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[[Image:Matsumae_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The Matsumae kamon.]]

[[Image:Matsumae_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The Matsumae kamon.]]

The Matsumae were an offshoot of the [[Takeda clan|Takeda]], founded by [[Kakizaki Yoshihiro]] ([[1550]]-[[1618]]). They unified [[Hokkaido|Hokkaido's]] [[Oshima Peninsula|Ôshima peninsula]] during the mid-16th Century, and would continue to be the northernmost clan through the end of the [[Edo Period]]. They later submitted to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and were confirmed in their holdings by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].

The Matsumae were an offshoot of the [[Takeda clan|Takeda]], founded by [[Kakizaki Yoshihiro]] ([[1550]]-[[1618]]), and descended more distantly from the [[Ando clan|Andô clan]], who were in turn descended from [[Emishi]] (Ainu) chieftains who had assimilated into Japanese society<ref>Howell. p78.</ref>.  

During the Edo Period, the Matsumae clan managed trade and relations with the [[Ainu]], as the [[So clan|Sô]] did with Korea, and the [[Shimazu clan|Shimazu]] did with [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]]. Based at [[Matsumae castle]], they were the only clan to hold territory on the island of [[Ezo]] (now called Hokkaidô).

The Matsumae clan unified [[Hokkaido|Hokkaido's]] [[Oshima Peninsula|Ôshima peninsula]] during the mid-16th Century, and would continue to be the northernmost clan through the end of the [[Edo Period]]. They later submitted to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and were confirmed in their holdings by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].

[[David Howells]] describes the Matsumae as the only ''daimyô'' clan to not hold land in fief from the shogunate, their position being derived solely from their importance in managing relations and trade with the Ainu<ref>Howells, David. "Ainu Ethnicity and the Boundaries of the Early Modern Japanese State." ''Past & Present'', No. 142 (Feb., 1994), pp. 69-93</ref>.

 

[[David Howell]] describes the Matsumae as the only ''daimyô'' clan to not hold land in fief from the shogunate, their position being derived solely from their importance in managing relations and trade with the Ainu<ref>Howell. p85.</ref>.

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Clans]]

[[Category:Clans]]