Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 30

KanagawaPrefecturalCollege

Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign


College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevolt of 1669:A study of a war

between the Ainw and the Japanese'

/
Hideaki Kiyama

ABSTRACT
i

The incidentknown, to the Japanese,as Kanmon Ku IVbnIVbE2o Hbki CtAinuUprising


of Kdnmon 9th Year"), or IVb Ran (t'Shakushain's
Shalet{shain Revolt"), took place in
1669 on HokkaidO. It began with the slaughter of some 270 JaPaneseby the Ainu, when
the Japanesevisited Ainu villages, The Japanese authorities in Hokkaid6 were so aston-

ished at the scale of the massacre that they requested relief armies from the main island.
'against the total
At the same time, they prepared themselves for a wholesale war ii'

Ainu population on that island.The physical cenfrontations of this war lasted into the
i

following year, 1670, The final settlement was brought about in 1672. This study is a

reconstruction of that war, using the Japanese sources.

INTRODUCTION

The Ainu were a tribal,hunting-gathering people who traditionallyinhabited Hokkaid6,

Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands --- the northernmost area of the Japanese archipelago.

Their population totaled about 17,OOO in 1944, of which 16,300 individuals were from
HokkaidO.At the present time, however, the Ainu, as a distinctculture-bearing popula-
tion, are virtually extinct (Watanabe1972 : 1).
The relationship of the Ainu to the Japaneseseems to go far back in history. The

origin of the Ainu has been debated extensively by both Japanese and Western scholars.2

Yet a definitiveconclusion has still to be discovered.Apart from this problem in the early
period, it is from the middle of the 1400's on that the Ainu in Hokkaid6 can be identified
with certainty in the Japanese records. It was after the Tokugawa familyre-established
the shogunate government in 1603 and Hokkaid6 became a fief under its regime that the

Ainu came to the concern of the Japaneseon the main island,or Honshu and an abund-

-56-

NII-Electronic Mbrary
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Skakushain'sRevolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

ance of records concerning the Ainu were produced and are now available to us.

The fief which held HokkaidO and subjugated the Ainu there was called Matsumae

Ma-7}su-Ma-Ai).
(pronounced Matsumae was one of the smallest of all 200-odd fiefsof

Japan.It produced literally no rice, which was the rnain source of revenue for the other

fiefs. Instead,Matsumae depended heavily upon the proiit from trade with the Ainu for

its revenue sources. Its actual strength was once cited in an official record as a fief

with a revenue equivalent to 7,OOO koku3 of rice (Hokkaido-Cho 1970:2-122),an amount

by far smaller than the inceme of an average fief of about 100,OOO hoku (Sansom1966:

48). .
The japanesepopulation in Hokkaid6 totaled 18,248 natives plus 1,838 temporary

residents such as travelers in the census of The number


1701 (HokkaidO-Cho1970:2-149).

of the vassals (samttrai) of the Matsumae fief in the late 17th century was somewhere

between eighty and ninety (ibid:2-131),


m,ho resided in the town ef Fuktiyama. Those

constituted the standing army of the
tief.
About onehalfof thosevassals were supported

by a fixed stipend from the fief government. But the other half, who were higher

ranking vassals, supported thernselves with the revenue earned through sirnilar means
.
as that of the fief government in their own subinfeudations of the Matsumae territory

Matsurnae took a policy in which the Japaneseand the Ainu populations were segregated

by residence. The former was, as a rule, prohibitid frornliving outside of tUe JaPanese

residential section, a southernmost portion of land which amounted only 3.5 per cent of

the whole island.This small area was also called Matsumae. The rest of Hokkaido was

called the Ainu-Land (!'Ezo-Chi"),


and :reserved
for the Ainu. The Ainu-La"d was

further divided into two districts: the northern half was called the Cip-Lands(ttKami-No
-Kuni") and the southern half the Low-Lands (ttShimo-No-Kuni")..
The population of the Ainu had been variously speculated as ranging from 20,OOO to

40,OOO until the firstAinu census was takan in' the period of Bunka (1804-1818),
which

revealed a total o[ 26, 350 inviduals.They were ]eft to their tribal autenomy within the

boundary of the Ainu-Land under a general framework4 which was set up by Matsumae.

