Ainu Wars

The Ainu Wars were a series of conflicts and struggles between the Japanese empire and the indigenous Ainu people.

From the Edo period, restrictions on the Ainu people and their freedom of trade were tightened, and finally, with the formation of the Tondenhei in 1874 and their destruction of Ainu settlements, the Ainu people lost their ability to resist and surrendered to Imperial Japan.

Currently, the Ainu culture is protected by the Japanese government and the Hokkaido Utari Association, and the Ainu language is making a small comeback.

Biography

Interaction

Interaction between the Ainu people and the Japanese began in the Heian period (794-1185), when the Ainu were still active traders with the Fujiwara clan.

The Ainu culture is a unique culture that emerged from the fusion of the original Okhotsk culture and the culture of Honshu, and the original Okhotsk culture would be inherited by another ethnic group, the Nivkh people.

Edo period

In the Edo period, the Ainu were economically disadvantaged due to unequal trade by the Tokugawa shogunate and the Matsumae clan, which were backed by military might. Furthermore, this was the time of the smallpox epidemic, and these two events led to the decline of the Ainu people.

Destruction of settlements by Imperial Japan

In 1874, Imperial Japan, fearing a Russian invasion of Hokkaido, formed a group of soldiers called Tondenhei to develop the island. While Tondenhei was promoting the development of Hokkaido, he also destroyed the Ainu people's settlements and suppressed their resistance by force. In 1904, Tondenhei was dismantled due to the loss of resistance of the Ainu people and the achievement of the complete development of Hokkaido. Thereafter, the Ainu people would continue to be subjected to insidious discrimination by the Japanese at the time who settled in Hokkaido.

Main Wars

Koshamain's War

This war was started by Koshamain, the Ainu chief at the time, after a murder that resulted from a fight between a blacksmith from Yamato and a young Ainu man. In the end, the Yamato forces were victorious, and the Matsumae clan was formed on this occasion.

Shakushain's Revolt

This revolt occurred in the middle of a battle for fishing rights in Shizunai between two forces, Menasunkur and Sumunkur. Shakushain tried to call on the Matsumae clan to provide weapons, but one of the messengers died of smallpox at this time. False information that the Matsumae clan had poisoned one of the messengers became rampant, and Shakushain led his army to attack the clan. The Muromachi shogunate was unable to control the sudden situation, and in the end, a total of 356 Japanese were killed by Shakushain's forces. In addition, all the victims killed were non-combatants. In the end, Shakushain and Menasunkur surrendered to the Muromachi shogunate and were eventually assassinated by Matsumae warriors.

Menashi-Kunashir Rebellion

Dissatisfied with the business dealings and working conditions with Hidaya (historical system whereby the Hida region provided 10 carpenters per village the central government in place of taxes), the Ainu people called for an uprising and attacked and killed Japanese merchants. The Matsumae clan went to suppress the rebellion, and the Ainu who had started it surrendered and were executed. The Matsumae clan then removed the people who had created the poor environment at Hidaya and returned it to normal operations. The total number of casualties from this rebellion was 71.

Boshin War

The Boshin War was a fight in Japan between Tokugawa Shogunate and Imperial Japan, one of the incidents during the Meiji Restoration. The fighting in this war also involved Hokkaido, and the Tokugawa Shogunate temporarily occupied Hokkaido and what is now Aomori Prefecture, establishing the Ezo Republic. After this war, the development of Hokkaido and the destruction of Ainu culture became more pronounced.

Russo-Japanese War

This war was fought between Japan and the Russian Empire over the rights to land in China. In addition to the Tondenhei, the Ainu people were conscripted into the Russo-Japanese War.

Wars by non-Japanese

Mongol invasions of Sakhalin

From 1264 to 1308, Sakhalin was invaded by the Mongol Empire and many Nivkh people and Ainu people were killed. Even after the end of the invasion, there was a severe depletion of daily necessities, an incident that would lead to Koshamain's War.

1643

The Dutch East India Company discovered the islands of Tsorofu Island and Ulup Island, and the indigenous Ainu people resisted them, but were suppressed by force.

Bunka Rokou

On orders from Nikolai Rezanov, his men landed on Tsorofu Island and South Sakhalin Island, where they set fires and looted. The Ainu community was also affected by this incident.