />
The organization published their first catalogs of historical documents in [[1901]], a ''Dai Nippon shiryô'', and ''Dai Nippon komonjo''. In [[1906]], they took over custody of a collection of [[Bakumatsu]] period diplomatic documents from the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].<br />
<br />
The main hall of the university was completed in 1928, and the office was officially renamed Shiryôhensanjo the following year.<br />
<br />
Following World War II, in 1949, the institute took over custody of a collection of documents related to the [[Meiji Restoration]], from the [[Ministry of Education]]. The following year, the institute was officially made a research center (''kenkyûsho'') of the university. The new building (''shinkan'') was completed in 1973.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Plaques on-site at the Shiryôhensanjo.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Historic Buildings]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hirata_Tamenojo&diff=44145Hirata Tamenojo2023-02-16T08:41:06Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': [[平田]] 為之允 ''(Hirata Tamenojou)''<br />
<br />
Hirata Tamenojô was a [[Tsushima han]] retainer appointed in [[1850]] to serve as an Irregular Congratulatory Envoy (陳賀使, K: ''Chinha sa''), leading an embassy to offer congratulations to [[King Cheoljong]] of [[Joseon]] on his succession to the throne.<br />
<br />
In [[1868]], he was serving as ''[[rusui]]'' for the domain in Kyoto.<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*''Ishin Shiryô Kôyô'' 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 253.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Samurai]]<br />
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Takatsukasa_Masamichi&diff=44144Takatsukasa Masamichi2023-02-09T08:10:06Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': [[鷹司]] 政通 ''(Takatsukasa Masamichi)''<br />
<br />
Takatsukasa Masamichi was an imperial courtier who served for a time as [[Dajo Daijin|Dajô Daijin]], and then as [[Kanpaku]]. He stepped down as ''kanpaku'' in [[1856]] and was succeeded by Sadaijin [[Kujo Hisatada|Kujô Hisatada]]. He was then named ''[[Taiko|Taikô]]''.<br />
<br />
In [[1859]], he was granted permission to take the tonsure (becoming a Buddhist monk in his retirement) and was sentenced to house confinement;<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 3 (1937), 163.</ref> he was released from house confinement at the end of that year, but was still barred from attendance at court.<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 3 (1937), 251.</ref><br />
<br />
He married Rinhime Kiyoko, a sister of [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], lord of [[Mito han]].<br />
<br />
His daughter [[Takatsukasa Atsuko]] was married to shogunal heir [[Tokugawa Iesada|Tokugawa Iesachi]] (Iesada) in [[1842]]. Another of his daughters, [[Takatsukasa Tsumiko]]<!--積子・五十姫 Isohime-->, married Imperial Prince [[Fushimi-no-miya Sadanori]] in [[1855]].<br />
<br />
{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 2 (1937), 147, 186.<br />
*"Arigimi no okata gogekô gogyôretsu no zu," gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15868048799/sizes/h/]<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Edo Period]]<br />
[[Category:Nobility]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Satsuma_han&diff=44143Satsuma han2022-09-13T06:53:02Z<p>LordAmeth: /* History */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:Japan Kyushu Kagoshima.png|right|thumb|300px|The island of Kyûshû, with Kagoshima Prefecture in dark green. Satsuma han covered this territory, along with some to the northeast, in Hyûga province.]]<br />
*''Japanese'': 薩摩藩 ''(Satsuma han)'' or, more correctly, 鹿児島藩 ''(Kagoshima han)''<br />
*''Territory: [[Satsuma province]], [[Osumi province]] and Morokata district<!--諸県郡--> of [[Hyuga province|Hyûga province]]; [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]] as vassal.''<br />
*''Castle: [[Kagoshima castle]]''<br />
*Lords: [[Shimazu clan]]<br />
*''[[Kokudaka]]: 770,000''<br />
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Satsuma was one of the most powerful ''[[han]]'' in the [[Edo period]], and played a major role in the [[Meiji Restoration]] and in the government of the [[Meiji period]] which followed. Controlled throughout the Edo period by the ''[[tozama]] [[daimyo|daimyô]]'' of the [[Shimazu clan]], its territory spanned the [[Provinces of Japan|provinces]] of [[Satsuma province|Satsuma]], [[Osumi province|Osumi]] and the south-west region of [[Hyuga province|Hyûga]] on the island of [[Kyushu|Kyûshû]], and had the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] as a vassal state. The territory is largely contiguous with today's Kagoshima prefecture, plus parts of Miyazaki prefecture. As one of only ten ''daimyô'' clans to control (at least) an entire province, the Shimazu were considered ''[[kunimochi|hon-kunimochi]]'' ("true country holders").<ref>*[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 19.</ref><br />
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Officially called Kagoshima ''han'', the domain was ruled from [[Kagoshima castle]] in [[Kagoshima]]. Its ''[[kokudaka]]'', the official measure of the domain's production, and therefore its wealth and power, was assessed at 770,000 ''[[koku]]'' for most of the period, the second highest ''kokudaka'' after that of [[Kaga han]].<br />
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==History==<br />
The Shimazu family controlled Satsuma province for roughly four centuries prior to the beginning of the Edo period and the establishment of the ''han'', and towards the end of the 16th century, controlled nearly all of Kyûshû. Despite being chastised by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] in his 1587 [[Kyushu campaign|Kyûshû campaign]], and forced back to Satsuma, they remained one of the most powerful clans in the archipelago. During the decisive [[battle of Sekigahara]], which took place in 1600 and put an end to the long [[Sengoku period]], the Shimazu stayed home in Satsuma, consolidating and protecting their power. While a great many clans fought and lost at Sekigahara, the Shimazu remained one of the few who, alone, possessed sufficient military might to resist the shogun's armies, had he tried to forcibly seize their territory. Unlike many clans who were assigned and reassigned ''han'' over the course of the Edo period, the Shimazu maintained their territory, and a great degree of autonomy.<br />
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In 1609, the Shimazu requested permission from the shogunate to invade the Ryûkyû Kingdom which lay to its south. After a brief invasion which met little resistance, Satsuma seized a number of the northern [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]],<ref>including [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], [[Tokunoshima]], [[Okinoerabujima]], [[Yoronjima]], and [[Kikaigashima]].</ref> annexing them to the ''han'', and claimed the Ryûkyû Kingdom as a vassal state. Under Satsuma's rule, Nagashima and the [[Koshiki Islands]] were administered by locals appointed as ''bangashira'', and [[Yakushima]] was administered by a ''[[bugyo|bugyô]]'', each of whom served for a year at a time. Amami Ôshima, Tokunoshima, and Kikaigashima were administered by ''[[daikan]]'', ''[[yokome]]'', and ''tsukeyaku'', who served three-year terms.<ref name=satsuyu244>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 244.</ref><br />
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For the remainder of the Edo period, Satsuma exacted tribute from Ryûkyû, influenced its politics, and dominated its trading policies. As strict [[kaikin|maritime prohibitions]] were imposed upon much of Japan beginning in the 1630s, Satsuma's ability to enjoy a trade in Chinese goods, and information, via Ryûkyû, provided it a distinct and important, if not entirely unique, role in the overall economy and politics of the Tokugawa state. This allowed Satsuma a small degree of freedom, in accessing the outside world separately from the extensive monopolies and prohibitions enforced by the shogunate. The shogunate knew that these connections to Ryûkyû could bring particular advantages for Satsuma, and was suspicious of potential disloyalty; as a result, while the Shimazu regularly signed ''[[kishomon|kishômon]]'' swearing their loyalty to the Tokugawa, as was obligatory for all ''daimyô'', the Shimazu were obliged in addition to swear they would not join Ryûkyû in any "nefarious plots," nor allow the kingdom to aid China in any actions against Japan.<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 82.</ref><br />
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The degree of economic benefits enjoyed by Satsuma, and the degree of their oppression of Ryûkyû, are subjects debated by scholars, but the political prestige and influence gained through this relationship is not questioned. The Shimazu continually made efforts to emphasize their unique position as the only feudal domain to claim an entire foreign kingdom as its vassal, and engineered repeated increases to their own official [[Court rank]], in the name of maintaining their power and prestige in the eyes of Ryûkyû. Satsuma also maintained contacts with Chinese merchants, in violation of the shogunate's policies, allowing Chinese merchants to visit their shores and engage in trade; the domain hired Chinese language interpreters to speak with these merchants, who arrived sporadically, in order to attempt to glean information from them regarding events in China, and allowed a Chinese community to remain active at the port town of [[Bonotsu|Bônotsu]] up until the early 18th century.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 46-47.</ref> In connection with this, and simply in order to handle the occasional Chinese castaway or shipwreck, Satsuma maintained a staff of some fifty interpreters across the domain; such interpreters were chiefly based in Kagoshima, [[Satsumasendai]], [[Akune]], Bônotsu, Kaseda, [[Yamakawa]], [[Tanegashima]], [[Yakushima]], and the Amami Islands.<ref name=satsuyu244/><br />
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Though arguably opposed to the shogunate, Satsuma was perhaps one of the strictest domains in enforcing particular policies. Christian missionaries were seen as a serious threat to the power of the daimyô, and the peace and order of the domain; the shogunal ban on Christianity was enforced more strictly and brutally in Satsuma, perhaps, than anywhere else in the archipelago. The ban on smuggling, perhaps unsurprisingly, was not so strictly enforced, as the domain gained significantly from trade performed along its shores, some ways away from [[Nagasaki]], where the shogunate monopolized commerce.<br />
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In addition, Satsuma was regarded as one of the strictest domains in restricting travel into or out of the domain. One contemporary account describes it as the strictest of the domains, with [[Hizen han]], [[Awa han]], and [[Tosa han]] following closely behind, and at least one scholar has today described Satsuma as a "closed country" within the "closed country" of Tokugawa Japan (or, "double-layered ''[[sakoku]]''," 二重鎖国).<ref name=reimei>Gallery labels, [[Reimeikan Museum]], Kagoshima, Sept 2014.</ref> Residents and travelers within Satsuma were required to carry wooden identification tags, and checkpoints called ''sakaime bansho'' and ''tsuguchi bansho'' were established at border crossings and ports, respectively,<ref name=reimei/> making it quite difficult for people to enter or leave the domain, and resulting in the development of a marked difference in cultural norms from those even in immediately neighboring domains. One contemporary traveler remarked that customs do not change much between [[Kansai]] and [[Higo province]], but that as soon as one steps over the border into Satsuma, the customs are quite different; he describes them as possibly old-fashioned, or perhaps even as if Satsuma were a foreign country. Not only was the transmission or influence upon Satsuma of cultural changes the rest of the archipelago limited, but the flow or spread of Satsuma's culture into the rest of Japan was likewise quite limited, making it seem all the more mysterious and unfamiliar.<ref>Munemasa Isoo 宗政五十緒, “Tachibana Nankei ‘Saiyūki’ to Edo kōki no kikō bungaku” 橘南谿『西遊記』と江戸後期の紀行文学, in ''Shin-Nihon koten bungaku taikei'' 新日本古典文学大系, vol. 98, (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1991), 442.</ref> Reasons for these tight controls may have included a desire to protect the domain from outside religious influences, and from epidemics and plagues, as well as to protect domain secrets. Indeed, one scholar notes, very few residents of Satsuma appear on registers of pilgrims in [[Shikoku]], for example, an indication that very few residents of Satsuma traveled outside the domain at all.<ref name=barriers>Vaporis, Constantine. ''Breaking Barriers''. Harvard East Asia Monographs, 1994. pp209-210.</ref><br />
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These policies were considerably relaxed, however, for a brief period under ''daimyô'' [[Shimazu Shigehide]] (r. [[1755]]-[[1787]]). It is said that Shigehide desired to bring more commerce and trade into the domain, and believed that greater merchant activity was essential for a prosperous castle town; Satsuma residents were even allowed during this period to make the pilgrimage to [[Ise]]. It was during this time, as well, that [[Furukawa Koshoken|Furukawa Koshôken]] and [[Tachibana Nankei]], among other prominent scholar-travelers, were able to enter the domain and travel within it, Koshôken explicitly noting that it was then easier to enter Satsuma than it had been previously. Various precautions and procedures more strict than in most other domains were still in place, however, as he relates that the guards at the border searched all his possessions, and required him to prove he had enough coin to prevent himself from becoming any kind of burden for the domain.<ref name=barriers/><br />
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Satsuma remained the second wealthiest domain (in terms of official ''kokudaka'' rating) and among the most powerful throughout the Edo period. This derived in part from their connection to Ryûkyû: the Shimazu performed a land survey in [[1610]] which determined the productivity of the kingdom to be 89,086 ''koku'', and then reported to the shogunate a ''kokudaka'' of 123,700, which was then incorporated into the Shimazu's ''omote-daka'' rating.<ref>Futaki Ken'ichi (ed.), ''Han to jôkamachi no jiten'', Tôkyôdô (2004), 634.</ref> This accounted for only one-sixth of the domain's rating, however, the majority of which derived from the size and productive wealth of Satsuma and Ôsumi provinces themselves, while the historical strength of the Shimazu, their historical claims to those lands, esteemed lineage, and extreme distance from [[Edo]], and thus from the [[Shogun]]'s armies, were powerful factors towards the elite status of the Shimazu as well. The Shimazu exercised their influence to exact from the shogunate a number of special exceptions. Satsuma was granted an exception to the shogunate's limit of one castle per domain, a policy which was meant to restrict the military strength of the domains. Satsuma had the highest proportion of samurai in its population of any domain, roughly 25%,<ref>Norman, E.H. ''Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription''. New York: Institute for Pacific Relations, 1945. p44.; Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref> as compared to 6% in most parts of the archipelago.<ref>Hellyer, 25.</ref> Contrary to the policy of removing the samurai from the countryside and consolidating them in the domainal capital, as was standard in most domains, the Shimazu were able to form sub-fiefs within their domain, and to dole out castles to their retainers, in a system known as the ''tojô seido'' (外城制度). There were around 113 of these "outside castle" administrative units, each of which might be considered a [[subinfeudation|sub-domain]] or sub-fief in certain important ways, making the Shimazu administration of their domain not entirely dissimilar from being a microcosm of the Tokugawa state(s) itself. Samurai lords of these "outside castle" sub-fiefs, known as ''[[jito|jitô]]'' (often translated as "stewards"), were obliged to reside primarily in the castle-town of Kagoshima, visiting their sub-fiefs only occasionally, while a number of ''[[goshi|gôshi]]'' (rural samurai) retainers handled the actual administration of the sub-fief, on the ground. These ''gôshi'', who performed agricultural work in peacetime, could be called up for military service when necessary.<ref name=reimei/> The ''jitô'' were frequently re-assigned to different sub-fiefs so that they would not gain an entrenched base of power in any one location.<ref>Clements, Rebekah. "Alternate Attendance Parades in the Japanese Domain of Satsuma, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries : Pottery, Power and Foreign Spectacle." ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', May 2022, p. 32.</ref><br />
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Most of these rural samurai lived in separate samurai villages, watching over neighboring peasant villages and effecting tax collection, which was done through a system known as ''kadowari'' ("dividing into gates"); villages or homes were grouped together into groups known as ''kado'', each of which owed a certain amount of taxes to the samurai.<ref name=reimei/> This was in contrast to the system in place in most domains, in which village heads were responsible, within a hierarchy of peasant and samurai officials, for the collection of taxes.<ref>Hellyer, 28.</ref><br />
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The Shimazu also received special exceptions from the shogunate in regard to the policy of ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'', another policy meant to restrict the wealth and power of the ''daimyô''. Under this policy, every feudal lord was mandated to travel to Edo at least once a year, and to spend some portion of the year there, away from his domain and his power base. The Shimazu were granted permission to make this journey only once every two years. These exceptions thus allowed Satsuma to gain even more power and wealth relative to the majority of other domains. Even so, ''sankin kôtai'' was expensive, and like most domains, by the 19th century, Satsuma found itself in heavy debt, having borrowed time and again from [[Osaka]] merchants to finance their trips to Edo. In fact, despite its high rank and ''kokudaka'', in terms of debts, Satsuma was the poorest domain in the realm in [[1827]], with roughly 320,000 ''[[currency|kan]]'' (a measure of [[silver]]) in debt.<ref>Hellyer, 126.</ref><br />
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Satsuma's financial situation had been particularly ill-affected by a command from the shogunate in [[1753]] that the domain contribute to the construction of embankments along the [[Kiso River]]. This corvée labor project took fifteen months. Satsuma contributed 1000 samurai, out of whom 80 died from the back-breaking work or for other reasons related to the working conditions; the man appointed by Satsuma to serve as overseer, [[Hirata Yukie]], committed [[seppuku|suicide]] as a means of acknowledging or seeking atonement for his responsibility for their deaths. The entire affair was profoundly expensive for the domain, and combined with other financial difficulties, severely worsened the domain's already exceptional degree of debt.<ref name=reimei/><br />
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A number of agricultural policies put in place in the 1820s-1830s by domain official [[Zusho Shozaemon|Zusho Shôzaemon]] helped alleviate the domain's financial difficulties, but only somewhat. Zusho also oversaw the creation of a system of smugglers, sanctioned and sometimes even supported financially by the domain. The most prominent of these, the [[Hamazaki family]], boasted agents in all the major port and market cities, and was involved in everything from Ryukyuan [[sugar]] to marine products from [[Ezo]], cutting into the trade volume or market share of the [[kitamaebune|Western]] and [[Eastern Sea Circuit]] trade routes. Satsuma had been condoning Chinese smuggling within its territory to varying extents throughout the period as well, receiving Chinese ships in violation of Tokugawa policy, instead of sending them on to Nagasaki. When the volume of trade at Nagasaki began to seriously decline in the 1830s, shogunate officials pointed the finger at Satsuma's smuggling; in fact, there were a variety of other causes for the decline in trade, including wars being fought by the Dutch Republic which severely weakened the [[Dutch East India Company]], and the growth of domestic products, including sugar from the [[Amami Islands]], which competed with imported goods. Zusho's policies in Amami were devastating for the people of those islands, but have been credited as playing a crucial role in effecting recovery for the domain's economy, and setting the stage for Satsuma's success in its industrializing efforts in the Bakumatsu era.<ref name=reimei/><br />
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Meanwhile, in [[1837]], [[Mizuno Tadakuni]] declared a ban on the sale of Ryûkyû goods at Nagasaki for a ten-year period, from [[1839]]-[[1848]], and further that in the intervening time before the ban came into effect, the shogunate-run [[Nagasaki kaisho|Nagasaki customs house]] would take over the warehousing, sale, and transportation of Satsuma's goods. Satsuma complained almost immediately, citing once again the financial difficulties of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, but in the end, the ban was upheld, with the shogunate issuing a grant of 5,000 ''ryô'' annually for three years, directed specifically at benefiting the kingdom.<ref>Hellyer, 134-138.</ref><br />
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==Relations with Ryûkyû==<br />
Satsuma's lordship over Ryûkyû chiefly provided the domain benefits in terms of prestige and status, and economically. <br />
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Satsuma boasted it was the only domain to claim a foreign kingdom as a vassal, and encouraged regular [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] as a display of that fact, leveraging this at times to demand greater [[court rank]] and other privileges and concessions. After the shogunate rejected Satsuma's requests in [[1704]] and [[1709]] to send Ryukyuan missions, the dismissal (''muyô'', "no need") coming perhaps chiefly from financial concerns, Satsuma emphasized the importance of these missions for Ryûkyû in demonstrating its loyalty and fealty to the shogunate, and the powerful implications for the shogunate's own prestige and impressions of legitimacy. The shogunate, spurred by [[Arai Hakuseki]], who was of a particular mind for the political importance of ritual display, relented, and allowed a mission to come in [[1710]]. [[Shimazu Yoshitaka]] also pressed the shogunate at that time for an elevation in court rank, suggesting that a higher court rank was essential for demanding the respect of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, but likely truly thinking about his rank relative to other ''daimyô'', such as the [[Maeda clan]], lords of [[Kaga han]]. He got what he wanted, and from that year forward, the lord of Satsuma was elevated in court rank every time he escorted a Ryukyuan embassy to Edo.<br />
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After Tsushima argued that its diplomatic and trade interactions with Korea constituted an important service to the shogunate in terms of intelligence and national defense, in [[1748]] both Tsushima and Satsuma were exempted from military or corvée obligations related to the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]], an obligation otherwise shared by all other Kyushu ''daimyô''.<ref>Hellyer, 68.</ref><br />
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The economic benefits for Satsuma of the arrangement came chiefly in the ability to import Chinese silks, medicinal products, and other luxury goods, obtained by Ryukyuan envoys in China (or as gifts from [[Chinese investiture envoys]] who came to Ryûkyû), and to sell those goods at market in Japan. Right around the same time that Satsuma was experiencing difficulties with the shogunate permitting them to send Ryukyuan embassy missions to Edo, the shogunate's monetary policies were creating other very severe problems for the domain. In [[1711]], the shogunate debased the currency to an all-time low, producing silver ingots that were only 20% [[silver]]. Satsuma complained that as 80% ingots had been the standard, sending Ryukyuan envoys to China with 20% ingots would not only make it much more expensive (in number of ingots) to purchase goods, but would also risk Ryûkyû losing face with China, and Satsuma losing face with Ryûkyû. [[Tsushima han]], which had an exclusive privilege to engaging in trade with [[Joseon|Korea]], and which was by far the chief source in Japan of the highly-demanded product [[ginseng]], similarly complained, and was granted permission to use 80% ingots; Satsuma was not so successful, being granted permission to use 64% ingots. The shogunate returned to producing 80% silver ingots only a few years later, in [[1715]], but seeking to find a way of stemming the flow of silver out of the country, restricted further the amount of silver Satsuma could send out of the country. Whereas they had previously been permitted to provide 800 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kan]]'' of silver to Ryûkyû for [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China]] and 400 ''kan'' for gifts given to Chinese [[investiture]] envoys visiting Ryûkyû, these amounts were now limited to 600 and 300 ''kan'' respectively.<ref>Hellyer, 67.</ref><br />