But they did not feel with this situation very comfortable. There were many armed

confrontations between those two groups. The revolt of 1669 ]ed by an Ainu chief called

Shakushain was one example of such resistance of the Ainu against the feudal rule of

Matsumae. It was the last and largest war between the Japanese and the Ainu.It is the

purpose of this study to reconstruct this war by using the records left by the Japanese.
-57-

NII-Electronic Mbrary
NII-Electronic Service
Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevoltof 1'669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

The primary source material used in this study comes from two Japanese sources:
ene from the Matsumae side and the Dther frorn the Tsugaru, another Japanese'fief
which sent a relief army to Matsumae duri'ngthat war. The material from Matsumae
includestwo documents: one is a manuscript entitledEgo Hbleior "Ainu
Uprising," which

was the Matsumae's official report of this war submitted to the Bakwfu, the central gov-
ernment. The other document is a rnanuscript entitled Ezo Danbitsuleier "Record

of The
Ainu,"The writer, Matsumiya Kanzan, wrote this manuscript in 1710 as a man called

Kan'emon related his experience during that war to him. Kan'emon participated in that
war as an interpreter for the Matsumae army.

The Tsugaru documents on this war have been incorporated in its official history
entitled fitoShi,or
Tsirgrarit CCThe
Historyof The Tsugaru Clan."Those three doccuments
will hence be cited in the abbreviations as follows:

EH Ezo Hbki
ED E2o Dampits"fei
TJ 71sugaru lttO Sh.i

Translation frorn those Japanesetexts intoEnglish, in either the form of directquotation


or etherwise, is solely the author's.

EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE WAR OF 1669

The '1669 between the


war of Ainu and Matsumae came intobeing as a result of several

preceeding events, the major ones beinga tensed problem in the trade'relationship between
the UP-Land Ainu and Matsumae and a tribal dispute among the Loev Land Ainu.
'The
trade had been increasingly
' 'deterioratingat the expense
relationship
of the Ainu.
It was especially so with the U)b-Land Ainu around the Ishikari River,an area retained

by a top-ranking vassal called Kakizaki Kurando as his subinfeudation, The Ainu's re-

sentment against Kurando, and Matsumae in general, had been simmering in those years.
The following are some examples of MatsUmae exploitation claimed by the Ainu:
The rice bag which used to contain 20 shoMbJ of rice now contained only 7 to8shj, and,

still the Ainu had to pay the same amount of their trade items for one; when an Ainu
happened to lack a unit in his payment and left it on credit, the Matsumae traders de-
manded 20 units for it next year; if he failed to clear debt, his child was taken as a
- 58 .--

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

mortgage; the Ainu were banned to meve across the border of Subinfeudations withOut

official permissien, which caused them a great inconvenience (711


1953:373, 375,377),

Kurando's oppression went so far that a major chief of that districtcalled Kekurake
finally went to Matsumae to appeal to the government with this grievance, along with

paying his firstgreeting to the new Lord. But he was caught by Kurando and accused

of violation of the law that prohibited the Ainu from coming to the Matsttmae-Land
without permission. On this ground, Kurando threatened to decapitate him or shave off

his beard,and treated him with many other forms of humiliation. When he returned

home, Kekurake was so angry that he urged his tribesmen to rise up against Matsumae.
But he was
'
stopped by other Ainu men (ibid:376).
Another major chief called Hafukase, who was from the Ishikari area and the most

powerful chief of the UP-Lands,


was also having trouble with Kurando'regarding

trade. Hafukase never yielded in his demands, so Kurando, in February6 of 1669,threat-

ened him by saying that he would not send trading boats to his province any more.

