Shakushain's Revolt
A prominent Ainu leader by the name of Shakushain led a large force of Ainu against Japanese merchant operations and settlements in Ezochi in 1669, as well as marching on Matsumae han.
The revolt, sometimes called a "war," emerged out of Ainu dissatisfaction, frustration, and anger against unfair trade practices and treatment by Matsumae domain. The forces of the Matsumae clan were supplemented by armies from Tsugaru, Nanbu, Akita, and Sendai han. The Ainu armies had some small number of Japanese swords, and perhaps firearms, along with their own indigenous forms of weaponry, and killed some 300 Wajin settlers and warriors before ultimately being routed. The number of Ainu casualties is unclear. It is said that the use of roughly 200 firearms by the Japanese played an important role in the decisive battle of the Kunnui River.
According to some sources, Shakushain's death came when he accepted an invitation from Matsumae to parlay, as was a custom in Ainu culture, but was then poisoned by the samurai leaders.[1] It is unclear whether the Matsumae lord killing Shakushain in this fashion was a betrayal of Ainu customs, or something which Ainu chiefs might expect could happen at such a parlay meeting.
The end of the Shakushain War marked the end of large, region-spanning Ainu chiefdoms. From this point forward, Ainu society chiefly consisted of small, kinship-based communities with limited local territories (iwor).[2]
References
- Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "Creating the Frontier: Border, Identity, and History in Japan's Far North." East Asian History 7 (June 1994). p8.
- Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.[1]