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Satsuma experienced further economic/commercial difficulties beginning in the late 1780s to early 1790s, when [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]], as part of broader efforts to limit Japan's foreign trade activities, restricted Satsuma to selling only silk and silk [[damask]] - two particularly less profitable products - at [[Kyoto]], obliging them to consume all other Chinese and Ryukyuan goods they imported within the domain. This struck a severe blow, nearly defeating entirely the economic purpose of Satsuma's links with Ryûkyû. Satsuma petitions to the shogunate in [[1801]] to reverse the imposition, or to expand the variety of permitted goods, were rejected. However, over the course of the 1810s-1820s, a series of famines and other problems in Ryûkyû offered Satsuma the opportunity to press its claims, asserting that the Nagasaki trade was essential to Ryûkyû's financial well-being. In [[1825]], the shogunate finally relented, not only allowing Satsuma to sell a variety of different goods on the market, but also making official limits on the total volume of sale significantly more lenient, increasing the amount from 900 ''kan'', stipulated in [[1716]], to 1,720 ''kan''.<ref>Hellyer, 132.</ref> These restrictions were further loosened in [[1846]], with Satsuma now being able to sell a full sixteen stipulated types of goods at the Osaka and Kyoto markets, albeit under a tighter limit on total volume of trade - 1,200 ''kan'' instead of the previous 1,720.<ref>158-159.</ref><br />
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==Bakumatsu==<br />
Towards the end of the Edo period, the shogunate's power waned, and contacts with Westerners increased dramatically, particularly for Satsuma, as Western ships frequently landed in the Ryûkyûs and sought not only trade, but formal diplomatic relations. Frustration and tensions arose in Satsuma and other domains over the shogunate's failure to repel these Western incursions, and over a number of other issues. In the 1850s, [[Shimazu Nariakira]] ordered the construction of a number of Western-style warships, beginning with tall-masted sailing ships such as the ''[[Iroha-maru]]'' and ''[[Shoheimaru|Shôhei-maru]]'', and the first-ever Japanese-made steamships, including the ''[[Ottosen|Unkômaru]]''. In [[1856]]/1, Nariakira officially established a domain "navy" (''suiguntai'').<ref>shin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 2 (1937), 164.</ref> By the end of the following year, a number of further ships had been built, and Satsuma boasted the largest Western-style fleet in Japan.<ref>Plaque at former site of Iso shipyard in Kagoshima.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15217397191/sizes/l]</ref><br />
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However, in the [[Namamugi Incident]] of 1862, an Englishman was killed by retainers of Satsuma, leading to the [[bombardment of Kagoshima]] by the British Royal Navy the following year. In the negotiations which resulted, Satsuma paid considerable indemnities, but also formed friendly and close relations with the British. Satsuma would later dispatch official representatives, as well as [[Satsuma students|students]], to England, and invited British engineers to Kagoshima to help build [[Iso cotton mill|modern textile factories]].<ref>''Satsuma to Igirisu'', Kagoshima: Shokoshuseikan (2011), 63.</ref><br />
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A number of powerful retainers of the Shimazu, foremost among them [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]], along with samurai of a number of other domains, then pushed forward the events which led to the Meiji Restoration. The events of the 1860s are in fact far more complex than most accounts indicate, but in short, Saigô and his comrades, against the wishes of the Satsuma ''daimyô'' at the time, sought to overthrow the shogunate. A number of political discussions and petitions led to skirmishes, and ultimately, Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] agreed to step down and put an end to the shogunate.<br />
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The Meiji government which was established in the aftermath of these events was largely dominated by people from Satsuma and [[Choshu han|Chôshû han]]. Though the samurai class, domain system, and much of the political and social structures surrounding these were abolished shortly afterwards, figures from these two areas dominated the Japanese government roughly until World War I. It is said, however, that these two areas continue to exert a disproportionately powerful influence over politics even today.<br />
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==Daimyô of Satsuma==<br />
#[[Shimazu Tadatsune]] (r. 1602-1638)<br />
#[[Shimazu Mitsuhisa]] (r. 1638-1687)<br />
#[[Shimazu Tsunataka]] (r. 1687-1704)<br />
#[[Shimazu Yoshitaka]] (r. 1704-1721)<br />
#[[Shimazu Tsugutoyo]] (r. 1721-1746)<br />
#[[Shimazu Munenobu]] (r. 1746-1749)<br />
#[[Shimazu Shigetoshi]] (r. 1746-1755)<br />
#[[Shimazu Shigehide]] (r. 1755-1787)<br />
#[[Shimazu Narinobu]] (r. 1787-1809)<br />
#[[Shimazu Narioki]] (r. 1809-1851)<br />
#[[Shimazu Nariakira]] (r. 1851-1858)<br />
#[[Shimazu Tadayoshi]] (r. 1858-1871)<br />
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===Other major figures from Satsuma===<br />
*[[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]]<br />
*[[Okubo Toshimichi|Ôkubo Toshimichi]] <br />
*[[Togo Heihachiro|Tôgô Heihachirô]]<br />
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==References==<br />
*[[Robert Sakai|Sakai, Robert]] (1957). "Feudal Society and Modern Leadership in Satsuma-han" ''Journal of Asian Studies'' Vol 16. pp. 365-376<br />
*Sakai, Robert (1968). "The Consolidation of Power in Satsuma-han." in ''Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan.'' (John W. Hall & Marius Jansen eds.) Princeton: Princeton University Press.<br />
*Sakai, Robert, et al. (1975). ''The Status System and Social Organization of Satsuma.'' Tokyo: Tokyo University Press.<br />
*[[George Sansom|Sansom, George]] (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.<br />
*Sansom, George (1961). ''A History of Japan: 1334-1615.'' Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.<br />
*Sansom, George (1963). ''A History of Japan: 1615-1867.'' Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp218-242.<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Han]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Emperor&diff=44142Emperor2022-09-11T04:10:31Z<p>LordAmeth: /* History */</p>
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<div>*''Other Titles'': 内裏 ''(dairi)'', 禁裏 ''(kinri)'', 天子 ''(tenshi)'', 御門 ''(mikado)''<br />
*''Japanese'': 天皇 ''(tennô)''<br />
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The hereditary monarch of Japan is commonly referred to in English as the "emperor." In addition to his secular political role, the ''tennô'' is also considered the highest [[Shinto]] priest in Japan.<br />
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Japan has historically had a number of reigning empresses as well, also called ''tennô'' and considered of equivalent position and status. The possibility for a woman to come to power as reigning empress was terminated, however, in the [[1889]] [[Meiji Constitution]], Article II of which stipulates that the succession to the throne is to follow the male line.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 180.</ref> Prior to that time, on a number of occasions in Japanese history, a widow or daughter succeeded to the throne.<br />
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==History==<br />
Though the spiritual status of the emperor today is largely the result of the [[Meiji period]] reinvention of the position alongside [[State Shinto]], it fundamentally derives from the ancient origins of rulers in the archipelago as simultaneously secular and spiritual - or even magical - rulers. The legendary ruler [[Himiko]] is described in the ''[[Wei zhi]]'' as a priestess or shamaness, and the legendary [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]] is similarly described in some sources as a great shamaness. These earliest chieftains or monarchs emerged in the [[Yayoi period|Yayoi]] and [[Kofun period]]s, periods when it might be said the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula shared in the same cultural complex. Indeed, the rulers of Korea's ancient [[Three Kingdoms (Korea)|Three Kingdoms]] held similar status - as simultaneously secular ruler, and chief shaman of the kingdom. In [[Silla]], the royal crown was the mark not only of the secular ruler, but indeed of this leading shamanic status.<ref>Evelyn Rawski, ''Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives'', Cambridge University Press (2015), 123.</ref><br />
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The phenomenon of chieftain/shaman-kings developed, eventually, by the late 6th century, into a single chieftain/royal clan, the [[Yamato clan]], dominating central Japan. It was this clan which later expanded its control to cover - eventually - the entire archipelago, claiming singular authority, legitimacy, and titles that have come to be rendered in English as "emperor." Though it has become quite commonplace to refer to all rulers of Japan, stretching back to the wholly fictional [[Emperor Jimmu]] of the 600s BCE, as "emperor," a number of scholars have argued that there is good reason to not consider any figures prior to the 7th century Japanese "emperors," or even to abandon the term altogether. See below for further details on considerations regarding terminology.<br />
<br />
The Yamato clan reinforced its claims to singular authority and legitimacy through the compilations in the early 8th century of the ''[[Kojiki]]'' and ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', which relate Japanese myth and history as the story of the one and only Imperial family, descended from an unbroken line of descent stretching back to the sun goddess, [[Amaterasu]]. Amaterasu had been the patron deity of the Yamato family while other competing clans had their own separate patron deities; now the sun was elevated above all others, as were her descendants, rendering the Imperial family unique and unassailable in their legitimacy. Though the Imperial family would split in the 14th century into competing lineages, in what is known as the [[Nanbokucho period|Nanbokuchô period]], or the Period of Northern and Southern Courts, members of both lineages had legitimate claims to the throne based on their descent; the Yamato lineage would never be overthrown, and remains on the throne today.<br />
<br />
Though emperors themselves were quite powerful for a time in the 8th to 10th centuries, by the beginning of the 11th, if not earlier, imperial power had been co-opted to a considerable degree by members of the [[Fujiwara clan]] of court aristocrats, who dominated the [[sessho|regency]], and married their daughters into the imperial clan in order to ensure that future emperors would be loyal to the Fujiwara, through their Fujiwara mothers and grandparents. [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] (d. [[1027]]) is often said to represent the pinnacle of this phenomenon, wielding very considerable power despite his position as regent, never emperor. By the end of the 11th century, however, a new pattern emerged, as [[Retired Emperor]]s wrested power away from the Fujiwara clan, and claimed it for themselves. In their retirement, Emperors from [[Emperor Shirakawa|Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1087]]) through [[Emperor Go-Shirakawa|Go-Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1158]]), worked to ensure that reigning emperors were relatively young - and therefore relatively lacking in influence or power - so they (the Retired Emperors) could retain considerable power for themselves.<br />
<br />
The era of emperors wielding any significant degree of real power came to an end, however, in the 1150s or 1160s, as the [[Taira clan]] inserted themselves as powerful regents, taking over in many respects the position occupied previously by the Fujiwara. The Taira were destroyed in the [[Genpei War]] of the 1180s, after which the [[Minamoto clan]] established the [[Kamakura shogunate]], marking the beginning of nearly 700 years of samurai rule. With some notable exceptions - such as the later Kamakura shoguns being Imperial Princes, and the short-lived [[Kemmu Restoration]] of the 1330s - emperors, and indeed the Imperial Court more broadly, would not be the dominant political force in Japan until after [[1868]]. For much of the [[Edo period]] ([[1603]]-1868), in fact, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] rarely permitted emperors to leave the Imperial Palace (allowing only retired emperors to do so); the shogunate designated that emperors consider their chief duty the maintenance of proper court rituals and elite court culture.<ref>Clements, Rebekah. «Alternate Attendance Parades in the Japanese Domain of Satsuma, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries : Pottery, Power and Foreign Spectacle». Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, May 2022, p. 6, citing Takano Toshihiko, ‘Edo bakufu no chōtei shihai’, Nihonshi kenkyū 319 (1989), 48-77; Satō, ‘The Emperor’s Gyoko and Funeral’ (2020).</ref> Emperors and their courtiers were expected to devote themselves to ritual, and to maintaining the ancient customs of their ancestors, including literary practices, appreciating nature, and managing estates.<ref>[[Anne Walthall]], "Introduction: Tracking People in the Past," Walthall (ed.), ''The Human Tradition in Modern Japan'', Scholarly Resources, Inc. (2002), 1, 3.</ref> Emperors retained a powerful, significant, symbolic role, as the source of all political legitimacy, and the ''[[kokugaku]]'' (National Studies) movement of the 18th-19th centuries revived, or at least renewed emphasis on, notions of the divine origins of the Imperial family. But they would continue to exercise little true political influence until after the fall of the shogunate.<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868 nominally restored true power to the emperor. By [[1889]], the position of the emperor had been reinvented, with numerous aspects of ancient spiritual, mythological, ritual, and symbolic elements being revived or invoked as part of a massive effort to recreate the position of the emperor as symbol & embodiment of the Nation, its divine leader, descended from an unbroken lineage stretching back to the Sun Goddess. The [[Meiji Emperor]] was both a modern ruler in numerous ways, wielding true political power like constitutional monarchs elsewhere in the world and serving as a head of state on the world stage, and also a deeply traditional ruler, with spiritual, ritual, and symbolic associations and responsibilities. The Imperial institution and its history was extensively reinvented at this time, with the Meiji government establishing new official lineages (including certain legendary or historical figures and excluding others), designating ancient burial sites as officially being considered the tombs of particular legendary or historical emperors, and claiming that particular rituals, invented or re-invented at that time, had been performed in just such a fashion for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.<br />
<br />
In 1945, an emperor's voice was heard over the radio for the first time. Shortly afterwards, the Shôwa Emperor (Hirohito) formally declared himself to not be divine, but only human. Under the new Constitution adopted in 1946, the emperor is still today regarded as "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People," but he is denied "powers related to government."<ref>"[http://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html The Constitution of Japan]," official website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. Accessed 10/10/2016.</ref><br />
<br />
==Terminology==<br />
===In Japanese===<br />
The term ''tennô'', though standard today, was not common traditionally. Historian [[Watanabe Hiroshi]] even suggests that to the average [[Edo period]] person, the word ''tennô'' would primarily suggest images of the ''[[Shitenno|Shitennô]]'' ("Four Heavenly Generals") or other Buddhist figures, and not an idea of the emperor.<ref>Watanabe Hiroshi, ''A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600-1901'', International House of Japan (2012), 52.</ref> In the Edo period, terms such as ''dairi'', ''kinri'', ''kinchû'' (all metonyms more literally referring to the palace), and ''mikado'' (another metonym, lit. "august gate") were more common. These metonyms were used almost exclusively in place of any personal or individual name for the Emperor; even today, the term ''tennô heika'' ("His Majesty the Emperor") is the most widely used referent, as opposed to any personal or even reign name. In [[1864]] as well, a group of Japanese officials in China, when pressured to name the emperor, are said to have been unable to do so, saying simply ''kinri''.<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 169.</ref> Reign names (such as [[Meiji Emperor]] or Heisei Emperor) are exclusively posthumous, and thus are not possible referents for the emperor during his life or reign.<br />
<br />
In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common in the pre-modern period. In fact, in a famous communication said to have been issued to the Chinese emperor by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in [[607]], in which he wrote "from the Son of Heaven of the land of the rising sun, to the Son of Heaven in the land of the setting sun," this is the term used for both emperors.<ref name=shillony>Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 69-71.</ref><br />
<br />
The term ''tennô'' (C: ''tiān huáng'') is said to have originally had a strong association with the [[Taoist]] worship of the [[North Star]], and was only ever used in China briefly, from around [[675]] to around [[705]]. Of course, it was during this period that the [[Yamato court]] adopted many aspects of Chinese political ideology, and indeed it was during that brief period that the term ''tennô'' came into use in Japan, beginning with either [[Emperor Temmu]] (r. [[673]]-[[686]]) or his successor [[Empress Jito|Empress Jitô]] (r. 686-[[697]]). This marks the end of the period of "Great Kings" (''ôkimi''), and the beginning of rule by "emperors."<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 17.</ref> [[Amino Yoshihiko]], among others, have argued that this also marks the beginning of something we might legitimately call "Japan," suggesting that what came before should be considered "Wa" or "Yamato," and not "Japan," that all rulers prior to Temmu should not be called "emperors," and that figures such as [[Empress Suiko]] (r. [[593]]-[[628]]) and Shôtoku Taishi, important as they may be historically, should not be considered "Japanese."<ref>[[Amino Yoshihiko]], [[Alan Christy]] (trans.), ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 247.</ref><br />
<br />
The term ''tennô'', adopted perhaps in the late 7th century, continued to be applied when referring posthumously to emperors through the 13th century before falling out of use. The use of this term was only revived following the death of [[Emperor Kokaku|Emperor Kôkaku]] in [[1840]].<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Performing the Great Peace'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 169.</ref><br />
<br />
While the term ''tennô'' was adopted in Japan, more standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''). In Japanese, these terms are used almost exclusively to refer only to non-Japanese emperors (e.g. including not only Chinese emperors, but also emperors of Rome or of the Holy Roman Empire). The term ''kôtei'' was only used in Japan to refer to the Japanese emperor for a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then only in communication with China, before the title ''tennô'' was formally adopted in 1936.<ref name=shillony/><br />
<br />
Regardless of which of these terms was employed, however, for much of Japanese history, Japanese rulers made a point of emphasizing that Japan, too, possessed a Son of Heaven, an "emperor," and not a "king" (国王, J: ''kokuô'', C: ''guo wang''). Regardless of how we might translate it (as "king" or otherwise), to be ruled by a ''koku-ô'', as [[Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]] were, meant submission to Chinese suzerainty. The ''koku-ô'' of Korea and Ryûkyû received [[investiture]] from Chinese envoys, meaning that their legitimacy was, at least in some sense, derived from or dependent upon the Chinese emperor. Furthermore, in order to engage in official trade relations with China, one had to be a [[tribute|tributary]] state; that is, one had to pay tribute. This was something most shoguns, and Japanese emperors alike, refused to do, instead insisting upon their equality with the Chinese emperor, or their exclusion from the Sinocentric system entirely.<br />
<br />
===In English===<br />
In present-day English, the "emperor of Japan" refers to the ''tennô'' 天皇, the monarch who has reigned over (but not necessarily ruled) Japan for virtually all of recorded history. However, it only became standard in English sometime after [[Perry|Perry's]] visit in [[1853]]. Indeed, the formal letters from US Presidents Fillmore and Pierce carried to Japan by Commodore Perry and [[Townsend Harris]] respectively all used the term "emperor" to refer to the shogun.<ref name=shillony/><br />
<br />
The 16th-century [[Jesuits]] more commonly used terms such as "nobleman," "king," or "prince," to refer to the ''tennô'', but hardly ever the term "emperor," if at all. Borrowing or imitating Japanese terms, they also often used terms such as ''mikado'' and ''dairi'' 内裏, the latter literally referring to the imperial palace, in much the same way we might today say "Washington" or "the White House" to mean the President of the United States. (The "emperor" doll in the [[Doll Festival]] set is still called the ''dairi'' today.)<br />
<br />
The Jesuits also called the [[daimyo|daimyô]] "kings," "dukes," or "princes," which was hardly a misuse of the European term, as the daimyô, especially in Kyushu where the Jesuits were first active, were independent rulers who really ruled their territory and fought each other. The ''tennô'' was described by St. [[Francis Xavier]] as the hereditary ruler of the whole country, but one who was no longer obeyed.<ref>Francis Xavier, quoted in Cooper, 41.</ref><br />
<br />
[[William Adams|Will Adams]], an Englishman who arrived in Japan in [[1600]], referred to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who became the first [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] [[shogun]] in [[1603]], as "king" in a [[1611]] letter to his wife, and as "emperor" in a pamphlet of the same date. "Emperor" in Europe referred to someone who ruled over kings, so in the latter he was clearly indicating that Ieyasu ruled over all the various "kings" (i.e. the daimyô) who Europeans knew existed in Japan. The Englishmen who arrived in Japan with the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] in [[1613]] also referred to the then-retired shogun Ieyasu and the shogun [[Tokugawa Hidetada|Hidetada]] as "emperor," both in public and private. <br />
<br />
[[Richard Cocks]] mentioned the "''dairi''" in [[1616]], and [[Engelbert Kaempfer]], who came to the [[Dejima|Dutch settlement]] in [[1690]], described Japan as possessing "two Emperors at the same time, the one secular, the other ecclesiastical."<ref name=shillony/> Thus, he does refer to the ''tennô'' in [[Kyoto]] as the "Ecclesiastical Hereditary Emperor," though more frequently his use of the term "emperor" (as in "Embassy to the Emperor's court") referred to the shogun, in [[Edo]].<br />
<br />
One sometimes comes across statements to the effect that during the [[Edo period]] the secretive Japanese told the Dutch that the shogun was the emperor, hiding the existence of the real emperor, but such statements are misconceptions deriving from a lack of familiarity with the history of early Japanese-European contact. It is clear that the Europeans, though they knew of the ''tennô'', chose "emperor" as the word most suitable to their minds to describe the shogun.<br />
<br />