To that, this Ainu chief was said to have replied as follows:"Lord Matsumae is the lord

of Matsumae.Iarn the lord of Ishikari.I have nothing to do with him, Therefore, I

want Lord Matsumae not to botherus, either, We do not care if the trading boatsvisit
'
us or they do not. Sinceour ancestral days, we Ainu have been subsisting on fish and deer,
not rice and salee. Therefore, from now on, please do not send a trading boat to us. If you do.

we will not letit return home" (ibid:375).


Hence,Japanesetrade with Hafukase'sprovince
was cut out from that time through to the outbreak of the war that same year.
In the Loiv-Lands,too, the trading relationship must not have been much different
frorn

that in the Ub-Lands. However, the Ainu in this districtwere so much concerned about

the tribal conflict between themselves that their relation to Matsumae appears to have been

kept rather friendly until justbefore the outbreak of the war, This tribal conflict, which

in consequence became the direct cause of the war, has been recorded as follows.

Conjlict
Between OnibishiAnd Shahushain

This conflict had been carried on by two powerful chiefs of this district:
Onibishi

and Shakushain. Onibishirepresented a clan called Hkeink"nt.and Shakushainwas from


the Menashileur" clan. Shakushain'sharnIetwas locatedat a place called Shibuchari, at

the mouth of Shibuchaririver. Only some eight miles from this place, his rival Onibishi

was living in his hamlet called Hae. Those two rival greups entrenched themselves in
-59-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's
Revolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

their villages. The hostilitybetween them was a long-standing one going back to their
'
father'sdays. -
In the summ'er of 1667 a young man from Onibishi's clan was killed by a $on of

Shakushain',
an incident which broke the peace agreement maintained since 1665 between
those two groups (EH 1969:461). In this event, a Japanesegold-miner calldd Bunshir6,
who was staying in the vicinity, took the role of arbitrator.

On April 20, of the following year, Onibishivisited Bunshir6at his house in order to
consult with him on the teParatienproblem for that killing.He stayed over that night

at Bunshiro'shouse. Ori that same night, Shakushain broke into Onibishi's yillage

and killed two brothers of Onibishi.The next day, Shakushain came up to the gold--mine

with fiftyor so clansmen, and succeeded in killingOnibishi himseli.


After this incident, several attacks and counter-attacks were repeated befween the
two clans, In the course of those confrontations Onibishi'sside came to be considerably

outbalanced by Shakushain'sside. Finally, in the middle of July,Onidishi's clan lost


their citadel to the enemy's siege: Accordingly, they withdrew and rebuilt their citadel in

the mountains. This situation continued unchange.d for the rest of that year.

In April of the following year, 1669, a headman called Utou from Onibishi's clan
visited Fukuyama, the Capitaltown of Matsamae, to ask forweapons and foodto borrow,
after an unsuccessful petition of the same kind made by another clansman previously.

Matsumae rejected Utou's petitionon the same ground as the previous one that they had

no precedents of lending weapens to a party of Ainu disputes,


Therefote,Utou also had to
return home empty-handed. On his way home, however, this Ainu chief caught small-pox

and died from it before he reached his village.

Utou'sdeath created a wide-spread rumor that he was poisoned at Matsumae. Shakusha-

in took advantage of this rumoc He appealed to the major chiefs of the island,including

Hainkum men, agitating that Matsumae wanted to annihilate the Ainu tribe, from the
island by sending poisoned food and salee. Therefore, the Ainu must take an offensive

against the Japanesebefore they succeeded in realizing that plot.This appeal' was widely

accepted and led to a wholesale war against Matsumae (EH 1969:642; 7111953:304).

THE AINU UPRISING AND THE RELIEF FORCE FROM TSUGARU


'

Utou'sdeath from the supposed poisoning at Matsumae, thus, put an end to the con-

flictbetween Onibishi'sclan and Shakushain's,Togother with other Lqtv-Land Ainu, those


-60-

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

ShakushainisRevoltof 1669:A study of a war betweenthe Ainu and the Japanese

two clans formed a consolidation against Matsumae, with Shakushain as their leader.At

the same time, Shakushain appealed to the UP-Land Ainu to jointheir uprising, which

the Iatterdid.

