Shakushain's revolt

Shakushain's revolt
	Part of the Ainu rebellions
	; Monument to Shakushain at the site of the surrender
Date	1669 to 1672
Location	Hokkaidō, Japan
Result	Japanese victory
Belligerents
Matsumae clan; Supported by:; Tokugawa shogunate	Ainu
Commanders and leaders
Norihiro Matsumae [ja] Yasuhiro Matsumae	Shakushain [ja] †

The revolt of Shakushain (シャクシャインの戦い, Shakushain no tatakai) was an Ainu rebellion against Japanese authority on Hokkaidō between 1669 and 1672 in the Edo period. It was led by Ainu chieftain Shakushain against the Matsumae clan, who represented Japanese trading and governmental interests in the area of Hokkaidō, then controlled by the Japanese (Yamato people).

Background

The Matsumae clan were given the area around present-day Matsumae, Hokkaidō, what would become the Matsumae Domain, as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. They were charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" of the north.^[1]

Trade between the Ainu and the Yamato changed greatly over time. In the early days, the Ainu often traveled to the Matsumae domain to carry out trade, and could freely trade with anyone.^[2] However, in the first half of the 17th century, the Tokugawa shogunate officially granted the Matsumae clan exclusive rights to trade with the Ainu in the northern part of the island.^[3]^[4] The Matsumae then began to grant the trading right with the Ainu to their samurai as a substitute for a fief. The samurai were assigned trading posts set up in various parts of Hokkaidō to trade with the Ainu. The samurai began to force trade goods on the unwilling Ainu, and to overfish salmon using large nets. Furthermore, in 1665, the Matsumae set the exchange rate at a disadvantage to the Ainu. It is believed that this type of trade caused growing dissatisfaction among the Ainu towards the Yamato.^[5]^[6]

Revolt

In 1669,^[7] the revolt began as a fight for resources between Shakushain's people and another Ainu clan led by Hae in the Shibuchari River basin of what is now Shinhidaka, Hokkaidō. After Shakushain killed Hae's son, Hae sent emissaries to the Matsumae to request arms and potential remediation.^[8]^[9] While travelling back members of the emissaries died of smallpox, with reports reaching Hae and Shakushain that they had been poisoned by the Matsumae.^[8]^[9] As a result, Shakushain called on all the Ainu of Hokkaido to work together to fight the Matsumae. The Ainu coalition demanded complete political independence from the Matsumae and Yamato, and a return to the direct trading rights with Honshū, instead of the Matsumae mediated trade currently in place.^[10] The Ainu began to attack Yamato people and ships in Hokkaidō, and they also aimed to capture the colonial cities in the Matsumae Domain.^[11]

At the end of 1669, Shakushain's forces surrendered to the Matsumae, assassinated by Matsumae warriors. Afterwards, the war lasted for about three years.^[12]^[10]^[4] The rebellion was eventually quashed, with Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu rewarding the Matsumae for this result.^[13]

Historian Brett Walker highlights the rebellion as a watershed moment in the history of the Yamato Japanese conquest of Hokkaido,^[14] as it solidified the future involvement of Japanese state powers in colonising Hokkaido instead of it being left to the local Matsumae clan:^[14]

The war of Shakushain stands out as a watershed event in the history of the conquest of Ezo. Shakushain exploded onto the scene as a charismatic leader who proved able to bridge regional differences among Ainu communities, threatening to unite them against the Japanese intrusion from the south. The Tokugawa shogunate reacted by solidifying its own united front of military allies in the northeast, replacing local Matsumae generals with men of its own choosing, thus illustrating its self-appointed role as defender of the realm.

Aftermath

After suppression of the revolt, Japan consolidated its control of Hokkaidō. The peace treaty bound the Ainu to swear allegiance to Matsumae. The Ainu tribes remained autonomous, but trade relations between the Ainu and Matsumae turned into a trade monopoly, which means the Ainu lost their pricing power in goods and labor transactions with the Yamato. Those unable to support themselves had no choice but to work as forced labor in fish factories in Honshu on a salary about a seventh of the rate paid to the Yamato.^[11]