Today, the Emperor of Japan is the only reigning figure in the world to be called "emperor." Historian Ben-Ami Shillony, citing the fact that the ''tennô'' scarcely had any political power for the majority of the period [[1192]]-[[1867]], and that outside of [[1895]]-1945 Japan has never possessed an "empire," argues that the English-language term "emperor" is inapplicable. He suggests instead that ''tennô'' be used as is, just as foreign terms such as shah, tsar, sultan, and Dalai Lama are employed in English. There is considerable validity to this argument, as it pertains to the contemporary situation.<ref name=shillony/> However, as discussed above, there is great historical significance to Japan's possessing an "emperor," rather than a "king," in its hierarchical position in the region, relative to the Emperor of China and the Kings of [[Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]. So long as these terms are to be used for other states in the region, there is an argument to be made for the use of such terms for Japan as well.<br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
*[[Michael Cooper]], ''[[They Came to Japan]]'', University of California Press, 1965.<br />
*[[John Whitney Hall]] (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of Japan'', vol. 4, Cambridge University Press, 1991.<br />
<br />
==See Also==<br />
*List of [[Emperors of Japan]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Political Institutions]]<br />
[[Category:Ranks_and_Titles]]<br />
[[Category:Terminology]]<br />
{{stub}}</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Emperor&diff=44141Emperor2022-09-11T04:09:34Z<p>LordAmeth: /* History */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Other Titles'': 内裏 ''(dairi)'', 禁裏 ''(kinri)'', 天子 ''(tenshi)'', 御門 ''(mikado)''<br />
*''Japanese'': 天皇 ''(tennô)''<br />
<br />
The hereditary monarch of Japan is commonly referred to in English as the "emperor." In addition to his secular political role, the ''tennô'' is also considered the highest [[Shinto]] priest in Japan.<br />
<br />
Japan has historically had a number of reigning empresses as well, also called ''tennô'' and considered of equivalent position and status. The possibility for a woman to come to power as reigning empress was terminated, however, in the [[1889]] [[Meiji Constitution]], Article II of which stipulates that the succession to the throne is to follow the male line.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 180.</ref> Prior to that time, on a number of occasions in Japanese history, a widow or daughter succeeded to the throne.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
Though the spiritual status of the emperor today is largely the result of the [[Meiji period]] reinvention of the position alongside [[State Shinto]], it fundamentally derives from the ancient origins of rulers in the archipelago as simultaneously secular and spiritual - or even magical - rulers. The legendary ruler [[Himiko]] is described in the ''[[Wei zhi]]'' as a priestess or shamaness, and the legendary [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]] is similarly described in some sources as a great shamaness. These earliest chieftains or monarchs emerged in the [[Yayoi period|Yayoi]] and [[Kofun period]]s, periods when it might be said the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula shared in the same cultural complex. Indeed, the rulers of Korea's ancient [[Three Kingdoms (Korea)|Three Kingdoms]] held similar status - as simultaneously secular ruler, and chief shaman of the kingdom. In [[Silla]], the royal crown was the mark not only of the secular ruler, but indeed of this leading shamanic status.<ref>Evelyn Rawski, ''Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives'', Cambridge University Press (2015), 123.</ref><br />
<br />
The phenomenon of chieftain/shaman-kings developed, eventually, by the late 6th century, into a single chieftain/royal clan, the [[Yamato clan]], dominating central Japan. It was this clan which later expanded its control to cover - eventually - the entire archipelago, claiming singular authority, legitimacy, and titles that have come to be rendered in English as "emperor." Though it has become quite commonplace to refer to all rulers of Japan, stretching back to the wholly fictional [[Emperor Jimmu]] of the 600s BCE, as "emperor," a number of scholars have argued that there is good reason to not consider any figures prior to the 7th century Japanese "emperors," or even to abandon the term altogether. See below for further details on considerations regarding terminology.<br />
<br />
The Yamato clan reinforced its claims to singular authority and legitimacy through the compilations in the early 8th century of the ''[[Kojiki]]'' and ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', which relate Japanese myth and history as the story of the one and only Imperial family, descended from an unbroken line of descent stretching back to the sun goddess, [[Amaterasu]]. Amaterasu had been the patron deity of the Yamato family while other competing clans had their own separate patron deities; now the sun was elevated above all others, as were her descendants, rendering the Imperial family unique and unassailable in their legitimacy. Though the Imperial family would split in the 14th century into competing lineages, in what is known as the [[Nanbokucho period|Nanbokuchô period]], or the Period of Northern and Southern Courts, members of both lineages had legitimate claims to the throne based on their descent; the Yamato lineage would never be overthrown, and remains on the throne today.<br />
<br />
Though emperors themselves were quite powerful for a time in the 8th to 10th centuries, by the beginning of the 11th, if not earlier, imperial power had been co-opted to a considerable degree by members of the [[Fujiwara clan]] of court aristocrats, who dominated the [[sessho|regency]], and married their daughters into the imperial clan in order to ensure that future emperors would be loyal to the Fujiwara, through their Fujiwara mothers and grandparents. [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] (d. [[1027]]) is often said to represent the pinnacle of this phenomenon, wielding very considerable power despite his position as regent, never emperor. By the end of the 11th century, however, a new pattern emerged, as [[Retired Emperor]]s wrested power away from the Fujiwara clan, and claimed it for themselves. In their retirement, Emperors from [[Emperor Shirakawa|Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1087]]) through [[Emperor Go-Shirakawa|Go-Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1158]]), worked to ensure that reigning emperors were relatively young - and therefore relatively lacking in influence or power - so they (the Retired Emperors) could retain considerable power for themselves.<br />
<br />
The era of emperors wielding any significant degree of real power came to an end, however, in the 1150s or 1160s, as the [[Taira clan]] inserted themselves as powerful regents, taking over in many respects the position occupied previously by the Fujiwara. The Taira were destroyed in the [[Genpei War]] of the 1180s, after which the [[Minamoto clan]] established the [[Kamakura shogunate]], marking the beginning of nearly 700 years of samurai rule. With some notable exceptions - such as the later Kamakura shoguns being Imperial Princes, and the short-lived [[Kemmu Restoration]] of the 1330s - emperors, and indeed the Imperial Court more broadly, would not be the dominant political force in Japan until after [[1868]]. For much of the [[Edo period]] ([[1603]]-1868), in fact, emperors were rarely permitted by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to leave the Imperial Palace; the shogunate designated them to consider their chief duty the maintenance of proper court rituals and elite court culture, and permitted only retired emperors to travel.<ref>Clements, Rebekah. «Alternate Attendance Parades in the Japanese Domain of Satsuma, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries : Pottery, Power and Foreign Spectacle». Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, May 2022, p. 6, citing Takano Toshihiko, ‘Edo bakufu no chōtei shihai’, Nihonshi kenkyū 319 (1989), 48-77; Satō, ‘The Emperor’s Gyoko and Funeral’ (2020).</ref> Emperors and their courtiers were expected to devote themselves to ritual, and to maintaining the ancient customs of their ancestors, including literary practices, appreciating nature, and managing estates.<ref>[[Anne Walthall]], "Introduction: Tracking People in the Past," Walthall (ed.), ''The Human Tradition in Modern Japan'', Scholarly Resources, Inc. (2002), 1, 3.</ref> Emperors retained a powerful, significant, symbolic role, as the source of all political legitimacy, and the ''[[kokugaku]]'' (National Studies) movement of the 18th-19th centuries revived, or at least renewed emphasis on, notions of the divine origins of the Imperial family. But they would continue to exercise little true political influence until after the fall of the shogunate.<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868 nominally restored true power to the emperor. By [[1889]], the position of the emperor had been reinvented, with numerous aspects of ancient spiritual, mythological, ritual, and symbolic elements being revived or invoked as part of a massive effort to recreate the position of the emperor as symbol & embodiment of the Nation, its divine leader, descended from an unbroken lineage stretching back to the Sun Goddess. The [[Meiji Emperor]] was both a modern ruler in numerous ways, wielding true political power like constitutional monarchs elsewhere in the world and serving as a head of state on the world stage, and also a deeply traditional ruler, with spiritual, ritual, and symbolic associations and responsibilities. The Imperial institution and its history was extensively reinvented at this time, with the Meiji government establishing new official lineages (including certain legendary or historical figures and excluding others), designating ancient burial sites as officially being considered the tombs of particular legendary or historical emperors, and claiming that particular rituals, invented or re-invented at that time, had been performed in just such a fashion for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.<br />
<br />
In 1945, an emperor's voice was heard over the radio for the first time. Shortly afterwards, the Shôwa Emperor (Hirohito) formally declared himself to not be divine, but only human. Under the new Constitution adopted in 1946, the emperor is still today regarded as "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People," but he is denied "powers related to government."<ref>"[http://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html The Constitution of Japan]," official website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. Accessed 10/10/2016.</ref><br />
<br />
==Terminology==<br />
===In Japanese===<br />
The term ''tennô'', though standard today, was not common traditionally. Historian [[Watanabe Hiroshi]] even suggests that to the average [[Edo period]] person, the word ''tennô'' would primarily suggest images of the ''[[Shitenno|Shitennô]]'' ("Four Heavenly Generals") or other Buddhist figures, and not an idea of the emperor.<ref>Watanabe Hiroshi, ''A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600-1901'', International House of Japan (2012), 52.</ref> In the Edo period, terms such as ''dairi'', ''kinri'', ''kinchû'' (all metonyms more literally referring to the palace), and ''mikado'' (another metonym, lit. "august gate") were more common. These metonyms were used almost exclusively in place of any personal or individual name for the Emperor; even today, the term ''tennô heika'' ("His Majesty the Emperor") is the most widely used referent, as opposed to any personal or even reign name. In [[1864]] as well, a group of Japanese officials in China, when pressured to name the emperor, are said to have been unable to do so, saying simply ''kinri''.<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 169.</ref> Reign names (such as [[Meiji Emperor]] or Heisei Emperor) are exclusively posthumous, and thus are not possible referents for the emperor during his life or reign.<br />
<br />
In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common in the pre-modern period. In fact, in a famous communication said to have been issued to the Chinese emperor by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in [[607]], in which he wrote "from the Son of Heaven of the land of the rising sun, to the Son of Heaven in the land of the setting sun," this is the term used for both emperors.<ref name=shillony>Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 69-71.</ref><br />
<br />
The term ''tennô'' (C: ''tiān huáng'') is said to have originally had a strong association with the [[Taoist]] worship of the [[North Star]], and was only ever used in China briefly, from around [[675]] to around [[705]]. Of course, it was during this period that the [[Yamato court]] adopted many aspects of Chinese political ideology, and indeed it was during that brief period that the term ''tennô'' came into use in Japan, beginning with either [[Emperor Temmu]] (r. [[673]]-[[686]]) or his successor [[Empress Jito|Empress Jitô]] (r. 686-[[697]]). This marks the end of the period of "Great Kings" (''ôkimi''), and the beginning of rule by "emperors."<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 17.</ref> [[Amino Yoshihiko]], among others, have argued that this also marks the beginning of something we might legitimately call "Japan," suggesting that what came before should be considered "Wa" or "Yamato," and not "Japan," that all rulers prior to Temmu should not be called "emperors," and that figures such as [[Empress Suiko]] (r. [[593]]-[[628]]) and Shôtoku Taishi, important as they may be historically, should not be considered "Japanese."<ref>[[Amino Yoshihiko]], [[Alan Christy]] (trans.), ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 247.</ref><br />
<br />
The term ''tennô'', adopted perhaps in the late 7th century, continued to be applied when referring posthumously to emperors through the 13th century before falling out of use. The use of this term was only revived following the death of [[Emperor Kokaku|Emperor Kôkaku]] in [[1840]].<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Performing the Great Peace'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 169.</ref><br />
<br />
While the term ''tennô'' was adopted in Japan, more standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''). In Japanese, these terms are used almost exclusively to refer only to non-Japanese emperors (e.g. including not only Chinese emperors, but also emperors of Rome or of the Holy Roman Empire). The term ''kôtei'' was only used in Japan to refer to the Japanese emperor for a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then only in communication with China, before the title ''tennô'' was formally adopted in 1936.<ref name=shillony/><br />
<br />
Regardless of which of these terms was employed, however, for much of Japanese history, Japanese rulers made a point of emphasizing that Japan, too, possessed a Son of Heaven, an "emperor," and not a "king" (国王, J: ''kokuô'', C: ''guo wang''). Regardless of how we might translate it (as "king" or otherwise), to be ruled by a ''koku-ô'', as [[Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]] were, meant submission to Chinese suzerainty. The ''koku-ô'' of Korea and Ryûkyû received [[investiture]] from Chinese envoys, meaning that their legitimacy was, at least in some sense, derived from or dependent upon the Chinese emperor. Furthermore, in order to engage in official trade relations with China, one had to be a [[tribute|tributary]] state; that is, one had to pay tribute. This was something most shoguns, and Japanese emperors alike, refused to do, instead insisting upon their equality with the Chinese emperor, or their exclusion from the Sinocentric system entirely.<br />
<br />
===In English===<br />
In present-day English, the "emperor of Japan" refers to the ''tennô'' 天皇, the monarch who has reigned over (but not necessarily ruled) Japan for virtually all of recorded history. However, it only became standard in English sometime after [[Perry|Perry's]] visit in [[1853]]. Indeed, the formal letters from US Presidents Fillmore and Pierce carried to Japan by Commodore Perry and [[Townsend Harris]] respectively all used the term "emperor" to refer to the shogun.<ref name=shillony/><br />
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The 16th-century [[Jesuits]] more commonly used terms such as "nobleman," "king," or "prince," to refer to the ''tennô'', but hardly ever the term "emperor," if at all. Borrowing or imitating Japanese terms, they also often used terms such as ''mikado'' and ''dairi'' 内裏, the latter literally referring to the imperial palace, in much the same way we might today say "Washington" or "the White House" to mean the President of the United States. (The "emperor" doll in the [[Doll Festival]] set is still called the ''dairi'' today.)<br />
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The Jesuits also called the [[daimyo|daimyô]] "kings," "dukes," or "princes," which was hardly a misuse of the European term, as the daimyô, especially in Kyushu where the Jesuits were first active, were independent rulers who really ruled their territory and fought each other. The ''tennô'' was described by St. [[Francis Xavier]] as the hereditary ruler of the whole country, but one who was no longer obeyed.<ref>Francis Xavier, quoted in Cooper, 41.</ref><br />
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[[William Adams|Will Adams]], an Englishman who arrived in Japan in [[1600]], referred to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who became the first [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] [[shogun]] in [[1603]], as "king" in a [[1611]] letter to his wife, and as "emperor" in a pamphlet of the same date. "Emperor" in Europe referred to someone who ruled over kings, so in the latter he was clearly indicating that Ieyasu ruled over all the various "kings" (i.e. the daimyô) who Europeans knew existed in Japan. The Englishmen who arrived in Japan with the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] in [[1613]] also referred to the then-retired shogun Ieyasu and the shogun [[Tokugawa Hidetada|Hidetada]] as "emperor," both in public and private. <br />
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[[Richard Cocks]] mentioned the "''dairi''" in [[1616]], and [[Engelbert Kaempfer]], who came to the [[Dejima|Dutch settlement]] in [[1690]], described Japan as possessing "two Emperors at the same time, the one secular, the other ecclesiastical."<ref name=shillony/> Thus, he does refer to the ''tennô'' in [[Kyoto]] as the "Ecclesiastical Hereditary Emperor," though more frequently his use of the term "emperor" (as in "Embassy to the Emperor's court") referred to the shogun, in [[Edo]].<br />
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One sometimes comes across statements to the effect that during the [[Edo period]] the secretive Japanese told the Dutch that the shogun was the emperor, hiding the existence of the real emperor, but such statements are misconceptions deriving from a lack of familiarity with the history of early Japanese-European contact. It is clear that the Europeans, though they knew of the ''tennô'', chose "emperor" as the word most suitable to their minds to describe the shogun.<br />
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Today, the Emperor of Japan is the only reigning figure in the world to be called "emperor." Historian Ben-Ami Shillony, citing the fact that the ''tennô'' scarcely had any political power for the majority of the period [[1192]]-[[1867]], and that outside of [[1895]]-1945 Japan has never possessed an "empire," argues that the English-language term "emperor" is inapplicable. He suggests instead that ''tennô'' be used as is, just as foreign terms such as shah, tsar, sultan, and Dalai Lama are employed in English. There is considerable validity to this argument, as it pertains to the contemporary situation.<ref name=shillony/> However, as discussed above, there is great historical significance to Japan's possessing an "emperor," rather than a "king," in its hierarchical position in the region, relative to the Emperor of China and the Kings of [[Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]. So long as these terms are to be used for other states in the region, there is an argument to be made for the use of such terms for Japan as well.<br />
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==Notes==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
*[[Michael Cooper]], ''[[They Came to Japan]]'', University of California Press, 1965.<br />
*[[John Whitney Hall]] (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of Japan'', vol. 4, Cambridge University Press, 1991.<br />
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==See Also==<br />
*List of [[Emperors of Japan]]<br />
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[[Category:Political Institutions]]<br />
[[Category:Ranks_and_Titles]]<br />
[[Category:Terminology]]<br />
{{stub}}</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Yasaka_Shrine&diff=44140Yasaka Shrine2022-08-16T18:54:16Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>[[Image:Yasaka.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The main gates of Yasaka Shrine.]]<br />
*''Established: [[876]]''<br />
*''Other Names'': 祇園社 ''(Gion-sha)''<br />
*''Japanese'': 八坂神社 ''(Yasaka jinja)''<br />
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Yasaka Shrine, known as Gion Shrine up until the [[Meiji period]], is the central [[Shinto shrine]] in [[Kyoto]]'s [[Gion]] district. The shrine faces Shijô-dôri, and backs on [[Maruyama Park]].<br />
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The shrine shares its origin with the [[Gion Matsuri]] (Gion Festival). In [[876]], the priest Enjo established the shrine, and invited Emperor Gozu, the ''[[kami]]'' of preventing illnesses, to the site, in the hopes of combatting the diseases and disasters that Kyoto was suffering from at the time.<br />
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The Western Gate of the shrine, facing Higashiyama-dôri, is said to date to the [[Muromachi period]], and has been designated an [[Important Cultural Property]]. The main hall (''honden'') is also an Important Cultural Property, and is said to have previously belonged to [[Kankei-ji]], a Buddhist temple founded by [[Fujiwara no Mototsune]] in the early [[Heian period]].<br />
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Yasaka Shrine is dedicated to [[Susano-o]]-no-Mikoto, Kushinada-hime-no-Mikoto, and their son Yahashira-kami, and is a particularly popular site for New Year's visits.<br />
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The shrine suffered significant damage in a fire in [[1867]] (Keiô 2/12/6) which destroyed the main worship hall (Haiden), main and middle gates, and other structures.<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 6, (1937), 721.</ref> Most of these structures were later rebuilt.<br />
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==References==<br />
*Plaques on-site.<br />
<references/><br />
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==External Links==<br />
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Yasaka+Shrine,+Higashiyama+Ward,+Kyoto+Prefecture,+Japan&hl=en&ll=35.004295,135.778495&spn=0.004816,0.004334&sll=34.414186,-119.859201&sspn=0.019401,0.017338&oq=yasaka&hq=Yasaka+Shrine,+Higashiyama+Ward,+Kyoto+Prefecture,+Japan&t=h&z=17 Yasaka Shrine on Google Maps]<br />
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[[Category:Shrines]]<br />
[[Category:Heian Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Shiraoi&diff=44139Shiraoi2022-07-29T10:16:09Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 白老 ''(Shiraoi)''<br />
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Shiraoi is a town in [[Hokkaido]] known for its museums and other establishments dedicated to [[Ainu]] culture.<br />
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The area was inhabited by indigenous peoples since ancient times. At the end of the 19th century, records show five ''kotan'' (Ainu villages) along the coast in that area, which were home to a total of some 349 people in 82 homes. They supported themselves chiefly with fishing and other maritime activities, but also cultivated several kinds of millet, cowpeas, and other crops. [[Sendai han]] established a ''[[jinya]]'' there in [[1856]], and in [[1880]] a town office was established (in large part to oversee [[census]] and population registration).<br />
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The town became a famous tourist destination beginning in [[1892]], when [[railroad]]s were first extended to Shiraoi, but the vast majority of residents continued to make their livings through agriculture or marine activities. In the 1950s, the Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Company established a factory in Shiraoi, shifting the economy of the town.<br />
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An Ainu cultural museum known as Poroto Kotan, opened there in 1984, was run by members of the Ainu community, and served as a site for Ainu individuals to engage in researching, performing, and teaching about Ainu history and Ainu culture themselves. This museum was later superseded by Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum, which opened in 2020 and which operates in a similar fashion, with extensive Ainu involvement.<br />