Sometime during June of 1669, those groups started killing・theJapanese


who happened'
7
to be in'the Ainu-Land as gold-miners or falcon-hunters
as well as sailors and merchants

who were vi$iting the trading posts there. The firstnews of this uprising was brought to

Fttkuyama by friendlyAinu, transmitted from village to village, on June 21. Itreported


the uprising in the ・Low Lands. A iew days later, on July s, another report telling of

the UP-Lands was brought in by the sole surviving sailor whose fellow crewmen and

the merchants aboard the ship were massacred at a bay called Furupirain that disurict.
Frightened at those reports, Matsumae rushed to collect all information about the
,1・
Japanesewho were supposed to be in the Ainu-Land at that time. The result was asto;

nishing: in the Low-Lands, a total of ls3 men8 were killed along with eight boats and cargo

lost to the uprisers (EH lg69-:643);in the U)-Lands, a total of 12o men9 were killed

including three samurai, with eleven boats and cargo lost to the Ainu (ibid:634).
Those

who survived and managed to return home numbered only 15 from the Low-Lancisand
7 from the UP-Lan(is (ibid:643).

Hokkaid5 in [669
i,lndicates the June,1669

places and tnken frem

b.Siyq
kshlg

si
igllix

,ts21Eo

- 61 -

NII-Electronic MbraryService
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakusliain"sRevolt of r669 :A Study of a waf between the Ainu and thg JapaneSb

The locationwhere those massacres took place extended threughout the coastl/ines'bf the

whole islandexcept for th'e.northeastern area (seethe map), ・indicatinga wholesale revolt

by the Ainu. The great majority of the Matsumae population, which was・ about 15,OOO
people/ (TI 1953:312)/,was cbmposed of merchants, craftmen, and fishermeri: Those
townsfolk were strictly'・banned frem access to weapenry Which was -inoh6polized by the

warrior elass, samurai, under the caste system of feudal Japan2 Those townsmen,

consequently, could not be trusted as seldiers although they were useful' as military

worker's.'The Ainu, on the other hand, who were estimated at some twenty thousatid

men and-women, had no such caste system. As hunters-gathers they were- accust'omed

to usebows and arrows and・other weapons from childhood. Therefore, once all those
Ainu of the islandunited theMselves to attack Matsumae, there was a chance that the

latterbe wiped outL In・View of this'situation,Matsumae hastened to dispatch heralds


to neighboring Tsugaru-.
and Nanbu
fiefs
on Honsha to ask for relief armies. At the same
time, they reported the situation to the Baleof" in order to make official their request of

relief. Accordingly, the Baletofualerted four northern fiefs,Tsugaru, Nanbin,・


Akita, and
Sendai, to prepare relief armies, The Baleiofualso ordered itsvassal called Matsumae Yaza'e-

/t mon, who was the uncle of the then-infant lord of Matsumae, to return to his home country

to take the general leadership in place of his nephew.

In accordance to this official order from the Bai tof7u, all the above four fiefs puepared

their armies for dispatch whenever the signal came from Matsumae, a sign which was

agreed upon to be transmitted from mountain-top to mauntain-top by beacons. However,

Tsugaru, a fief of an assessmet of 47,OOO feoku,


was not satisfied with justwaitng for that

sign. For some unknown reason, they showed a great deal of enthusiasm in the trouble

of their neighbering fief.They urged Matsumae to allow them to enter the battlefield
'
to fight directlyagainst the'Ainu. Matsumae, on the other hand, did not want such a

situation that Tsugaru could deal wiht the Ainu directly, unless it became clear that
they could no longer cope with the revolters themselves. There was a contiriued
'
negotiation, from July to September, on this subject between Matsu'inae,
and the envoy

of Tsugaru to that fief


'
(TI 1953:342-47). Finally,Matsumae accepted tD receive reljef

army from Tsugaru to the town of Fukuyama. Accordingly, Tsugaru dispatched an army

of a total of 729 soldi: rs on September 5, and that army arrived at Fukuyama on the

eighth day of the sathe month. The official number of soldiers was clalmed to' be 500
・- 62 ・-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain"s Revolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

men, however (ibid:288).