References

^ Otabe, Yūji (2006). Kazoku : kindai Nihon kizoku no kyozō to jitsuzō (Shohan ed.). Chūō Kōron Shinsha. p. 337. ISBN 4-12-101836-2. OCLC 65474403.
^ Shinichirō & Harrison 1960, pp. 24–25.
^ Shinichirō & Harrison 1960, p. 10.
^ ^a ^b Ruiz 2024, pp. 32–33.
^ 新藤透 (2016). 北海道戦国史と松前氏 (in Japanese). 洋泉社. p. 228-229. ISBN 978-4-8003-0681-4.
^ 田端宏; 桑原真人; 船津功; 関口明 (2010). 北海道の歴史. 県史 (in Japanese). Vol. 第2版. 山川出版社. pp. 77–80. ISBN 978-4-634-32011-6.
^ Shinichirō & Harrison 1960, p. 34.
^ ^a ^b Kitahara & Tanimoto 2020, p. 132.
^ ^a ^b Keiichi 1997, p. 114.
^ ^a ^b Siddle 2008, p. 25.
^ ^a ^b Dash, Mike. "The Octogenarian Who Took on the Shoguns". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
^ 平山裕人 (2018). 地図でみるアイヌの歴史 (in Japanese). 明石書店. ISBN 978-4-7503-4756-1.
^ Walker 2001, pp. 66–67.
^ ^a ^b Walker 2001, p. 71.

Works cited

Keiichi, Omoto (September 1997). "Senjūmin-zoku to jinken (1): Ainu to senjū amerikahito" 先住民族と人権(１): アイヌと先住アメリカ人 [Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights (1): Ainu and Native Americans]. Momoyama Gakuin University Research Institute Bulletin (in Japanese). 29 (3): 101–120.
Kitahara, Mokottunas; Tanimoto, Akihisa (21 May 2020). Ainu no shinjitsu アイヌの真実 [The Truth about the Ainu] (in Japanese). ベストセラーズ. ISBN 978-4584126097.
Ruiz, Esther Brito (2024). "Assimilation and Dispossession: Cultural Genocide of the Ainu". In Bachman, Jeffrey S.; Ruiz, Esther Brito (eds.). A Modern History of Forgotten Genocides and Mass Atrocities. Routledge. pp. 29–53. doi:10.4324/9781003365754-3. ISBN 978-1003365754.
Shinichirō, Takakura; Harrison, John A. (1960). "The Ainu of Northern Japan: A Study in Conquest and Acculturation". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 50 (4). University of Pennsylvania Press: 1–88. doi:10.2307/1005795. JSTOR 1005795.
Siddle, Richard M. (2008). "The Ainu: Indigenous people of Japan". In Weiner, Michael (ed.). Japan's Minorities: The illusion of homogeneity (2nd ed.). Routledge. pp. 21–39. ISBN 9780203884997.
Walker, Brett L. (2001). The conquest of Ainu lands : ecology and culture in Japanese expansion, 1590-1800. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-93299-9. OCLC 70749620.

External links

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[1] Otabe, Yūji (2006). Kazoku : kindai Nihon kizoku no kyozō to jitsuzō (Shohan ed.). Chūō Kōron Shinsha. p. 337. ISBN 4-12-101836-2. OCLC 65474403.

[FOOTNOTEShinichirōHarrison196024–25-2] Shinichirō & Harrison 1960, pp. 24–25.

[FOOTNOTEShinichirōHarrison196010-3] Shinichirō & Harrison 1960, p. 10.

[FOOTNOTERuiz202432–33-4] Ruiz 2024, pp. 32–33.

[5] 新藤透 (2016). 北海道戦国史と松前氏 (in Japanese). 洋泉社. p. 228-229. ISBN 978-4-8003-0681-4.

[6] 田端宏; 桑原真人; 船津功; 関口明 (2010). 北海道の歴史. 県史 (in Japanese). Vol. 第2版. 山川出版社. pp. 77–80. ISBN 978-4-634-32011-6.

[FOOTNOTEShinichirōHarrison196034-7] Shinichirō & Harrison 1960, p. 34.

[FOOTNOTEKitaharaTanimoto2020132-8] Kitahara & Tanimoto 2020, p. 132.

[FOOTNOTEKeiichi1997114-9] Keiichi 1997, p. 114.

[FOOTNOTESiddle200825-10] Siddle 2008, p. 25.

[Oct-11] Dash, Mike. "The Octogenarian Who Took on the Shoguns". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-05.

[12] 平山裕人 (2018). 地図でみるアイヌの歴史 (in Japanese). 明石書店. ISBN 978-4-7503-4756-1.

[FOOTNOTEWalker200166–67-13] Walker 2001, pp. 66–67.

[FOOTNOTEWalker200171-14] Walker 2001, p. 71.

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