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==References==<br />
*Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11880892143/sizes/l][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11881482346/sizes/l]<br />
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[[Category:Cities and Towns]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Kunashir-Menashi_Revolt&diff=44138Kunashir-Menashi Revolt2022-07-29T10:05:41Z<p>LordAmeth: create redirect</p>
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<div>#REDIRECT [[Kunashiri-Menashi Rebellion]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44137Hokkaido2022-07-29T10:05:20Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
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Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. It is by far the largest prefecture, covering more than 83,000 sq km (in comparison to the second largest, [[Iwate prefecture]], at around 15,000 sq km), and extends from 45 degrees north latitude at its northernmost point, [[Wakanai]], to 41 degrees north latitude at [[Matsumae]], the southernmost point on the island. Hokkaidô is the only prefecture to not employ the characters ''ken'' 県, ''fu'' 府, or ''to'' 都, meaning "prefecture," in its name.<br />
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Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
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In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Mauritius Augustus Count de Benyowsky|false reports]] in the 1770s of Russian attack plans against Matsumae,<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 102.</ref> followed by actual [[Russia]]n incursions and expansion into the northernmost parts of the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
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Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
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==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
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Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
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The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
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From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref name=soas>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
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Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
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It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
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One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
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===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island. The island was essentially divided into two parts in the minds of the Japanese authorities. The area most immediately controlled by the Matsumae clan was known simply as ''Matsumae chi'' (松前地, lit. "Matsumae lands"), while the rest of the island was called Ezo-chi (蝦夷地, lit. "Ezo lands"). Guardposts stood at either end of the border between the two, which ran from Kameda in the east to Kumaishi in the west.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p5.</ref> Initially, trading rights within Ezo-chi were divvied up between major vassals of the Matsumae clan, with each vassal family receiving rights to a given portion of land. Beginning in [[1717]], however, these rights began to be sold to wealthy merchants, who began to move farther and farther north. The first trading post in the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]] was established at [[Kunashir]] in [[1754]], and the first on [[Sakhalin]] in [[1790]]. The expansion of these merchant operations was mainly along the coasts, and up into the northern islands, and not into the interior of Ezo, which remained largely unexplored (by Japanese). Goods were regularly shipped from Matsumae-chi to other parts of Japan and to Ryûkyû through the ''[[kitamaebune]]'' shipping network, among others. Goods from Hokkaidô which were brought to ports along the [[Sea of Japan]] coast, in the [[Inland Sea]], and [[Osaka]] were chiefly marine goods, including herring, [[konbu]] (seaweed), and the like. These goods then circulated further throughout the archipelago, making it even as far as Ryûkyû, and via Ryûkyû, to China, as [[tribute]] goods. Meanwhile, goods traveling in the other direction, from Osaka and elsewhere to the Inland Sea, the Sea of Japan coastal ports, and Hokkaidô, were myriad, and included [[rice]], [[salt]], textiles, [[sake|saké]], [[candles]], dried fish, [[soba]] noodles, [[sugar]], [[indigo]], oil, charcoal, and [[tea]],<ref>''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 3, August 1998, p2.</ref> as well as [[Chinese medicine]] ingredients obtained from China via Ryûkyû.<br />
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Japanese and Ainu engaged in active and extensive trade with one another, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], and items obtained from the Asian continent, as well as a category of marine goods known as ''[[Nagasaki tawaramono]]'' which included things such as [[abalone]] and [[sea cucumber]]. In exchange, Ainu received [[lacquer]]ware, swords, iron tools, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
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Japanese merchant operations in Ezochi focused not only on trade but also on agriculture. The 18th century in Japan saw a great expansion in the growing of cash crops, including cotton, something which was implemented in Ezochi as well. A kind of fertilizer made from herring and called ''kinpi'' (金肥) was found to be quite effective, and herring-related operations expanded dramatically in the mid-1700s. Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin, however, compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, two of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]] and the [[Kunashir-Menashi Revolt]] of [[1789]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
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Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
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Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], assigning [[Hirosaki han|Hirosaki]] and [[Sendai han|Sendai domains]] to contribute to the defense of the territory before returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
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The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
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===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
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Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
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The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
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A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
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Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
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===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/><br />
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==References==<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Takakura_Shinichiro&diff=44136Takakura Shinichiro2022-07-29T10:04:52Z<p>LordAmeth: /* References */</p>
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<div>*''Died: 1990''<br />
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Takakura Shin'ichirô has been described as the father of [[Ainu]] Studies.<br />
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Born and raised in Obihiro, [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], he attended [[Hokkaido University|Hokkaidô University]] beginning in 1920, and taught there until his mandatory retirement in 1966.<br />
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Takakura published two thorough survey histories of Hokkaidô, one in 1937, and one in 1981. His 1942 book ''Ainu seisakushi'', or "History of Ainu Policy," is particularly significant within the historiography on the Ainu. Covering the period from 1600 to 1899, the book focuses on the [[Edo period]] and [[Meiji period]] as the high points of Japanese-Ainu interaction, and has been criticized for its failure to acknowledge earlier periods of internal colonization. As was typical in scholarship until quite recently, Takakura's works also do not explicitly recognize Hokkaidô as the site of "colonization" or "imperialism," but rather as a continuation of a history of Japanese expansion into the archipelago - a kind of Japanese "Manifest Destiny." Even in discussing the Meiji period, Takakura marks Japanese colonialism as beginning only with the conquest of [[Taiwan]] in [[1895]], and not with the annexation of Hokkaidô or [[Okinawa prefecture|Okinawa]] in the 1870s.<br />
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In line with the rhetoric of his age, Takakura represented the prospects of the survival of the Ainu people, as a people, as being tied to formal government protection, including through the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]]. Takakura lauded the [[Meiji government]] for freeing the Ainu from "feudal" conditions, and lambasted the lords of [[Matsumae han]] for failing to protect the Ainu from commercial & industrial exploitation. He saw assimilation as the best course for Ainu survival in a modern world. However, he also argued for an acknowledgement of the diversity of northern peoples, not all of whom were Ainu, and argued that Ainu were neither primitive nor isolated, but rather were quite actively engaged in trade and other interactions with Japanese, [[Manchu]]s, and peoples of Siberia.<br />
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Though very much outdated in many ways, Takakura's work was also quite progressive in some respects. In fact, some prominent later works, such as Okuyama Tôru's 1966 ''Ainu suibôshi'' ("The Decline of the Ainu"), are rather less nuanced than Takakura's treatments.<br />
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==References==<br />
*David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 104-106.<br />
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[[Category:Historians]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Okinawa_prefecture&diff=44135Okinawa prefecture2022-07-29T10:03:15Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Meiji Period */</p>
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<div>*''Established: [[1879]]''<br />
*''Japanese'': 沖縄県 ''(Okinawa ken)''<br />
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Okinawa prefecture is the southernmost of the 47 [[prefectures of Japan]]. Consisting of 49 inhabited islands (and many uninhabited ones) covering a total land area of some 2,000 square kilometers, it comprises roughly one percent of Japan's total land area.<ref>Hiroko Matsuda and Pedro Iacobelli, "Introduction," Matsuda and Iacobelli (eds.), ''Rethinking Postwar Okinawa'', Lexington Books (2017), vii.</ref> It is governed from the prefectural capital of [[Naha]], on the [[Okinawa Island|island of Okinawa]], and includes a section of the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]], stretching from Okinawa and its immediately surrounding islands southward, nearly to [[Taiwan]], including the Miyako Islands and Yaeyama Islands (collectively known as the [[Sakishima Islands]]), plus [[Io Torishima|Iô Torishima]]. The territory of the prefecture is essentially identical to that held by the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] between [[1609]], when [[Satsuma han]] annexed nearly all the islands north of Okinawa Island, and [[1879]], when the kingdom was [[Ryukyu Shobun|abolished]].<br />
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The population of Okinawa prefecture today is around 1.3 million, the same as the State of Hawaii.<ref>[[Richard Pearson]], ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 8.; ''Hawaii'', Lonely Planet (2009), 52.</ref> The prefecture's economy relies chiefly on activities surrounding the US military bases (incl. civilian employment on-base, restaurants and entertainment, etc.), and tourism.<br />
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==History==<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
[[Image:Meiji-naminoue.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Statue of Emperor Meiji at [[Naminoue Shrine]], identified as ''kokka'', or, "The State."]]<br />
There has been considerable debate within scholarship as to whether the annexation of Okinawa, and policies executed there, should be considered "colonialist" in character, and whether Okinawa should be considered a "colony" of Japan. At the time, through to today, Okinawa was never officially considered a "colony," and "Colonial" "Development" offices were never established there as [[Hokkaido Development Commission|in Hokkaidô]]; Okinawa was placed under the jurisdiction of the [[Home Ministry]] shortly after its annexation, was termed a "prefecture," unlike Taiwan or [[Colonial Korea|Korea]], and was never subject to a Governor-General or Colonial Administration Office, and never came under the authority of the Colonial Ministry. As late as the 1980s, it was fairly standard amongst even Anglophone historians to not consider Okinawa as a "colony," or as part of the imperialist/colonialist expansion of the empire.<ref>For example, Mark Peattie makes no mention at all of Okinawa or Hokkaidô as "colonies" or "colonialist ventures" in his book ''The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945'', Princeton University Press (1984), co-edited with Ramon Myers, and describes the Japanese efforts in Taiwan as "experiments," based on no prior experience in colonial administration.</ref> However, in more recent years, scholars have begun to argue that the assimilation policies, uneven or hypocritical racial/ethnic discrimination, extension of national systems of infrastructure, public institutions, governmental structures, education, and so forth, among other aspects, bear considerable similarities both to Japan's own history in Taiwan and Korea, and to colonializing processes elsewhere in the world. Others, however, have suggested Okinawa not be considered so separately from the rest of Japan, emphasizing that homogenizing policies and extension of modern institutions, and so forth, were implemented throughout the archipelago; they argue that what was done in Okinawa was not so dissimilar from what took place in Tôhoku, Hokuriku, Shikoku, Kyushu, and indeed throughout all of Japan, only that it got off to a later start in Okinawa, and moved more slowly.<br />
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The prefecture was established in [[1879]], as the last stage in the ''[[Ryukyu shobun|Ryûkyû shobun]]'', or "disposal" of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. The Kingdom had been replaced by ''[[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]]'' in [[1872]], with the king being made a ''han'ô'', basically equivalent to the position of ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' which had just been [[abolition of the han|abolished]] in mainland Japan. Now, the king was made a Marquis in the new European-style ''[[kazoku]]'' peerage system, and was obliged to relocate to [[Tokyo]]. The royal family maintained Ryukyuan royal customs for a time, but after the end of the mourning period following the death of [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]], the last king, in [[1901]], they abandoned the trappings of royalty and more fully adopted those of modern Japanese aristocracy.<ref>Kerr, 452-453.</ref> Governors, chiefly from [[Kagoshima prefecture]] ([[Satsuma han|Satsuma]]) but all of them from mainland Japan, were appointed to head the governance of Okinawa; while former members of the Ryukyuan royal government scholar-bureaucracy held many governmental posts, the top levels of government, and education officials, were all dominated by non-Okinawans.<ref name=jahana102>[[Gregory Smits]], "Jahana Noboru: Okinawan Activist and Scholar," in [[Anne Walthall]] (ed.), ''The Human Tradition in Modern Japan'', Scholarly Resources Inc. (2002), 102.</ref> In [[1880]], more than 80% of prefectural officials in Okinawa were Japanese (non-Okinawan).<ref>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30372132026/in/photostream/]</ref> The mainland legal system was extended to Okinawa in [[1897]], and Okinawans were able to elect representatives to the prefectural assembly beginning in 1909, and to the [[National Diet]] in [[1912]], but governors continued to be appointed from outside of Okinawa throughout the prewar and wartime period; it was only after the end of the US Occupation in Ryûkyû, and the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty in 1972 that Okinawans were able to enjoy the rights and privileges of democratic participation & representation as fully as those in the rest of Japan.<br />
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[[Matsuda Michiyuki]] arrived in Naha on 1879/1/25, and the following day presented to [[Nakijin Chofu|Prince Nakijin]] a missive from the [[Prime Minister]] reproaching Ryûkyû for breaking the prohibition imposed by Japan on sending [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China|diplomatic missions to China]], and for obstructing the implementation of Japanese law enforcement and criminal administration in the islands. The following month, Beijing sent formal communications urging Tokyo to not annex Ryûkyû as a prefecture. [[Kinashi Seiichiro|Kinashi Seiichirô]] was named Acting Governor of the not yet established Okinawa Prefecture on 3/3. <br />
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He was soon replaced by [[Nabeshima Naoyoshi]], appointed the first official governor of the prefecture. The second governor, [[Uesugi Mochinori]], supposedly out of genuine concern for the ordinary Okinawan people (i.e. commoners/peasants), was quite harsh on the traditional aristocracy, accusing them of having oppressed and impoverished the Ryukyuan people, and attempting to remove them from power and from elite status.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Visions of Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press, (1999), 146-147.</ref> Much of these initiatives were reversed by his successor, the third governor, [[Iwamura Michitoshi]], however, who implemented a series of policies known as ''[[kyukan onzon|kyûkan onzon]]'' ("preserving old customs"). Under these policies, much of the kingdom's legal and administrative structures were left in place for a time, including incorporating many of the kingdom's experienced scholar-bureaucrats into positions of governmental administration. While many former scholar-bureaucrats accepted positions in the new government, many others, such as [[Ota Chofu|Ôta Chôfu]], protested by refusing to work, and refusing to aid the new officials in taking over the administration.<ref>Kerr, 402.</ref> This policy of maintaining old administrative structures was pursued, at least in part, as the result of concerns (perhaps quite valid concerns) by the [[Meiji government]] that abruptly dismantling these political and economic systems all at once could spark widespread popular resistance. Thus, all the way until [[1903]], the kingdom's systems of land divisions (''[[magiri]]''), taxation, and so forth, were left intact to a certain extent. While low-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats lost their special status entirely, and no Ryukyuans outside of the royal family were incorporated into the ''kazoku'' or ''[[shizoku]]'' systems of gentry, middle- to high-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats were at least permitted to retain their government stipends until [[1909]]; these were, however, paid out of the prefecture's budget, and not out of any separate additional funds granted to Okinawa by Tokyo. While [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], similarly annexed by Imperial Japan in [[1869]], received considerable investment for development, Okinawa received very little from the government. All in all, throughout the Meiji period, Okinawa paid higher taxes per capita, and received less national expenditures per capita, than any other prefecture.<ref name=jahana102/><br />
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Land divisions and the associated tax structure were reorganized in a major undertaking in [[1899]] to 1903 known as the [[Okinawa Prefecture Land Reorganization Project]], bringing practices in Okinawa into line with systems used throughout the rest of the country. This included converting much communal land into private property, and eliminating the payment of taxes in kind (i.e. in grain or other products), and replacing it with payment in cash.<ref>Plaques on-site at [[Gokoku Shrine]].</ref><br />
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Meanwhile, traditional systems of education were also left in place for a while, alongside national public education. However, under the eighth governor of the prefecture, [[Narahara Shigeru]], just before the end of the 19th century, assimilation efforts were stepped up. Narahara is said to have had very little respect for Okinawan customs or heritage, and very little interest in doing anything to defend or ensure continuation of their traditions; he supported not only the ramping up of assimilation efforts, but also pushed for development and modernization. The [[Ryukyuan languages]] were frowned upon, labeled as undesirable dialects or simply poor or incorrect Japanese, and efforts were made to root them out. Speaking "in dialect" was banned in public schools, and students caught speaking Ryukyuan languages were severely punished, often by being forced to wear a heavy wooden "dialect plaque" (''hôgen fuda'') around their neck, shaming them for having spoken that way. Native [[Ryukyuan religion]] was also suppressed, and ''[[yuta]]'' and ''[[noro]]'' priestesses persecuted, while [[State Shinto]] was introduced and encouraged. Many of these assimilation practices continued in full force into the 1930s-40s, and left a considerable impact upon the culture and sense of identity of the Okinawan people.<br />
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Though supported by [[Prime Minister]]s such as [[Ito Hirobumi|Itô Hirobumi]] and [[Matsukata Masayoshi]], Narahara's administration inspired particularly strong criticism and opposition within Okinawa, including from [[Jahana Noboru]], the [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement]], and the [[Kodokai|Kôdôkai]] anti-assimilation movement, which pushed once again for the restoration of Ryukyuan royal leadership. Despite the significant differences between Hokkaidô and Okinawa, Narahara and his supporters cited the success or failures of reforms in Hokkaidô to rebuff Okinawan protests, and to force through his policies.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 62.</ref><br />
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By the turn of the 20th century, nationwide efforts to provide uniform education and create a uniform culture and language were implemented in Okinawa as they were throughout the nation, inspiring the formation in [[1896]] by former royal [[prince Sho En|prince Shô En]] and a number of noble supporters of the [[Kodokai|Kôdôkai]] ("Society for Public Unity"), which worked to strongly oppose assimilation, and to petition for the restoration of rule by Okinawans.<ref>[[George Kerr]], ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People'' (revised ed.), Boston: Tuttle Publishing (2000), 425.; Smits, ''Visions of Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (1999), 148-149.</ref> The formation of the field of Okinawan Studies, pioneered by [[Iha Fuyu|Iha Fuyû]] at this time, was also inspired by Narahara's programs to eliminate [[Okinawan language]], culture, and identity.<ref>"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A5%88%E8%89%AF%E5%8E%9F%E7%B9%81 Narahara Shigeru]." ''Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten'' 朝日日本歴史人物事典. Accessed via Kotobank.jp, 27 May 2010.</ref><br />
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Okinawa saw modernization of its infrastructure and public institutions in the Meiji period as well, though more slowly and to a smaller extent than in much of the rest of the Empire. The first modern theater in the islands, the [[Nakamo Engeijo|Nakamô Engeijô]], opened in [[1891]]. The first public library in Okinawa was opened in [[1906]] in Nago, the [[Okinawa Prefectural Library]] was established in [[1910]] with [[Iha Fuyu|Iha Fuyû]] as its first director, and the first [[Okinawa Electric Railway|electric railway]], running a short distance within Naha City, was opened in [[1911]]. [[Okinawa Light Rail|Light rail]] lines were extended across the island beginning in 1914, connecting Naha with [[Yonabaru]], [[Kadena]], and [[Itoman]]; however, the rail lines were never rebuilt after their destruction in World War II,<ref>Plaque at Naha Bus Terminal, former site of Naha Station.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/29880322403/sizes/o/]</ref> and the only train line in the prefecture today is the Okinawa Monorail, which runs from Naha Airport to Shuri (with planned extension into [[Urasoe]]).<br />