(The organization of this army and the munitions and supplies

which it took with them are given in the AppendicesI and II.)

THE BATTLES OF KUNNUI AND SHIZUKARI

It was June 21 of 1669 that Matsumae was first informed of the Low-Landuprising

led by Shakushain. Upon receiving this news, it dispatched a small troop of some 80
soldiers (Tl 1953:306) to a place called Kunnui, which is a five-day distance from
Fukuyama. Soon after this troop arrived at Kunnui it became clear that the revolters were

advancing toward kunnui on their way to making a general attack on Fukuyama. Accordingly
the Matsumae headquartersdecided to concentrate its major strength at Kunnui to crush
'L.
the Low-Land part of the revolt, which they saw, correctly, to be the core of this uprising.

They sent several troops one after another until the total force at this camp became
some 700 men.iO

Those s31diers were mostly draftees,with 27 sanzttrai headed by the chief chamberlain

of the Matsumae fief. Matsurnae Yaza'emon, who ]iad been sent by the Shagun to look
after his infant nephew, Lord Matsumae, arrived there on August 21, and took the general

commandership thereafter (EH 1969:642).


The firstencounter at Kunnui was initiatedfrom the Ainu's side when an estimated

350 or so Ainu made a night-raid on the Matsumae forceon July 28 and repeated the

raids day and night through the night of August 3 (EH 1969:643).The chief weapons used

by those Ainu soldiers were bowsii and arrows: poisoned arrowsi2 fer men and fire-ar-
rows for the buildings. Those arrows, however, did not penetrate the armor of the

sa-murei and the cotton-packed clothing worn by the rest of the Matsumae soldiers.
e
The result was that the losses to the Matsumae were almost ignorable: four wounded

by the poison of the arrows, but no one killed (ibid:645).


The Matsumae soldiers also

coped well with fire-arrows and protected the buildings so that, from this aspect, too,

the Ainu were net able to deal any substantial damage to their enemy. The Matsumae
side, on the other hand, countered those attacks mainly with guns.
They arranged 200 or so gunmen at the outskirt ef the camp and made them keep shooting

tou,ard the directions where the arrows were coming from. In such a -,ay, Matsumae
-63-

NII-Electronic Mbrary
NII-Electronic Service
Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669:A studyof a war between the Ainu and the Japanese
' -t
killd two Ainu,a man and a woman, and captured eleven. Based on the amount of ememy

weapons left on far more


the battlefield, cas"alties were presurned on the Ainu's side.

But the bodies were not confirmed except for the above-mentioned, due to the Ainu
custom in which they withdrew and hid their comrades' bodies from the enerny (ibid:645).
On the fourth day of August, the Matsumae force turned to take an offensive. They
launched an expedition to a place called Shizukari,one-day distancefrom Kunnui. This force
consisted of three troops, each containing eight to nine samurai with their housemeni3
and other soldiers, making a total oi s25 men (ibid:647).
It also included 29 friendly
Ainu men (ibid:647).
This expedition, however, failed to encounter the enemy because

they had fledto the mountains before the expedition reached the enemy sites. Conseqently,
the expedition found only material belongings of the enemy; they found many Ainu hutsl
at a place called Monbetsu, with food and utensils which together were estimated to
'
'
accomodate about 300 men or so. Accordingly,they burned everything (TI 1953:327).
At Shizukarithey found a couple dozen Ainu boats lefton the beach and destroyed them
alsp (ibid:327).
The Ainu men whom the expedition came across on this campain wqre

only those who wanted to surrender themselves. When they arrived at a river called

Oshamanbe, they saw twenty to thirty Ainu gathering on the other side of the bank. Those

Ainu claimed that they were from the village called Usu, and that they had wanted te

take tbe Matsumae's side, but had been prevented from doing se by the Menashilei-sru
Ainu. The expedition did not accept this story at face value, so that they took nine

chiefly Ainu as hostages and allowed the rest to return home (ibid:327).
On the return trip to kunnui, the fellowing morning, the expedition met srnall .resis-
tance from the enemy, and gained confirrned kills by guns, two were confirmed on the

battlefieldand the other six were found in the mountains where they had been buried.
Again, many more kills were presumed, but due to that Ainu custom those were not

confirmed (EH 1969:642). The Matsumae forcereceived no casualties. With those gains
tt
the expedition retutned to kunnui on the evening pf August 5,

