Changes

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 Matsumae 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.

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 Matsumae 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.

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. Where Ainu had previously freely traveled to Honshû to trade, after 1604 they gradually came to do most, if not all, trading at or through Matsumae.<ref name=hokkmuseum>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52227210470/sizes/h/]</ref> From the 1630s onward, Matsumae retainers increasingly imposed exploitative trade relationships upon the Ainu.<ref name=hokkmuseum/> In terms of the types of goods, the Ainu provided 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/> Japanese settlers also began to move into various areas of Hokkaidô in search of [[gold]] dust.<ref name=hokkmuseum/>

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. Where Ainu had previously traveled freely to Honshû to trade, after 1604 they gradually came to do most, if not all, trading at or through Matsumae, or through Wajin who came into Ainu communities and lands.<ref name=hokkmuseum>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52227210470/sizes/h/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52226999034/in/photostream/]</ref> From the 1630s onward, Matsumae retainers increasingly imposed exploitative trade relationships upon the Ainu. Ainu traders became less free to travel to seek out and choose their trading partners; instead, they came to trade with a more limited group of Wajin, those who established themselves within Ainu lands and who set unfair and exploitative rates for the goods an Ainu trader would need to trade to obtain the items they desired.<ref name=hokkmuseum/> In terms of the types of goods, the Ainu provided 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/> Japanese settlers also began to move into various areas of Hokkaidô in search of [[gold]] dust.<ref name=hokkmuseum/>

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>

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>