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Mainland businesses began to expand into Okinawa, even seizing monopolistic levels of dominance in many locales and commercial sectors, pushing Okinawan local/native merchants and entrepreneurs into far weaker positions, or out of business entirely.<ref>Kerr, 398.</ref> Facing considerable economic difficulties, not to mention in at least some cases cultural and/or political opposition to Japanese assimilation, many Okinawans began to emigrate to Hawaii, Latin America, and elsewhere. Okinawa was one of the top prefectures from which people emigrated in the late Meiji period, and Hawaii continues today to be the home of the largest Okinawan diasporic community in the world. The first Okinawan immigrants arrived in Hawaii in [[1900]], and immigration peaked in [[1906]], with nearly 4,500 people arriving in that year.<br />
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Around the time of the [[Sino-Japanese War]], Okinawan politics came to be dominated by conflict or tensions between a pro-Japanese ''[[Kaika-to|Kaika-tô]]'' ("Enlightenment Party") and a pro-Chinese ''[[Ganko-to|Ganko-tô]]'' ("Stubborn Party").<ref>"Ōta Chōfu." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People in Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 2002. p15.</ref> Japanese victory in that war, however, strengthened or solidified popular conceptions of Japanese military/political strength, and the idea that Japanese control over Okinawa was not going to be undone; anti-Japanese activism declined, and by [[1903]], the ''kyûkan onzon'' policies were lifted.<ref>Junko Kobayashi, "The Demise of Ryukyuan Painting," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref><br />
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Not only Japanese modern popular culture, but foreign culture as well, began to gain widespread currency in Okinawa. The first American film ever shown there was one about the Spanish-American War, screened in [[1902]].<br />
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===1912 to 1945===<br />
The population of Okinawa rose from 500,000 in the late 1900s to nearly 600,000 on the eve of the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.<ref name=popchart>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Archives.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/32012928536/sizes/k/]</ref><br />
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Throughout the prewar period, Japanese government policy attitudes towards Okinawans, arguably not dissimilar to attitudes towards Koreans and Taiwanese, placed them in a paradoxical or in-between position. Assimilation policies transformed them into being little different from other Japanese, and they were expected to fulfill all the obligations to the State of any Japanese subject, but were not extended quite the same rights, freedoms, and protections. At the [[Fifth Domestic Exposition]], held in [[Osaka]] in [[1903]], organizers attempted to put Okinawans on display in a "human zoo"-style exhibit, alongside [[Ainu]] and [[Taiwanese aborigines]], as colonized peoples; the Okinawans vehemently protested, arguing they had assimilated, educated and acculturated, and were no different from Japanese, and so should not be grouped together with these hairy barbarians. The Okinawans were spared from being displayed at that event, in the end, but their treatment as second-class citizens, with less political voice, and fewer rights and protections, but expectations of full obligation to sacrifice themselves for the state, continued in various ways.<br />
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A number of major sites associated with the Ryûkyû Kingdom were named [[National Treasures]] in the 1920s-30s, including [[Shuri castle]], the Buddhist temples [[Engaku-ji (Okinawa)]] and [[Sogen-ji|Sôgen-ji]], and [[Oki Shrine]], thus appropriating them into narratives of Japanese national greatness. Meanwhile, a number of sites including Shuri castle (in 1925) and [[Naminoue Shrine]] (in [[1890]]) were also transformed into [[Shinto shrines]], incorporating them into networks and systems of sites of the nation. Shuri castle, made the site of a [[Kumamoto Garrison|military garrison]] from [[1879]] until [[1896]], and then public space beginning in [[1909]], was made into a Shinto shrine in 1925. At some point in the 1930s, it became home to a major underground military headquarters, thus unfortunately inviting its destruction in 1945, and along with it the destruction of numerous irreplaceable artifacts and documents of Ryukyuan cultural and historical significance.<br />
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[[Military conscription]] began in Okinawa in [[1898]], a few decades after it was implemented in mainland Japan; by 1945, Okinawans were trusted enough as Japanese subjects to serve loyally in the military right alongside Japanese soldiers, but Okinawan civilians were still treated quite differently from Japanese by the military. These problems of second-class status manifested perhaps most boldly in the Battle of Okinawa, as Okinawans, taught by Japanese propaganda to fear rape and torture by the Allied forces, fled south along with the Japanese military, expecting that their own country's forces would protect them. Instead, they were pressured to sacrifice themselves for the glory of the Empire, with a great many dying in caves, or throwing themselves off cliffs, rather than being protected by their own government's military. Speaking more broadly, many people today characterize the battle as a "sacrificing" of Okinawa as a whole, to benefit & protect Japan; Okinawa was considered Japanese enough to be subject to assimilation policies, expectations that the Okinawans would behave as loyal Japanese, and so forth, but was not considered integral enough to the Japanese state that it should be protected, defended, as well. A disproportionate number of the Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of Okinawa were from [[Hokkaido]], leading many to speak of the ways in which Hokkaido, as another marginal place on the peripheries of the Japanese state, was also "sacrificed" for the protection of those from the center.<br />
<br />
====Battle of Okinawa====<br />
[[File:Okinawa-battlemap.jpg|right|thumb|380px|Map of the Battle of Okinawa at Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu]]<br />
The Imperial Japanese military established a headquarters beneath Shuri castle, and fortified much of Okinawa Island into a major base of military strength, leading it to become an important target for Allied forces to address as they pressed their way towards Japan proper in the final stages of World War II. Much of Naha was destroyed in a major bombing raid on 10 October 1944, typically known simply as the "10-10 Bombing Raid."<ref>More than 1000 planes launched from a carrier task force, attacked in five waves, attacking Naha as well as airfields and port facilities elsewhere on Okinawa and the immediately surrounding islands (including [[Iejima]], [[Tsuken]], and [[Hamahiga Island]]). Ninety percent of Naha was destroyed in the resulting fires; 668 soldiers and civilians were killed, and 758 injured. The bombing raid was also an opportunity for the US military to take aerial photos of Okinawa. The same air task force then attacked targets in the [[Yaeyama Islands]] and [[Taiwan]] beginning on October 12. It swiftly defeated the Japanese air force sent against it. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'' 沖縄県平和祈念資料館総合案内 ("General Catalog of Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum"), Nanjô, Okinawa: Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum (2004), 50-51.</ref> Fearing a land invasion of Okinawa, as many as 70,000 people fled Okinawa to Kyushu or Taiwan by March 1945; many others fled north from central and southern parts of Okinawa Island into the forests of [[Yanbaru]] in the north of the island.<ref>Local government established centers to provide for these people in Yanbaru, but food and other supplies quickly ran out, and many succumbed to starvation or malaria. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 52-53.</ref><br />
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Allied forces first made landfall on Okinawa on 1 April 1945 (after making earlier landings in the [[Kerama Islands]]), declaring on that same day, in what has come to be known as the Nimitz Proclamation, the end of “All Executive Powers of the Japanese Empire” in Okinawa.<ref name=mabuni>Gallery labels, Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum, Itoman, Okinawa.</ref> The ensuing Battle of Okinawa would last several months, with fighting continuing until late June 1945.<ref>American forces took [[Shuri castle]] (and the 32nd Army Headquarters located in tunnels under the castle) by the end of May 1945, following particularly serious fighting at Sugar Loaf Hill (Asato, Naha) and Untama Forest (Untamamui, in Nishihara/Yonabaru). The highest-ranking Japanese officer on the island, Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru, committed suicide on June 22; formal military resistance ended soon afterward. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 64-65.</ref><br />
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Often known in Okinawa as the "Typhoon of Steel" (鉄の暴風, ''tetsu no bôfû''), the Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war. One of the largest naval fleets in history bombarded the island with shells,<ref>"Operation Iceberg," as it was termed by the US military, included some 1,500 naval vessels and 548,000 troops. It's estimated that 6.8 million shells were fired at the Kyan peninsula alone, in just one month of the battle. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 59, 69.</ref> and by the time the fighting was over, much of the central and southern parts of the island were decimated. Some 100,000 Okinawans died during the Battle, representing roughly a quarter to a third of the total Okinawan population. Countless priceless artifacts and documents were lost as well, along with most of the island's significant cultural, religious, and historical sites. Perhaps as much as 3,000 tons of unexploded ordnance remains on the island; some estimates wager it would take fifty years to clear it all.<ref>''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 69.</ref><br />
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===Occupation===<br />
[[File:Ryukyuseifu.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A photo of the ''Rippôin'', where the Ryûkyû Government (''Ryûkyû seifu'') - the elected Okinawan representative assembly under US Occupation - met. Today the site of the Okinawa Prefectural Legislature (''Okinawa kenchô'').]]<br />
Following the end of World War II, Allied forces occupied Japan, placing it under martial law. For the next seven years or so, up until 1952, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his SCAP offices oversaw considerable rebuilding efforts, as well as changes in the education system, reorganization of government and economy, and so forth. A weak civilian government was permitted to operate, and political parties were allowed to be formed in 1947, but the following year, the US stepped up its military control of the islands, and considered holding onto the archipelago permanently.<ref name=siddle135>Richard Siddle, "Return to Uchinâ," in Siddle and Glenn Hook (eds.), ''Japan and Okinawa: Structure and Subjectivity'', Routledge Curzon (2002), 135.</ref> A September 1947 letter from a W.J. Sebold, addressed to the US Secretary of State, relates that according to Japanese diplomat Terasaki Hidenari, the Emperor supports the long-term Occupation of the Ryukyus, in order to show the rest of Japan “that the US has no ulterior motives and would welcome US Occupation for military purposes.”<ref name=mabuni/><br />
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Throughout the Battle, and into the early months of the postwar, Okinawan civilians were gathered into refugee camps (J: ''shûyôjo''). Ostensibly, this was for their protection (during the Battle), and so that Allied forces could attend to their food, shelter, and other needs amidst the destruction, and the rebuilding which had not yet taken place. The first of these camps was established almost immediately after the first Allied landing in April 1945; by the end of the war there were 16 civilian camps, in addition to those where prisoners of war (POWs) were held. On August 15, 1945, the day of Imperial Japan's formal surrender, representatives from each of the refugee camps were brought to Ishikawa (now part of [[Uruma]] City, on Okinawa Island) to form an Okinawa Advisory Council. Occupation authorities then held elections within the camps on September 20 and 25, to form civilian government which would oversee matters within the camps, including the distribution of rations and the announcement and implementation of Occupation authorities' orders. In these elections, all men and women over the age of 25 were permitted to vote, and to be elected to office. Okinawans were finally permitted to leave the camps to return to rebuild their homes, and their lives, beginning in late October 1945. The US military provided 2x4s and other basic materials to Okinawan construction workers for the construction of some 75,000 basic homes known in Okinawa as ''kikakuyaa'' 規格家.<ref>Okinawa Taimusu Shurijō shuzaihan 沖縄タイムス首里城取材班, ''Shurijō: shōchō ni naru made'' 首里城:象徴になるまで, Okinawa Times (2021), 82.</ref> However, in the meantime, Occupation authorities had already also unilaterally seized large tracts of land for military bases, and so many Okinawans returned to their villages to find the area inaccessible, surrounded by barbed wire fences.<ref name=mabuni/><br />
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The population of the prefecture recovered quickly after the Battle, with some 124,000 returnees + new settlers bringing the population back up over 500,000 within a year of the end of the war.<ref name=popchart/> After that, however, even as the population continued to grow steadily, Occupation policies made it difficult for Okinawans and Japanese to travel between Okinawa and mainland Japan. As early as 1946, Okinawans resident in Tokyo began pushing for Okinawa's reversion, that it should be reintegrated into Japan.<ref name=mabuni/> A group in [[Kansai]], meanwhile, formed the ''Okinawajin Renmei'' (Okinawans' League) to help aid these "refugees" and to petition the government for assistance. Okinawan groups in Hawaii and elsewhere overseas gathered large amounts of money, pigs, goats, and other supplies to ship to Okinawa, to contribute to the well-being of their fellow Okinawans, and to rebuilding efforts.<ref>Shari Tamashiro, "[http://sharitamashiro.com/ Pigs from the Sea]," blog/website.</ref><br />
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SCAP represented the Ryukyuans in most of their rhetoric as a separate people (''minzoku'') from the Japanese, as colonized, minority, and subordinate, contributing to its justifications for US military retention of Okinawa even after sovereignty was restored in the rest of Japan. The Japanese Communist Party, in its official publication ''Akahata'' ("Red Banner" or "Red Flag"), also described the Okinawan people as being a separate nation, and a minority people who have been oppressed.<ref name=siddle135/><br />
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SCAP also took steps to promote education and the arts in Okinawa, founding the University of the Ryukyus on the former grounds of Shuri castle in 1950, and an early predecessor to the Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum around the same time.<br />
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As early as 1951, as the Treaty of San Francisco was being negotiated, Okinawan groups pushed for a variety of different ends. Several major political parties pushed for immediate reversion to Japanese sovereignty, something supported by nearly 200,000 signatures on an appeal, accounting for over 70% of the eligible voters in Okinawa. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party in Okinawa pushed for Okinawa to become a trustee under the United States, while the Republican Party in Okinawa angled for full independence.<ref name=siddle135/><br />
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In 1952, mainland Japan was restored to Japanese sovereignty. However, under Article 3 of Chapter 2 (Territory) of the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan was obliged to agree to any proposal the US made to place any portion of the Ryûkyû Islands and/or the [[Ogasawara Islands]] under trusteeship; further, until such a proposal was made, the United States was to continue to "exercise all and any powers of administration, legislation, and jurisdiction over the territory and inhabitants of these islands, including their territorial waters."<ref>"[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_of_San_Francisco#Article_3 Treaty of San Francisco]," Wikisource.</ref> Thus, the Allied military Occupation, and martial law, continued for another twenty years in Okinawa, under USCAR - the United States Civil Administration of Ryukyu. At that time, the occupation of Ryukyu had no set end-date, and the 1950s-1960s saw considerable protest and agitation. The US military removed people from their land by force in order to build or expand military bases, in a move known as "bayonets and bulldozers," and offered monetary compensation as a means of resolving all land problems. After the majority of landowners refused in 1952 to lease their land to the US authorities, USCAR changed the rules, forcing them to lease the land, and though rental rates were initially negotiable, in the end, the US military obliged landowners to accept extremely low rent payments. In 1955, a US government report known as the Price Report officially stated that such exploitative land rental policies were justified, indeed required, due to Okinawa's uniquely vital strategic location. This spurred further protest. Some 300,000 people participated in rallies and community meetings in 1956, discussing and establishing principles of resistance, and declaring their opposition to the Price Report, land seizures, and the stationing or storing of B-52s, nuclear weapons, and chemical weapons such as Agent Orange in Okinawa. For seven months, from July 1955 into February 1956, people displaced from their land, including many people dispossessed from farming and left with no way of making a living, marched from northern Okinawa to the government offices in Naha, in what came to be known as the "Beggars' March" (乞食行進, ''kojiki kôshin'').<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1294064953&feature=iv&list=PLyheH-sHmeaMO4mv4ioM32vNH62Nga5rw&src_vid=eBlT-KdsmpY&v=zZZ1VRTiZs4#t=6.526958 「戦い続ける者」], "Okinawa 2015," episode 5, VICE News Japan, 2015.</ref> Demonstrations calling for reversion, the end of US "colonial" rule, and the removal of all nuclear weapons from Okinawa continued through the next decade. In 1957, the Occupation authorities declared the High Commissioner to be the supreme authority in the islands; that same year, nuclear weapons were brought to Okinawa for the first time.<br />
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Though the [[Amami Islands]] and Ogasawara Islands were initially included alongside the Ryukyus as areas not reverted to Japanese control in 1952, hunger strikes and protests led to the Amamis being returned the following year. As a result, the Amamis, already separated from the Ryûkyû Kingdom and placed under somewhat more direct Japanese (samurai) control since the 1610s, were to continue along a rather different historical, and therefore cultural, trajectory from the rest of the Ryûkyû Islands.<ref name=mabuni/><br />
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While Okinawan civilians began to have a greater say in selecting their own civilian governmental leaders beginning in the late 1950s, this was not without restrictions. Throughout the Occupation period, Okinawan civilians were forbidden from criticizing the military government, fighting against land seizures, or calling for reversion. Organizations which did engage in these acts were punished financially, and newspapers and other publications were strictly censored by the US authorities from 1945 up until 1965. In 1954, a prominent political activist named Senaga Kanejirô was arrested by Occupation authorities for harboring members of the Okinawan People's Party (''Okinawa jinmin tô''), who the Occupation authorities had expelled from Okinawa as "Communists." After serving two years in prison, Senaga successfully ran for mayor of Naha, being elected in 1956, just months after his release from prison, on a platform of promising to fight land seizures and otherwise oppose oppressive American policies. USCAR then acted to remove funding from the Naha municipal government, and the following year modified the law to allow it to more easily remove civilian officials from office; Senaga was then removed from his position as mayor.<ref name=mabuni/><br />
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A group of prominent Okinawan activists formed the Okinawa Prefecture Reversion Council in 1960, protesting against a wide variety of USCAR policies and actions, and pushing for reversion of Okinawa to Japanese control. Due to the strategic value of Okinawa for the Korean War, and then for the Vietnam War which began in 1965, however, the US delayed on any moves towards reversion, and sought ways of retaining control of the islands. B-52 bombers were first deployed to Okinawa in 1968, and quickly became a major target of local protest. Documents declassified or otherwise uncovered in the early 21st century reveal that the US military was storing chemical weapons such as mustard gas and sarin on Okinawa by 1969.<ref name=mabuni/> <br />
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President Nixon and Prime Minister Satô Eisaku finally came to an agreement about reversion in 1969.<br />
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The Koza Riots which broke out in the city of Koza (today, Okinawa City) in 1970 were the most violent of the Okinawan protests during the Occupation. A public referendum was held among residents of Okinawa, asking whether they would prefer independence or to return to Japanese sovereignty, and overwhelmingly they chose the latter. Many Okinawans at that time railed against "rule by a foreign people" (''iminzoku shihai''), referring to the Americans, but are said to have done so while identifying themselves as ''Japanese'', and not as a separate Okinawan or Ryukyuan identity. Okinawan protesters employed [[Japanese flag]]s as a symbol of their Japanese (and non-American, or anti-American) identity so frequently and prominently that the US Occupation authorities attempted to ban it; the Okinawans flew the flag anyway. Many in mainland Japan supported their push for reversion to Japanese sovereignty as well. Reversion finally took place on May 15, 1972.<ref name=siddle136>Siddle, 136.</ref><br />
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While Okinawans were now once again free to choose their leaders and governmental representatives, and regained all the rights and protections associated with being Japanese citizens, US military bases continued to occupy up to 20% of the island's land area, creating difficulties and representing a continued "occupation" of Okinawan land. In addition to incidents of aircraft crashes, US soldiers attacking, even raping, Okinawan girls, and even just getting into traffic accidents or just drunkenly being a public nuisance, and being immune from Japanese legal prosecution, many Okinawans also feel that the presence of the US bases make Okinawa a military target, just as the Japanese military bases made Okinawa a target, and a battlefield, in 1945. While Washington and Tokyo maintain that Okinawa is of great strategic value because of its geographic location and so forth, many Okinawans believe that if there were no military bases on Okinawa - or at least, fewer - Okinawa might be spared death and destruction in the next great military conflict to come, whatever that may be.<br />
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===1972 to Present===<br />
[[File:Shuri-seiden.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The rebuilt ''Seiden'' (Main Hall) of [[Shuri castle]].]]<br />
[[File:Futenma.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A banner hung by protestors on the fence at Futenma Air Station, 2013. It reads roughly "Revoke the deployment of Osprey. Close the dangerous Futenma!"]]<br />
Shortly after reversion, Okinawa hosted the 1975 Ocean Expo, a major expo in the tradition of the [[world's fairs]], celebrating maritime history and culture, and in particular that of the Pacific. The prefecture's population first reached one million around this time.<ref name=popchart/><br />