THE BATTLES OF BIBOKU AND SHIBUCHARI

The rest of August passed without any encounter between the two forces. During

those days the Matsumae army concentrated themselves in collecting informatibn on

-64-

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669;A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

enemy movements by dispatching friendly Ainu as scouts. As time proceeded, it became

clear that the enemy had withdrawn to Shibuchari,their headquarters, to reinforce their

damaged forces and, perhaps, to redesign their basic strategies. As a consequence, the

Kunnui troops were fercedto carry on an elongated war. Therefore, they asked for

more supplies from their headquarters, which arrived on August 28 by sea. At the same

time, the Matsumae force was compelled to redesign their strategy; the enemy pretered

small-scale and dispersed ambushes to an ordinary encounter of the major forces.Mat-


sumae needed a new strategy to meet this unorthodox way of fighting.
The best strategy to cope with this type of enemy would be that the enemy themselves

are made settle the uprising. In such view of the situation, Matsumae created propaganda

that the Baletof"


decided to kill all theAinu on the island,regardless whether they were

responsible for this uprising or not, and to replace them with Japanse immigrants. For this
purpose, the Bafeofuhad sent Matsumae Yaza'emon to the Ain"-Land and, also, ordered

the neighboring four fiefs to send Iarge-scale armies to this island. In pursuing this

purpose the Bahuht did not care how Iong it would take. This propaganda worked, as

intended,to create a turmoil especially among the friendlyAinu who had been cooperatting

with Matsumae. Yaza'emon directed the Matsumae officers to console the Ainu by telling

them that although the Balezeflei's


intention was exactly as what Yaza'emon had said,

Matsumae well understood what the Ainu were. They know that the Ainu should net

be treated by the same standard as the Japanese,Therefore, if any Ainu man devoted

himself sincerely in ceoperating with Matsumae,they would ask the Bakzofu to save

his life(EH 1969:643).


This propaganda was soon transmitted througheut the island and, from that time on,

no Ainu group could take a neutral position; they had to either strive to cooperate with the

Japanesefor their own livesor fight desparately


against them on the side of Shakushain.
Septemberpassed without any sizable events and early Octoberwent in the same rnanner.

Sometime before the twenty third day of that month, the Kunnui force set out on the final

expedition of that year. This tirne their destinatiOnwas the enemy's headquarters, Shi-
bucharL The expedition forcewas arranged, in the same way as in the previous one,

with three troops: the forerunnners, the middle and the rear, The forerunners were

arranged to move about two days ahead of the rear. The total iorce numbered 628 men,

of whom 29 were samurai. This expedition included two cannon among their firearms

(ibid:647-48).
-65-

NII-Electronic MbraryService
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revoltof 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

On October 23, these three troops arrived at the places called Saru,Azuma and Biboku,
all along the route to Shibuchari. By this time, the Menashikuru Ainu, core of the revolt,

were a・11 back at Shibuchari.


The Hainleuru Ainu along the route showed no resistance

to the expedition, with some minor exceptiens,-At Saru, the most populated Hkeinkuru
village, a chiefly father and four of his sons were arrested and the father was sent to

Fukuyama (ibid:644).
At Azuma, twenty six men were taken as prisoners, of whom three
laterdied from injuriesreceived at the time they were arrested. One of them, the chief

of the area, was crucified on the site for his active role in the uprising (ibid:644),
The furtherrnost site, Biboku,which was in calling distance from Shibuchari, was

entered by 130-odd men Ied by a'n old samurai cal]ed SatO Gonza'emon. There were

some goldLminers' houses at this location,Gonza'emon's approach was somewhat different


from the other commanders. Upon arrival, he called the Ainu of Shibucharito build a
number of huts for his and forthceming Matsumae troops. The Ainu at Shibuchari,
who

had been frightened by the threat of death, instantly came dewn and started working

hard with wood and reeds. the construction was completed in a matter of hours.Then,
'
Gonza'emon sent a herald to Shakushainat his citadel of Shibuchari, giving him a message

that ifShakushainsurrendered peacefully,Gonza'emon would not take hislife.


