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Kushun kotan<ref>Kotan being an [[Ainu]] term for a village or community.</ref> was an encampment on [[Sakhalin]] Island established by Russia in [[1853]], dismantled the following year, and further destroyed by [[Matsumae han]] in [[1855]].
Kushun kotan<ref>Kotan being an [[Ainu]] term for a village or community.</ref> was an encampment on [[Sakhalin]] Island established by Russia in [[1853]], dismantled the following year, and further destroyed by [[Matsumae han]] in [[1855]].
The encampment was first built around 1853/6/30 (on the Japanese calendar), when men from a Russian ship came ashore there and established the camp. Upon hearing about this, [[Matsumae Takahiro]], lord of Matsumae han, dispatched a number of warriors to check out the situation. They reported to the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] in [[1854]]/4 that about 60 Russians were encamped there at that time.
Japanese first visited the ''[[kotan]]'' at least as early as [[1808]]. A painting in the collection of the Hakodate City Central Library depicts an ''[[omusha]]'' ceremonial meeting between [[Aizu han]] officials and representatives of the ''kotan'' in that year.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52227213955/in/photostream/]</ref>
The Russian encampment was first built around 1853/6/30 (on the Japanese calendar), when men from a Russian ship came ashore there and established the camp. Upon hearing about this, [[Matsumae Takahiro]], lord of Matsumae han, dispatched a number of warriors to check out the situation. They reported to the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] in [[1854]]/4 that about 60 Russians were encamped there at that time.
Four or so Russian ships visited the site in the 4th and 5th months of that year, but by the end of the 5th month, the Russians dismantled the camp. [[Hori Toshihiro]] and [[Muragaki Norimasa]], shogunate officials assigned to oversee matters in [[Ezo]], visited the site the following month, on 6/12, as they surveyed the area in preparation for negotiations with the Russians as to a formal Japan-Russia border on Sakhalin. Russian individuals came ashore there at least one more time before the end of that year, on 7/10, leaving the following day.
Four or so Russian ships visited the site in the 4th and 5th months of that year, but by the end of the 5th month, the Russians dismantled the camp. [[Hori Toshihiro]] and [[Muragaki Norimasa]], shogunate officials assigned to oversee matters in [[Ezo]], visited the site the following month, on 6/12, as they surveyed the area in preparation for negotiations with the Russians as to a formal Japan-Russia border on Sakhalin. Russian individuals came ashore there at least one more time before the end of that year, on 7/10, leaving the following day.