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The 1970s saw a considerable resurgence in efforts by individuals, especially in the arts, to revive Okinawan traditions and pride in Okinawan identity. Paralleling the "Hawaiian Renaissance" taking place around the same time,<ref>Adrienne LaFrance, "[http://www.civilbeat.com/2011/10/13158-who-remembers-the-hawaiian-renaissance/ Who Remembers the Hawaiian Renaissance?]," ''Honolulu Civil Beat'', 7 Oct 2011.</ref> this so-called "Okinawan Renaissance" saw revived activity and interest in many of the traditional arts, and the emergence of pop music groups like Champloose, Nenes, and Rinken Band who incorporated ''[[sanshin]]'', classical and folk music elements, Okinawan language, and other cultural elements into their music; this was accompanied, too, by increased interest in Okinawan culture by people in mainland Japan, and elsewhere, aided along by the broader boom in world music at that time. While many arts are still struggling to some extent today, as are efforts to have Okinawan language, culture, and history incorporated in a larger way into public school curricula, to a large extent this cultural "renaissance" continues today.<br />
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Where many Okinawans had previously emphasized their Japanese identity, flying Japanese flags in defiance of American occupation, many now turned to an Okinawan or Ryukyuan identity as separate from, or even opposed to, Japanese identity. Activist Chibana Shôichi famously burned a Japanese flag at a national sports event in 1987 in his hometown of [[Yomitan]], at which the Crown Prince, Akihito, was in attendance.<ref name=siddle136/><br />
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Shuri castle was rebuilt in 1992, and many other sites, including Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and the like have similarly been rebuilt and serve today either as active temples & shrines, or as museums and community centers. The castle, along with the royal mausolea at [[Tamaudun]], the reconstructed royal villas at [[Shikinaen]], and a number of [[gusuku]] ruins elsewhere on the island, were named a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]] in 2000, and a G8 Summit was held in [[Nago]] that same year. Continuing on from the 1975 Ocean Expo, this marks certain significant discourses, as to acknowledging and celebrating Ryukyuan history and culture, and its membership within Japan. Tourism remains one of the prefecture's chief industries, and numbers increased steadily over the course of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The prefecture saw some 500,000 visitors each year in the early 1970s. Numbers spiked to around 1.5 million in 1975, the year of the Ocean Expo [[World's Fair]] before falling below one million again the following year, but recovered and grew steadily from then on; over six million people visited Okinawa in 2008.<ref>"Okinawa kankô kyaku no suii," gallery label, National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11881501296/in/photostream/]</ref> <br />
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While newspaper polls regularly show that the vast majority of people in Okinawa support remaining a part of Japan (only a very small percentage support any sort of independence or sovereignty movement), the issue of the US military bases remains a hot-button issue. US bases continue to occupy around 20% of the land area of the tiny island of Okinawa, and constitute over 70% of the US military presence in Japan. Though rapes, crashes, and other incidents are infrequent, each is one too many, and protests have become not only a regular occurrence, but a major portion of the mainstream political issues in the prefecture. As of 2014, authorities have been speaking for years of shutting down Futenma Air Base in [[Ginowan]], but have yet to do so, while protests and political opposition has so far been successful in significantly slowing, but not yet successful in blocking entirely, the construction of a replacement base at Henoko Bay, which threatens the delicate coral reef & dugong habitat there.<br />
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{{stub}}<br />
<br />
==Governors of Okinawa Prefecture==<br />
*[[Kinashi Seiichiro|Kinashi Seiichirô]] (1879/3/3-5/18, acting interim governor)<br />
#[[Nabeshima Naoyoshi]] (1879/5/18-[[1881]]/5/19)<br />
#[[Uesugi Mochinori]] (1881-[[1883]])<br />
#[[Iwamura Michitoshi]] (1883-)<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#<br />
#[[Maruoka Kanji]] ([[1888]]-[[1892]])<br />
#[[Narahara Shigeru]] (1892/7-[[1908]])<br />
#[[Hibi Kimei]] (1908-)<br />
...<br />
# Yara Chôbyô (c. 1973)<br />
#Ôta Masahide (1990-1998)<br />
#Nakaima Hirokazu<br />
#Onaga Takeshi (2014-2018)<br />
#Denny Tamaki (2018-present)<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Ryukyu]]<br />
[[Category:Prefectures]]<br />
[[Category:Meiji Period]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44134Hokkaido2022-07-29T03:09:51Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
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Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. It is by far the largest prefecture, covering more than 83,000 sq km (in comparison to the second largest, [[Iwate prefecture]], at around 15,000 sq km), and extends from 45 degrees north latitude at its northernmost point, [[Wakanai]], to 41 degrees north latitude at [[Matsumae]], the southernmost point on the island. Hokkaidô is the only prefecture to not employ the characters ''ken'' 県, ''fu'' 府, or ''to'' 都, meaning "prefecture," in its name.<br />
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Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
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In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Mauritius Augustus Count de Benyowsky|false reports]] in the 1770s of Russian attack plans against Matsumae,<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 102.</ref> followed by actual [[Russia]]n incursions and expansion into the northernmost parts of the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
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Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
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==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
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Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
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The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
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From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref name=soas>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
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Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
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It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
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One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
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===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
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Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
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For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island. The island was essentially divided into two parts in the minds of the Japanese authorities. The area most immediately controlled by the Matsumae clan was known simply as ''Matsumae chi'' (松前地, lit. "Matsumae lands"), while the rest of the island was called Ezo-chi (蝦夷地, lit. "Ezo lands"). Guardposts stood at either end of the border between the two, which ran from Kameda in the east to Kumaishi in the west.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p5.</ref> Initially, trading rights within Ezo-chi were divvied up between major vassals of the Matsumae clan, with each vassal family receiving rights to a given portion of land. Beginning in [[1717]], however, these rights began to be sold to wealthy merchants, who began to move farther and farther north. The first trading post in the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]] was established at [[Kunashir]] in [[1754]], and the first on [[Sakhalin]] in [[1790]]. The expansion of these merchant operations was mainly along the coasts, and up into the northern islands, and not into the interior of Ezo, which remained largely unexplored (by Japanese). Goods were regularly shipped from Matsumae-chi to other parts of Japan and to Ryûkyû through the ''[[kitamaebune]]'' shipping network, among others. Goods from Hokkaidô which were brought to ports along the [[Sea of Japan]] coast, in the [[Inland Sea]], and [[Osaka]] were chiefly marine goods, including herring, [[konbu]] (seaweed), and the like. These goods then circulated further throughout the archipelago, making it even as far as Ryûkyû, and via Ryûkyû, to China, as [[tribute]] goods. Meanwhile, goods traveling in the other direction, from Osaka and elsewhere to the Inland Sea, the Sea of Japan coastal ports, and Hokkaidô, were myriad, and included [[rice]], [[salt]], textiles, [[sake|saké]], [[candles]], dried fish, [[soba]] noodles, [[sugar]], [[indigo]], oil, charcoal, and [[tea]],<ref>''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 3, August 1998, p2.</ref> as well as [[Chinese medicine]] ingredients obtained from China via Ryûkyû.<br />
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Japanese and Ainu engaged in active and extensive trade with one another, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], and items obtained from the Asian continent, as well as a category of marine goods known as ''[[Nagasaki tawaramono]]'' which included things such as [[abalone]] and [[sea cucumber]]. In exchange, Ainu received [[lacquer]]ware, swords, iron tools, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
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Japanese merchant operations in Ezochi focused not only on trade but also on agriculture. The 18th century in Japan saw a great expansion in the growing of cash crops, including cotton, something which was implemented in Ezochi as well. A kind of fertilizer made from herring and called ''kinpi'' (金肥) was found to be quite effective, and herring-related operations expanded dramatically in the mid-1700s. Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin, however, compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
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Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, two of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]] and the [[Kunashir-Menashi Revolt]] of [[1789]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
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Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
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Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
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The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
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===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
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Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
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Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
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The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
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A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
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Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
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===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/><br />
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==References==<br />
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[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Japanese_archipelago&diff=44133Japanese archipelago2022-07-29T03:01:22Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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The Japanese archipelago includes four major islands and many smaller ones, stretching roughly 1500 miles<ref name=brief>Shirokauer, et al., 3-5.</ref> from [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] in the north, to the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in the south.<ref>The northernmost parts of Hokkaidô lie at 45 degrees North latitude, and the southern portions of Kyushu, i.e. the southernmost points in the Japanese "mainland," around 31 degrees North. [[Yonaguni Island]], one of the southernmost of the Ryûkyû Islands, lies at around 24 degrees North.</ref> The four main islands of Hokkaidô, [[Honshu|Honshû]], [[Shikoku]], and [[Kyushu]] cover a total of roughly 146,000 square miles or 378,000 square kilometers.<ref name=brief/><ref>The land area of the three main islands which formed the extent of the realm throughout its pre-modern history, i.e. excluding Hokkaidô and the Ryukyus obtained in the late 19th century, is around 114,000 square miles, or 295,000 km<sup>2</sup>.</ref><br />
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The islands lie at the intersections of four tectonic plates<ref>The North American, Eurasian, Pacific, and Philippine Sea plates.</ref>, have volcanic origins, and are heavily mountainous.<ref>That is, with the exception of the Ryûkyû Island chain, which is relatively flat, close to sea level, and is composed chiefly not of volcanic soil, but of limestone, deriving from coral origins.</ref> The islands are home to over sixty active volcanoes, comprising roughly ten percent of the active volcanoes in the world, and including several of the archipelago's most famous mountains.<ref name=totman>[[Conrad Totman]], ''Early Modern Japan'', University of California Press (1993), 4-5.</ref> [[Sakurajima]] in southern Kyushu has erupted more or less constantly since 1950; [[Mt. Fuji]] is also considered active, though it has not erupted since [[1708]]. The islands are also one of the chief centers of earthquake activity in the world.<br />
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Japan's land is relatively new, in geologic time, as compared to many other areas of the world, with its mountains forming only about two to three million years ago. With roughly 80% of the archipelago consisting of mountainous bedrock, and grasslands terminating sharply at steep mountain rises,<ref name=totman/> only about 13 percent of the islands' land area is left as fertile plains.<ref name=brief/> While much land was reclaimed during the [[Edo period]], significantly expanding the total amount of land under cultivation, this could only go so far, and eventually hit up against strict topographical environmental limits. <br />
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A considerable portion of the country's population, and political, cultural, and agricultural activity are concentrated in these limited areas of cultivable plains. The four most historically significant areas of fertile plains are the Tsukushi Plain in northwest Kyushu (centered on the city of [[Kurume]], and stretching north to include [[Fukuoka]]/[[Hakata]]), the Kinai Plain (in which are situated the cities of [[Nara]], [[Kyoto]], and [[Osaka]]), the Nôbi Plain (in which [[Nagoya]] is located, and stretching south to [[Ise Bay]]), and the [[Kanto|Kantô Plain]] (home to [[Tokyo]] and an extensive surrounding area). Despite its geologic youth, however, Japan's proximity to the Asian continent has allowed it to develop considerable biodiversity; Japan is home to around 500 indigenous trees, as compared to around eighty in western Europe, or 250 in North America.<ref name=totman/><br />
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==Climate==<br />
During winter, the prevailing winds are from the continent, bringing cold air east to Japan's western ([[Sea of Japan]]) coast. Moisture from the Sea of Japan falls chiefly on areas to the north and west of the major mountain ranges (e.g. the [[Hokuriku]] region, including the modern-day [[prefectures]] of [[Niigata prefecture|Niigata]] and [[Ishikawa prefecture|Ishikawa]], among others), while those areas to the south and east, i.e. on the Pacific Ocean side of the mountains (including Tokyo, the Kinai, and many other regions) experience far drier winters.<br />
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In summer, warm, moist winds come up from the south, bringing a rainy season towards the beginning of the summer, and, in many areas, oppressively hot and humid conditions beyond what might be expected for the latitude, given that all of Japan (with the exception of the Ryukyus, i.e. [[Okinawa prefecture]]) lies officially within the temperate zone. These conditions bring [[typhoon]]s, which threaten chiefly the Ryukyus up through the southern and eastern coasts of Kyushu and Shikoku, but the wet conditions also make this southern & eastern side of the mountains more conducive to greater agricultural yields.<br />
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The famous [[Kuroshio current]], a warm jetstream which brings warm water up from the tropics, contributes to this effect, while the [[Oyashio current]] brings nutrient-rich cold water down from Hokkaidô into the waters surrounding the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]] region (the northeastern end of Honshû).<br />
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==References==<br />
*Conrad Shirokauer, Suzanne Gay, and David Lurie, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage Learning (2013), 3-5.<br />
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[[Category:Resource Articles]]<br />
[[Category:Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44132Hokkaido2022-07-28T22:24:29Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Edo Period */</p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
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Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
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In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
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Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
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==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
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Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
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The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
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From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref name=soas>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
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Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
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It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
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One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
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===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
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Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
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For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island. The island was essentially divided into two parts in the minds of the Japanese authorities. The area most immediately controlled by the Matsumae clan was known simply as ''Matsumae chi'' (松前地, lit. "Matsumae lands"), while the rest of the island was called Ezo-chi (蝦夷地, lit. "Ezo lands"). Guardposts stood at either end of the border between the two, which ran from Kameda in the east to Kumaishi in the west.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p5.</ref> Initially, trading rights within Ezo-chi were divvied up between major vassals of the Matsumae clan, with each vassal family receiving rights to a given portion of land. Beginning in [[1717]], however, these rights began to be sold to wealthy merchants, who began to move farther and farther north. The first trading post in the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]] was established at [[Kunashir]] in [[1754]], and the first on [[Sakhalin]] in [[1790]]. The expansion of these merchant operations was mainly along the coasts, and up into the northern islands, and not into the interior of Ezo, which remained largely unexplored (by Japanese). Goods were regularly shipped from Matsumae-chi to other parts of Japan and to Ryûkyû through the ''[[kitamaebune]]'' shipping network, among others. Goods from Hokkaidô which were brought to ports along the [[Sea of Japan]] coast, in the [[Inland Sea]], and [[Osaka]] were chiefly marine goods, including herring, [[konbu]] (seaweed), and the like. These goods then circulated further throughout the archipelago, making it even as far as Ryûkyû, and via Ryûkyû, to China, as [[tribute]] goods. Meanwhile, goods traveling in the other direction, from Osaka and elsewhere to the Inland Sea, the Sea of Japan coastal ports, and Hokkaidô, were myriad, and included [[rice]], [[salt]], textiles, [[sake|saké]], [[candles]], dried fish, [[soba]] noodles, [[sugar]], [[indigo]], oil, charcoal, and [[tea]],<ref>''Mitarai tsûshin'' 御手洗通信 no. 3, August 1998, p2.</ref> as well as [[Chinese medicine]] ingredients obtained from China via Ryûkyû.<br />
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Japanese and Ainu engaged in active and extensive trade with one another, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], and items obtained from the Asian continent, as well as a category of marine goods known as ''[[Nagasaki tawaramono]]'' which included things such as [[abalone]] and [[sea cucumber]]. In exchange, Ainu received [[lacquer]]ware, swords, iron tools, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Japanese merchant operations in Ezochi focused not only on trade but also on agriculture. The 18th century in Japan saw a great expansion in the growing of cash crops, including cotton, something which was implemented in Ezochi as well. A kind of fertilizer made from herring and called ''kinpi'' (金肥) was found to be quite effective, and herring-related operations expanded dramatically in the mid-1700s. Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin, however, compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, two of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]] and the [[Kunashir-Menashi Revolt]] of [[1789]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
<br />
The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
<br />
A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44131Hokkaido2022-07-28T15:34:34Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Edo Period */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref name=soas>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island. The island was essentially divided into two parts in the minds of the Japanese authorities. The area most immediately controlled by the Matsumae clan was known simply as ''Matsumae chi'' (松前地, lit. "Matsumae lands"), while the rest of the island was called Ezo-chi (蝦夷地, lit. "Ezo lands"). Guardposts stood at either end of the border between the two, which ran from Kameda in the east to Kumaishi in the west.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p5.</ref> Initially, trading rights within Ezo-chi were divvied up between major vassals of the Matsumae clan, with each vassal family receiving rights to a given portion of land. Beginning in [[1717]], however, these rights began to be sold to wealthy merchants, who began to move farther and farther north. The first trading post in the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]] was established at [[Kunashir]] in [[1754]], and the first on [[Sakhalin]] in [[1790]]. The expansion of these merchant operations was mainly along the coasts, and up into the northern islands, and not into the interior of Ezo, which remained largely unexplored (by Japanese).<br />
<br />
Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], and items obtained from the Asian continent, as well as a category of maritime goods known as ''[[Nagasaki tawaramono]]'' which included things such as [[abalone]] and [[sea cucumber]]. In exchange, Ainu received [[lacquer]]ware, swords, iron tools, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Japanese merchant operations in Ezochi focused not only on trade but also on agriculture. The 18th century in Japan saw a great expansion in the growing of cash crops, including cotton, something which was implemented in Ezochi as well. A kind of fertilizer made from herring and called ''kinpi'' (金肥) was found to be quite effective, and herring-related operations expanded dramatically in the mid-1700s. Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin, however, compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, two of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]] and the [[Kunashir-Menashi Revolt]] of [[1789]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
<br />
The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
<br />
A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44130Hokkaido2022-07-28T08:50:03Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref name=soas>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, one of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
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The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
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===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
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Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
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The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
<br />
A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
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Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
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===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/><br />
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==References==<br />
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[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44129Hokkaido2022-07-28T08:49:21Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Hokkaidô Today */</p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, one of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
<br />
The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
<br />
A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44128Hokkaido2022-07-28T08:49:11Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Meiji Period */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, one of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," p13.</ref><br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, serving as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely with one another. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, and lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
<br />
The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref> Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up among the Ainu, who were each given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. They were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare."<br />
<br />
A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]]. The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44127Hokkaido2022-07-28T08:39:40Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Edo Period */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, one of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Ainu&diff=44126Ainu2022-07-28T08:38:38Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Edo Period */</p>
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<div>[[File:Ainu.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Ainu individuals in modern and traditional clothing; image from exhibition "Ainu Treasures: A Living Tradition in Northern Japan," East-West Center Gallery, Honolulu, Spring 2013]]<br />
*''Japanese'': アイヌ ''(ainu)''<br />
<br />
The Ainu are an indigenous people of Japan, mainly associated with [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], though as late as the [[Edo period]], a few hundred Ainu still lived in the [[Nanbu clan|Nanbu]] and [[Tsugaru clan|Tsugaru]] [[han|domains]] in [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]]. Closely related groups also inhabit [[Sakhalin Island|Sakhalin]] and the [[Kuril Islands]].<br />
<br />
Today, there are less than 20 native speakers of the Ainu language, though tens of thousands, mainly living in Hokkaidô and Tokyo, claim partial or full Ainu heritage. The Ainu were formally recognized by the Japanese government as an indigenous people in recent years, though social programs and the like for the Ainu are centered exclusively in Hokkaidô, making it difficult for Ainu in Tokyo or elsewhere to benefit.<br />
<br />
According to some estimates, there are about 25,000 Ainu living in Hokkaidô today, and perhaps as many as 200,000 people of Ainu descent living elsewhere in Japan.<ref name=soas>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref><br />
<br />
==Origins==<br />
As in many indigenous cultures around the world, in their own language, the word "Ainu" simply means "human being" or "person." The relationship of the Ainu to the [[Emishi]] or other indigenous groups pushed back from Eastern Japan to Tôhoku, and eventually to Hokkaidô, in earlier periods is unclear, as is the relationship of the Ainu and the Japanese ("[[Yamato people]]") to the [[Jomon Period|Jômon]]/[[Yayoi Period|Yayoi]] divide.<br />
<br />
While some suggest that the Ainu are direct descendants of the Jômon people who settled the Japanese islands around 12,000 years ago (or earlier), there is much which remains unknown about the ethnic origins of the Ainu. Some research has suggested genetic or ethnic connections with peoples as far away as Tibet and the Andaman Islands.<ref name=soas/><br />
<br />
Whatever their ethnic origins, the term "Ainu" is generally used only in discussions of the 14th century and beyond, following certain developments in the merging of various Satsumon (Emishi) and Okhotsk cultures.<ref name=soas/><br />
<br />
Ainu/Emishi history is generally divided into the following periods:<br />
*Jômon (before 100 BCE)<br />
*''[[Zoku-Jomon Period|Zoku-Jômon]]'' (lit. "continued Jômon"; 100 BCE - 800 CE)<br />
*[[Emishi|Satsumon culture]] (800 - 1300 CE)<br />
*Ainu (1300 CE to present)<br />
<br />
==Ainu Society==<br />
[[File:Ainu-robes.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Ainu robes (''[[attus]]'') on display at the East-West Center Gallery in Honolulu]]<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no overall Ainu chief or king, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society. There is, however, a concept of an overall Ainu homeland, called ''Ainu moshir'', incorporating all the many Ainu lands; the geographical boundaries of this homeland have never been precisely identified, and are considered blurry even by the Ainu themselves.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref><br />
<br />
''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p15.</ref><br />
<br />
The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of [[Japanese yew]] (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33763404288/in/photostream/]</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred dogs, which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu never engaged in rice cultivation traditionally, but purchased rice from the Japanese, who called themselves ''Wajin'' (和人), among other terms, to identify themselves in contrast to the Ainu Other. This term, ''wajin'' only first appears in extant texts in [[1799]], however, while the Ainu term ''shamo'', used to refer to the Japanese, appears as early as [[1467]].<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 109.</ref><br />
<br />
The Ainu also used the word ''shisam'', meaning literally "the great and nearby," to refer to outsiders, and words such as ''kur'' and ''utar'' to refer to other Ainu groups (e.g. from a different region) or other indigenous tribes, e.g. the [[Nivkh]], [[Uilta]], or others from the nearest parts of the Asian mainland, or from Sakhalin and the Kurils. People from Ainu lands (''Ainu moshir'') were known as ''yaunkur'' (the clans from the land), while others were known as ''rebunkur'' (clans of beyond the sea). The term ''yaun shisam'' ("neighbors of the land") was used to refer to Japanese, Americans, and Russians, among others. Americans and Russians, along with other Westerners or Europeans, were also known as ''fuure shisam'', or "red neighbors"; this is possibly a reference to hair color, similar to the Japanese term ''kômô'' ("red hairs"), used in the [[Azuchi-Momoyama period|Azuchi-Momoyama]] and Edo periods to refer to the [[VOC|Dutch]] "barbarians."<ref name=frontier45>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref><br />
<br />
Ainu traded and interacted otherwise quite actively not only with ''Wajin'', but also with [[Manchu]]s and various indigenous tribal peoples of the north.<ref>Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," 106.</ref><br />
<br />
Ainu men often wore their hair and beards long. Their clothes were wrapped with the left side on top, the opposite of Japanese customs, and they wore fur boots, which were quite unlike the straw sandals (''[[zori]]'' or ''[[waraji]]'') Japanese were used to. They had no written language, though Japanese scholars later developed a system of representing Ainu sounds in Japanese ''[[kana]]'' through the introduction of a handful of new symbols.<br />
<br />
==Ainu-Japanese Relations==<br />
===Early Interactions===<br />
Japanese expanded into Tôhoku as early as the 8th-9th centuries, and into Ezo by the 15th century, if not earlier, establishing small centers of control and either pushing the Emishi further north, or assimilating them. Some of these Japanese leaders were agents of the [[Yamato state]]; some sought independence from the Yamato state; and some were in fact Emishi chiefs or their descendants who had taken on Japanese identity. Meanwhile, those Japanese who sought to break from the Yamato state and to establish their own independent polities in the north were sometimes designated "Emishi" by the center.<br />
<br />
The mid-15th century saw a new surge of instability in Tôhoku and Ezo, as Japanese traders, fishermen, trappers and the like made further inroads into Ainu territories. Japanese and Ainu got into conflict, and some studies indicate that the Ainu won most of these scattered skirmishes. The zone of Japanese control shrank, and receded, for a time; at the opening of the 17th century (the time of the establishment of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]), it was the Kakizaki clan who controlled the only remaining ''Wajin'' (Japanese) territory on the island of Ezo. Controlling that territory from [[Matsumae castle]], they came to be known as the [[Matsumae clan]], and remained the only daimyô on Ezo, in control of the northernmost ''[[han]]'' in the realm, throughout the [[Edo period]].<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
Though the Japanese had had some interactions and dealings with the Ainu (or Emishi) of Hokkaidô in earlier periods<ref>Including as early as the late 15th century, when the [[Ando clan|Andô clan]] and [[Takeda Nobuhiro]], ancestor of the Matsuemae clan, were active in Ezo.</ref>, it was in the Edo period that directed policy was first aimed at the island of Hokkaidô, then called Ezo.<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Relations with the Ainu were handled almost exclusively by the [[Matsumae clan]] beginning in [[1604]], the only clan to be based on Ezo. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref name=frontier45/> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''uimamu'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''omusha''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or Ryûkyû; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among ''Wajin'' were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid [[tribute]] or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> A system or tradition was thus established in which Ainu chiefs regularly visited [[Matsumae castle|Matsumae]], bringing gifts and paying respects to the samurai lords; the Matsumae clan saw this as a paying of tribute, in the ideological mode of Chinese or Japanese political worldview, but it is not clear that the Ainu saw it in that way, as an expression of submission or subordination.<br />
<br />
For lengthy periods of time in the Edo period, there was a degree of fluidity of movement between Ainu and Japanese society, with some Japanese moving out beyond the borders of [[Matsumae han]], and essentially joining Ainu society, while some Ainu shaved their beards, cut their hair, and adopted Japanese customs and lifestyle. (Some Ainu also maintained, to a degree, their Ainu identity and lifestyle while living within Japanese society.) It is said that some Ainu even fought alongside the samurai armies of the Matsumae clan (then called the [[Kakizaki clan]]) in the Sengoku period, being known especially for their poisoned arrows. [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] points out the significance of this conception of Japanese as something people could become - something grounded more in culture and societal behavior than in racial or ethnic identity.<ref>Morris-Suzuki. ''Re-Inventing Japan''. p22.</ref> <br />
<br />
Indeed, as the Japanese began to sense a threat from Russian encroachment in the 1730s-40s (when Ainu on [[Shumshu]] and other northerly islands quite close to Kamchatka began to be Russified),<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 54.</ref> and especially around the 1790s-1800s, "Japanization" of the Ainu was pursued with greater fervor. The Ainu may have been considered outsiders, and on the periphery, but it was still considered "our" periphery in the eyes of the Japanese, a place and a people with whom the Japanese had a long relationship, and from whom the Japanese got fish, furs, and much other important commerce; there was a fear of losing all of this to the Russians, who were actively building Russian Orthodox churches in the Kurils and elsewhere, and converting the native peoples. The shogunate's assimilation efforts were directed, therefore, not at the Ainu living closer to Matsumae-chi, but at those living nearest the areas of Russian encroachment, in order to solidify the Japaneseness of the Ainu there. Intermarriage was encouraged, and ceremonies celebrating "''kaizoku no shûgi''" (改俗の祝儀, "the improvement of customs") were held, in which Ainu were given Japanese-style dress and haircuts. A volume on Confucianism, intended for the purposes of transformational moral instruction, became one of the first books ever translated into the Ainu language. Though attributed to [[Muro Kyuso|Muro Kyûsô]], this was actually Muro's translation of a work by [[Tei Junsoku]], a [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan]] (i.e. non-Japanese, "barbarian")[[Ryukyuan aristocracy|scholar-official]].<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 56.</ref><br />
<br />
Since Japanese society was highly stratified, however, assimilating Ainu into it meant assigning them a place within the system, and signs of their new status; most Ainu were given castoff peasants' clothing, but their village headmen, elders, and the like were often given ''[[haori]]'' or other elements of a higher-status costume, signs of a status position above peasants but below samurai officials.<ref name=frontier13>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p13.</ref> By around 1800, Ainu constituted only about half of Ezo's population.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref><br />
<br />
Some shogunate officials and other thinkers and writers suggested that the shogunate ought to seize Ezo, the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin, in order to fend off the Russians and claim the Ainu (and the economic benefits they represented) more securely for Japan.<br />
<br />
Indeed, in [[1799]], and again in [[1807]], the shogunate laid claim to lands in these areas, returning them to the responsibility of the Matsumae clan only in [[1821]], after fears of Russian encroachment subsided. At that time, policies or attitudes about the Japanization of the Ainu were reversed. Discursively, it lent greater power and legitimacy to the Matsumae clan, and to the shogunate, to appear to have a foreign people submitting themselves to Japanese dominion; the [[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma han]] engaged in similar discursive activities in their relations with the Kingdom of Ryûkyû.<br />
<br />
Though continuing to exert direct control over only a very small portion of the island, in the 18th century the Matsumae clan began licensing Japanese merchants to establish commercial operations in Ainu lands, setting up small permanent outposts of Japanese settlement, and cottage industries such as fisheries, where Ainu served as hired labor. Ainu were in fact pressured to work for the fisheries, and discouraged - through intimidation and other forceful methods - from engaging in farming; Ainu agriculture noticeably declined in the 17th-18th centuries.<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p21.</ref> This, combined with severe increases in prices for Japanese goods frustrated the Ainu, who saw this as a betrayal by people who had, up until then, kept to their own territory, traded fairly and amicably, and treated the Ainu with respect. Several Ainu rebellions would occur over the course of the Edo period, one of the largest or most famous being [[Shakushain's Revolt]] in [[1669]]-[[1672]], but all were eventually suppressed.<br />
<br />
The Ainu continued to trade not only with the Japanese, but with various mainland Asian peoples, throughout the Edo period. Though the volume of this trade is unclear, some amount of goods from Russia, and from indigenous tribal groups such as the Nivkh and Uilta, were then in turn traded to the Japanese.<br />
<br />
===Bakumatsu and Meiji Period===<br />
The first agreements between Japan and Russia as to a defined national border between them were made in [[1855]]; Ezo was renamed Hokkaidô and formally incorporated into the territory of the modern Japanese state in [[1869]].<br />
<br />
Ainu were sparsely settled across the vast land area of Hokkaidô, which was thus seen by Japanese as, essentially, a "clean slate" or ''terra nullius''. Discussions or debates of prior decades were revived, with some suggesting the government take a relatively hands-off approach, allowing private interests (merchants/firms) and individual settlers to develop the land, and allowing Ainu to assimilate in an organic, gradual manner. Others argued that a more direct, focused effort of colonization be undertaken.<ref name=frontier13/><br />
<br />
The [[Hokkaido Development Commission|colonial government agency]]<!--kaitakushi 開拓使--> was established in [[1869]]/8, with [[Horace Capron]], a former US Secretary of Agriculture who played a prominent role in suppressing Native American opposition to American expansion, as one of the chief advisors. After a series of surveys and investigations, the [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|Western experts]] who had been brought in by the Japanese government disagreed widely. Capron took the lead, suggesting a directed effort to bring in Japanese settlers to colonize Hokkaidô; deciding that the land was no good for growing rice, he advocated a more American way of life, raising wheat, eating bread, and living in Western-style brick homes with Western-style furniture and a largely Western-style diet. This latter set of suggestions was ultimately not followed, however, as lifestyle in Hokkaidô was instead adapted to conform to more Japanese norms - even if the land were indeed better for raising wheat and other grains rather than rice, a hardier strain of rice plant was instead developed, and other elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle were introduced (or imposed).<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p14.</ref><br />
<br />
When the ''[[koseki]]'' system of family registers was established in [[1872]], the Ainu were included into it, with a family register being drawn up for each Ainu family. However, Ainu were not recognized at this time as regular Japanese citizens, but were instead labeled in the family registers as "former natives" (''kyû-dojin'').<ref>Andrew Gordon, ''A Modern History of Japan'', Oxford University Press (2013), 74-75.</ref><br />
<br />
The government banned a variety of Ainu practices, including [[tattoos|tattooing]], in [[1871]], and obliged all Ainu to speak [[Standard Japanese]]. In [[1876]], efforts began to force Ainu to adopt Japanese-style names, and the following year, the government began to claim Ainu lands as government property.<ref name=rekihaku>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11737713963/sizes/l]</ref><br />
<br />
In [[1875]], Japan and Russia revised their formal agreements regarding borders and territorial claims; the Kuril Islands came under Japanese control in exchange for Japan relinquishing its claims to Sakhalin. The Japanese authorities discovered, however, that the Ainu of the Kuril Islands had been Russified. The inhabitants of Shumshu and Paramushir were forcibly relocated to Shikotan, one of the southernmost Kuril Islands, nearest to Hokkaidô, and efforts were made to assimilate them into Japanese culture and customs. However, the relocation resulted in disease, depression, and famine, and the community shrank dramatically; still, they retained their Russian names, dress, and customs, and even managed to convert a number of Japanese to Russian Orthodox Christianity.<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p16.</ref><br />
<br />
The [[Meiji government]]'s policies towards the Ainu seem ambiguous, confusing, or hypocritical in terms of the implications for the racial ideas behind them. Ainu were dispossessed of their lands, and their traditional systems of land rights & hunting/fishing rights eradicated. Salmon fishing was prohibited, and river fishing remains illegal today, with exceptions made for traditional practices.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center. Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8522638707/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Under the [[Former Natives Protection Law]] of [[1899]], the seized lands were then reapportioned by the state, divvied up to the Ainu, who were given up to five hectares of land to farm, along with tools, seed, and other materials. The Ainu were forced to assimilate and adopt Japanese customs, and were officially designated in [[1878]] as ''kyûdojin'' (旧土人), or "former aborigines," a term meant to highlight that Ainu identity was a thing of the past, and that they were now "Japanese." However, the "former Ainu" were at the same time acknowledged as a special, different, group worthy of government concern and welfare, their financial assets seized by the state and re-apportioned to programs aimed at ensuring their "welfare." Beginning in [[1901]], Ainu students were separated out from Wajin students, and placed in separate classes or schools.<ref name=rekihaku/> Even as the Ainu were encouraged to become Japanese citizens, to assimilate into the newly created and supposedly homogenous Japanese identity, and to be seen as Japanese, they continued to be treated as Other in many contexts and venues. At a [[1903]] [[Fifth Domestic Exposition|domestic exposition in Osaka]], mirroring the [[St. Louis World's Fair]] which would take place the next year on a more international stage, Ainu were put on display alongside [[Taiwanese aborigines]], Koreans, and others, in a "Pavilion of Mankind," essentially, a "human zoo," where Japanese visitors could see how less civilized people look and how they live.<br />
<br />
By this time, numerous [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] writings had emerged describing the Ainu as Japanese people, or [[Jomon period|Jômon people]], of the past. Scholars in the emerging field of Japanese [[archaeology]], among other fields, argued that the Ainu were either fully ethnically Japanese, or of the same ethnic ancestry, and had maintained the culture and lifestyle of an earlier era; it was believed that the Ainu could serve as a treasure house of (pre-)historical culture, from which the Japanese could (re-)learn how to live more in harmony with nature, and otherwise learn how to moderate those effects of modernization seen as spiritually or culturally detrimental. Very similar discourses circulated concerning Okinawa, Taiwan, and [[Colonial Korea|Korea]], as storehouses of an earlier form of Japanese culture.<br />
<br />
Despite knowledge of Ainu agriculture, Japanese scholars cultivated a discourse in which the Ainu were represented as existing in the hunter-gatherer / fishing-trapping, pre-agricultural stage of societal development, thus emphasizing their primitiveness and distance from the "modern" Japanese.<ref>In fact, even when scholars acknowledged Ainu agriculture, incorporating it into their theories of Ainu primitiveness, they still overlooked or chose to ignore the fact that Ainu methods - which they were portraying as primitive - were in fact little different from those practiced in parts of Matsumae-chi, [[Sado Island]], and certain other remote rural areas of Japan. (Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p21.)</ref> The fiction of Ainu primitiveness, including the myths that Ainu never developed agriculture or metalworking, was considerably aided by the significant decline in Ainu agricultural activity and metalworking in the face of Japanese pressure and economic competition in the Edo period.<br />
<br />
Though deprived of their traditional hunting & fishing grounds, and of their financial assets, Ainu were at least promised a certain amount of land - five ''chô'' per household - by the government; the government ran out of land to give out ten years later, in [[1909]]. The program had further problems as the land given to the Ainu to farm was not always the most fertile or arable land, and as the Ainu were not used to farming, at least not in the manner or with the particular crops that the Japanese now encouraged. Many crops failed, leading to famine, underdevelopment of the land overall, and widespread poverty, issues which set the foundation for continued underdevelopment and economic issues in Hokkaidô today.<br />
<br />
Some number of Ainu traveled to Tokyo as early as the 1870s, or perhaps even earlier, for education or other purposes. Total figures are unclear, but anecdotes are given, for example of 38 Ainu relocated to Tokyo in [[1872]] to be educated (& "civilized") at an agricultural school established explicitly for that purpose on the grounds of [[Zojo-ji|Zôjô-ji]]. Five succumbed quickly to disease, and by [[1873]] only five remained in attendance at the school; it was closed the following year. Some individuals traveled to Tokyo or other regions on their own at this time, such as [[Chiri Mashiho]] and his sister [[Chiri Yukie]], who traveled to Tokyo to attend [[University of Tokyo|Tokyo Imperial University]]. However, most Ainu migration in the pre-war period is seen through a lens of colonialism, assimilation policies, forced migration, and so forth.<ref>Watson, 74-75.</ref><br />
<br />
===Post-War & Today===<br />
The Hokkaidô Ainu Association was established in 1946, and remains today the largest and most prominent Ainu association in the world; it changed its name to Hokkaidô Utari Association and established the first Ainu Community Center (''seikatsukan'') in Hokkaidô in 1961. The Hokkaidô Tourism Alliance was also founded in 1946.<ref name=rekihaku/><br />
<br />
From the Meiji period onwards, and especially in the 1950s-60s when there was a "Hokkaidô tourism boom," demand for souvenirs and the like spurred the (re)creation of much Ainu art, including especially wood-carved objects. Relatedly, Ainu traditional dances were officially named [[Intangible Cultural Heritage]] in 1984.<ref name=rekihaku/> Fujito Takeki and Sunazawa Bikki are counted among the pioneers in the revival or renaissance of Ainu arts.<ref>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History.</ref><br />
<br />
Ainu migration to Tokyo and other mainland urban areas picked up in the 1950s-1960s, with many Ainu relocating to such areas in search of work, or for other typical modern immigrant reasons. In these decades, roughly 30% of Ainu in the Kantô worked as day laborers or seasonal workers. Most of these Ainu individuals relocated to Tokyo alongside friends, or in order to join relatives already resident there. However, it was not until more recent decades that any significant number of people seem to have begun to identify with a broader "Ainu in Tokyo" or "Ainu diaspora" community, beyond the immediate circles of their friends and family.<ref>Watson, 76.</ref> The first such group, the Tokyo Utari Association, was founded in the early 1970s, and though it collapsed by 1980, it was replaced by the Kantô Utari Association. By 1997, there were four major Ainu associations in Tokyo, which came together to negotiate with the metropolitan government for the establishment of a formal Ainu community center.<ref>Watson, 77-80.</ref><br />
<br />
Ainu organizations held a series of high-profile protests outside the [[National Diet]] in 1992, demanding the revocation of the Former Natives Protection Law of 1899.<ref name=watson80>Watson, 80.</ref> This came after Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, in 1986, made comments asserting Japan's ethnic homogeneity, angering many in Ainu, Okinawan, Zainichi Korean, and other communities. The Former Natives Protection Law was finally repealed in 1997, and replaced with a Cultural Promotion Act, recognizing for the first time minority ethnicities within Japan, and acknowledging the importance of promoting Ainu culture and ethnic pride. However, this Cultural Promotion Act mandated no specific actions, and guaranteed no special privileges or rights.<ref name=watson79>Watson, 78-79.</ref> Japan was a signatory in 2007 to the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but like many countries added stipulations that the Declaration did not apply to their own (Japanese domestic) situation. It was only the following year, on 6 June, 2008, that both houses of the Japanese Diet unanimously adopted a resolution to recognize the Ainu as an indigenous people, and nominally at least entitled to the rights the UN Declaration stipulates. The 1899 Former Natives Protection Law was formally reversed at that time as well.<ref name=soas/> A Council for Ainu Policy Promotion was formed in 2009,<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center Gallery, Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8523752824/sizes/l]</ref> but it was not until 2017 that the Ainu were officially recognized by the national government as an "indigenous people ''of Japan''."<ref name=soas/><br />
<br />
The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at [[Lake Akan]], [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/> Some sources estimate that roughly 10,000 Ainu live in the [[Kanto|Kantô region]] (the greater metropolitan & suburban area around [[Tokyo]] and [[Yokohama]]) today, and that there are likely more Ainu outside of Hokkaidô than within the prefecture. Mark Watson estimates that only about forty Ainu individuals are particularly active in Ainu cultural/political organizations in Tokyo, but is sure to point out that, as is the case for people of any ethnic identity, this does not make the others - whose lives are more strongly dominated by the demands of family, work, and other social associations & activities - any less Ainu.<ref name=watson80/> While Ainu in Hokkaidô continue to face numerous serious challenges, and while issues of colonialism, displacement, and dispossession remain serious and worthy of both political and academic attention, scholars such as Mark Watson argue that a truer appreciation of Ainu identity, livelihood, and culture in the 20th-21st centuries requires attention to the "diaspora" as well. Considering the Ainu people in this way also means not dismissing Ainu issues as being only of local concern (i.e. in Hokkaidô), and seeing them instead as being of national, or even international, importance.<ref name=watson69>Watson, 69-71.</ref><br />
<br />
As is the case for many indigenous peoples around the world, Ainu struggle with others' assumptions that indigenous identity is situated exclusively in a given space (Hokkaidô) and time (pre-modern/primitive), such that Ainu identity would be antithetical to modern or cosmopolitan life. As Watson writes, "Ainu, it is assumed, would not survive or ... would not want to survive ''as Ainu'' in the city" (italics added).<ref name=watson69/> Indeed, Ainu living outside of Hokkaidô are legally regarded no differently from Wajin (Japanese), and receive no special privileges, benefits, or indigenous rights. They are ineligible for membership in the Hokkaidô Utari Kyôkai (the largest Ainu association), and are thus omitted from surveys and studies on Ainu socio-economic conditions. Similarly, only Ainu living in Hokkaidô receive benefits from the Hokkaidô Utari Welfare Countermeasures welfare scheme, first enacted in 1974.<ref name=watson79/><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." East Asian History 7 (June 1994). pp1-24.<br />
*Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. ''Re-Inventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation''. M.E. Sharpe, 1998. pp9-25ff.<br />
<references/><br />
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[[Category:Edo Period]]<br />
[[Category:Meiji Period]]<br />
[[Category:Foreigners]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44125Hokkaido2022-07-28T06:52:26Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Edo Period */</p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
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Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
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The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
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It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
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===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> <br />
<br />
Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the shogunate took control to part or all of Ezochi in [[1799]] and again in [[1807]], returning authority fully to the Matsumae domain in [[1821]]. During this time, the shogunate and/or the domain made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. According to some sources, by [[1800]], only about half the people in Ezochi were regarded as Ainu.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 134.</ref> When fears of the Russian threat subsided, these assimilation efforts were relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
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The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
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===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
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==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44124Hokkaido2022-07-28T06:23:55Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. Ethnic Japanese first began settling in Ainu Mosir by the 15th century, if not earlier, though fuller settler colonialism and state control of the territory would not take place until the 19th century. When discussed in contrast to the Ainu and other indigenous peoples of Hokkaidô and surrounding areas, ethnic Japanese are known as Wajin 和人.<br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "Creating the Frontier," 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
It is unclear when the very first Japanese (Wajin) settlements on Hokkaidô may have first taken place, but some small number of settlements certainly existed by the 15th century. Trade and other peaceful interactions took place alongside tensions and conflicts.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
For most of the Edo period, the Japanese continued to directly control very little of the island, but the economic benefits, and political or discursive benefits of having Ezo (and its people, the Ainu) within Japan's sphere of influence was of importance to the shogunate. Japanese and Ainu engaged in trade, with the Ainu providing items such as furs, fish, hawks for [[takagari|hunting]], as well as items obtained from the Asian continent, in exchange for [[lacquer]]ware, swords, and other Japanese craft-goods. Many of these Japanese craft-goods were actually rather out of reach for the average Japanese peasant of the time, so the fact that Ainu had access to them is actually quite significant.<ref>Tessa Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," in Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv (eds.), ''Asian Forms of the Nation'', Psychology Press (1996), 45.</ref> Ainu chiefs also met with the Matsumae lords, and with shogunate officials, in two separate audience rituals, known respectively as ''[[uimamu]]'' (J: ''omemie'', "audience") and ''[[omusha]]''; both of these rituals included the exchange of gifts, and thus resembled [[tribute|tributary]] relations to some extent. However, samurai authorities explicitly did not recognize the Ainu as a sovereign people, i.e. as a country, in the same way that they recognized Korea, China, or [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; instead, Japanese rhetoric of the time emphasized the notion of the Ainu as living under the protection (撫育, ''buiku'') of the samurai authorities, and represented these rituals as indicating Ainu gratitude for that protection.<ref>Arano Yasunori, "[http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00104/#back03 Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan: Exploding the Myth of National Seclusion]," Nippon.com, 18 Jan 2013.</ref><br />
<br />
Wajin settlement during this period remained extremely sparse and thin compared to the extent of the Japanese population in Hokkaidô today. Still, as Wajin traders, fishermen, trappers, and the like made further inroads into Ainu lands, and as various sorts of exploitative economic structures were established and developed, tensions grew, occasionally erupting into outright clashes or revolts.<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. In the early Edo period, Ainu who had been living among Wajin were encouraged, or even forced, to relocate, deeper into Ezochi. They were forbidden to speak Japanese, or to dress in the Japanese fashion, and were discouraged from farming. As the shogunate's constructions of its ideological legitimacy developed, it became increasingly desirable, even necessary, that the Ainu be a foreign, exotic, people who paid tribute or otherwise formally recognized the superiority, or centrality, of Japanese civilization.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, "The Frontiers of Japanese Identity," 51.</ref> Later in the period, however, Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Matsumae (or the shogunate) made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. At times, this was relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44123Hokkaido2022-07-28T02:57:36Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
Ainu traded extensively with not only Wajin, but also with indigenous northern peoples such as the [[Nivkh]] and [[Uilta]] and to some extent with Chinese empires; robes and other items from the [[Qing Empire]] occasionally made their way into Ainu hands.<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 106.</ref><br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Matsumae (or the shogunate) made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. At times, this was relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44122Hokkaido2022-07-28T02:52:31Z<p>LordAmeth: /* History */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
From the 16th century or so (or perhaps earlier) onwards, Ainu society was organized into small communities called ''[[kotan]]''. There was no one chief, king, or council uniting all Ainu, or any sort of government administration or bureaucracy; the ''kotan'' was, more or less, the largest social (or political) entity in Ainu society.<ref>Mark Watson, "Tokyo Ainu and the Urban Indigenous Experience," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 72.</ref> ''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, 15.</ref> The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of Japanese yew (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals. The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred [[dogs]], which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.<br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Matsumae (or the shogunate) made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. At times, this was relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44121Hokkaido2022-07-28T02:48:40Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Meiji Period */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Matsumae (or the shogunate) made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. At times, this was relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of prefectural government were implemented in Hokkaidô in [[1901]], and the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] beginning in [[1902]] ([[Okinawa prefecture]] saw these same changes some years later, in [[1909]] and [[1912]] respectively).<br />
<br />
===Hokkaidô Today===<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44120Hokkaido2022-07-28T00:16:02Z<p>LordAmeth: /* Meiji Period */</p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Matsumae (or the shogunate) made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. At times, this was relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time. A [[Hokkaido Land Regulation Ordinance]] promulgated by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1872]] incorporated the territory even more fully into the state. Though originally divided into several prefectures, these were combined into a single "Hokkaidô [prefecture]" in [[1886]].<br />
<br />
The [[Meiji Emperor]] visited the territory for the first time in [[1881]].<br />
<br />
Systems in place throughout much of Japan for the democratic election of representatives for the [[Imperial Diet]] were extended to Hokkaidô beginning in [[1902]].<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44119Hokkaido2022-07-28T00:09:36Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region. As the term "Emishi" was used not only for "barbarian" peoples who were ethnically or culturally distinct from the Japanese (Wajin), but also for people who were simply politically distinct - those outside the sway of the Yamato state or those actively rejecting the authority of that state - it is difficult to make blanket statements about whether "the Emishi" as a whole were or were not Ainu. However, scholars such as [[Tessa Morris-Suzuki]] have noted that very few, if any, sources prior to the 14th century employ the term "Ainu," and very few after that time employ the term "Emishi." In other words, there is an argument to be made that these are different terms for the same people - to at least some extent - and not for wholly distinct groups.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." ''East Asian History'' 7 (June 1994). pp4.</ref><br />
<br />
One particularly notable Ainu revolt took place in [[1457]]. Led by a chieftain named [[Koshamain]], Ainu attacked a Japanese settlement headed by the samurai [[Takeda Nobuhiro|Kakizaki (Takeda) Nobuhiro]]. Though this would be one of the largest Ainu revolts in all of history, it ultimately ended in defeat for the Ainu. Though the Japanese still did not claim or exercise anything approaching total control of the territory, nevertheless, Nobuhiro and his settlement remained, additional settlements were established, including [[Katsuyama castle]] in [[1462]], and some groups of Ainu or other local native populations were obliged to begin paying [[tribute]] to samurai settlement heads.<br />
<br />
===Edo Period===<br />
[[Matsumae Yoshihiro|Kakizaki Yoshihiro]], a descendant of the Kakizaki Nobuhiro who defeated Koshamain's Revolt in the 15th century, was the predominant power-holder in the southern tip of Hokkaidô at the end of the 16th century. Submitting to the authority of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], he then later submitted to the authority of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, and in [[1606]] changed his name from Kakizaki to Matsumae.<br />
<br />
Yoshihiro built Matsumae castle that same year, and made it the primary seat of governance and administration for his newly-renamed Matsumae clan. The shogunate granted the clan exclusive rights and responsibilities by the shogunate for overseeing relations with the Ainu, management of the vast northern frontier zone, and defense of the realm against threats from the north. However, unlike all other daimyô clans, the Matsumae were not formally enfeoffed in any designated territory, nor associated with a specified ''[[kokudaka]]'' (numerical ranking of power or wealth based on a presumed rice productivity of their land).<br />
<br />
Throughout this period, while Wajin and Ainu remained distinct populations for the most part, that distinction was porous. Ainu could come to be regarded as Wajin, by adopting Wajin names and lifeways, and Wajin could abandon such lifeways and come to be regarded by Wajin communities as having become Ainu, though it is unclear to what extent such individuals were ever accepted and incorporated into Ainu communities. In response to Russian encroachment, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Matsumae (or the shogunate) made explicit efforts at times to promote Ainu assimilation into Wajin lifeways and communities - or even to force this upon Ainu communities - incorporating the Ainu and their land more strongly and more explicitly into Wajin territory. At times, this was relaxed or even reversed, however, as suited the political expediencies of the moment.<br />
<br />
The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
<br />
===Meiji Period===<br />
In the final stages of the [[Boshin War]] that accompanied the [[Meiji Restoration]], some pro-Tokugawa loyalists were pushed back farther and farther north by pro-Imperial forces until they reached Ezochi; they regrouped there, nominally declaring a separate government - the [[Republic of Ezo]]. The Republic fell quickly, however.<br />
<br />
Ezochi was formally incorporated into the Japanese state and renamed Hokkaidô in the 8th month of [[1869]]. The [[Hokkaido Development Office]], or Kaitakushi, was established at the same time.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44118Hokkaido2022-07-27T18:16:46Z<p>LordAmeth: </p>
<hr />
<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
<br />
Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
<br />
In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
<br />
Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region.<br />
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===Edo Period===<br />
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The [[1855]] [[Treaty of Shimoda]] resolved these tensions between Russia and Japan to a certain extent, as it declared [[Iturup]] and all the islands to the south of it, including Hokkaidô, to be Japanese territory, though it left the question of [[Sakhalin]] unresolved.<br />
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===Meiji Period===<br />
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[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmethhttp://samurai-archives.com/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido&diff=44117Hokkaido2022-07-27T15:41:43Z<p>LordAmeth: Created page with "*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)'' Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the Japanese archipelago and the northernmost prefecture in the cou..."</p>
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<div>*''Japanese'': 北海道 ''(Hokkaidô)''<br />
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Hokkaidô is the northernmost of the four main islands of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and the northernmost [[prefecture]] in the country. Long existing on the borders of, or outside of, the Japanese state, the land of Hokkaidô (and surrounding islands) was long home to the [[Ainu]] and other indigenous peoples; while the Ainu referred to the territory as Ainu Mosir ("Ainu land") or Yaun Mosir ("the country land"), Japanese long referred to it as Ezo or Ezochi, a barbarian land. <br />
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In the [[Edo period]], the [[Matsumae clan]], based at [[Matsumae castle]] near the southern tip of the island, was the sole samurai clan handling relations with the Ainu. At times, they expanded their administrative efforts to organize extraction from Ainu fishing groups, and at times to assimilate the Ainu into Japanese ways. Japanese (Wajin) expansion into greater settlement of Ezochi and stronger administration of it came in large part in reaction to [[Russia]]n expansion into the territory beginning in the 1790s. <br />
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Matsumae domain and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] claimed control of the entire territory for brief periods early in the 19th century, but their ''de facto'' on-the-ground control was always rather less than total. The Empire of Japan ([[Meiji government]]) formally claimed and annexed the territory, however, in [[1869]], renaming it Hokkaidô ("Northern Sea Route") and establishing formal colonial settlement and land development efforts. Over the ensuing decades, the Ainu people were thoroughly dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, and subjected to harsh assimilation policies.<br />
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==History==<br />
The [[Jomon Period|Jômon peoples]] who were the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, going back as early as roughly 10,000 years ago, extended across nearly the entirety of what is today considered the Japanese archipelago, from Hokkaidô in the north to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and its immediately surrounding islands in the south. Some degree of interaction across the [[Tsugaru Strait]] - between Hokkaidô and Honshû - and quite possibly across longer distances within the archipelago, took place as early as this time.<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 4.</ref><br />
<br />
Trade between Hokkaidô and the central parts of the Japanese state is documented in some of the earliest Japanese texts, including the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', and ''[[Engishiki]]''. Japanese traded iron tools and other products for bear and sable furs, seal skins, bird feathers, ''[[kombu]]'' seaweed, and other natural products.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.</ref><br />
<br />
The Yamato state launched expeditions into [[Emishi]] ("barbarian") lands in northeastern Japan as early as the 7th century; though these largely took place in what is now considered the [[Tohoku|Tôhoku region]] of [[Honshu|Honshû]], Tôhoku at that time was in significant ways an extension of the same cultural area as Hokkaidô; these expeditions contributed to pushing the indigenous peoples north, out of Tôhoku and into Hokkaidô, as the Yamato state gradually expanded its influence over the region.<br />
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[[Category:Geographic Locations]]</div>LordAmeth