Shakushain,
upon receiving this rather generous offer, left his citadel to briflg himself to the
Matsumae force at Biboku (ED 1969:397). A Matsumae man called Kan'emon who was

present at this scene as an interpreter related the story, forty one years later,
as follows:

...Shakushain came down to the beach accompanied by sixty to seventy Ainu who

were fully dresseclin their armor holdingbows and arrows in their hands and Ainu
swords around their waists, They all squatted there. In this fashion,he sent a herald
to Gonza'emon to notify him of his arrival. Shakushainwas about eighty years oldi4
and really a big man, of the size of three ordinary men. Gonza'emon, viewing those
Ainu warriors, sent a message back to him, stating,
"when
a man surrenders himself,
he would take off his armor and place all weapons down. It is really insulting that
Shakushaincame down to see me in such full a,rmarnent. We shall killyou all without

leaving a soul alive. Therefore, go back to yonr citadql right away to prepare for
that." No sooner had this message reached Shakushain, he and all his men took off

their armor threw their weapon


and away, and approached our camp.,. (ibid:397).

-66-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669:A study of a war betweenthe Ainu and the Japanese

Gonza'emon, thus, received Shakushainand his men into the goldminer's heuse, Then,

he told Shakushain that the Baleediehad been offended deeply by his act. But he sym-

pathized with him so that he would take an arbitrator's role between the Baleufatand

Shakushain if the latter would pay a reparation of 1,OOO units of treasures. Shakushain

accepted this offer, and sent his men back to his citadel to fetch those treasures, Those

.items of reparation were soon piled up on the beach.

The treasures were counted at 800 units, and the remaining 200 were lacking. But it

was overlooked on the understanding that Shakushain should complete it later. After

this, Gonza'emon chose 24 Ainu men, besidesShakushain himself,and two chiefiy women

to invite to a banquet of reconciliation, which consisted of an abundance of food and

salee. The rest of the Ainu were sent home. Thus, they started having the feast.In the

rneantime, however, Genza'emon dispatched an express courrier to Yaza'emon, the general


commander who was holding behind, suggesting that he rush his army to this site. the

Ainu leaders, who never knew of Gonza'emon's trick, were drinking heavily in the,

gold-miner's house, never suspecting that their final moment was soon coming. Here,
again let the interpreterKan'emon tell the story of the scene:

...Meantime there were three Ainu men, Hajika, Kanteku and Makanosuke,Those men had
a strong grudge against Shakushain, for they came to lose their invaluable treaures

for his sake, materials not to be bargained even for their own lives.they hated te

sit at the side of Shakushain so they were staying in Gonza'emon's hut. On the night

of October 23, at the time when the moon was corning out, Lord Yaza'emon arrived

bringing all the strength of his army, and surrounded the gold-miner's house... At
that moment, those three Ainu men noticed the danger instantly when they heard

the gallop of the horses, and struggled to make their way through the Matsumae
soldiers. Hajika suceeeded in running away through a window. But Makanosuke was

captured. Kanteku was wrestled down and decapitated by InterpreterKan'emon...

Makanosuke was killed on the following day. Shakushain had two yeunger brothers.

The firstene was called Chinteki.The younger one, Shirakeshi,was deranged a

littleand often behaved as one possessed. Shirakeshi noticed the danger soonest of all and

fledaway successfully. When the force surrounded the gold-rniner's house in many folds

and raised a war cry, Chintekirose up and rnoved around cruelly. But he was soon

-67-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and theJapanese

killed,being unable to fight back without any weapons, Shakushain arose, gave a big

glare in all directions,shouting loudly, "Ganza'emon,


you deceived me! What a dirty trick

you pulled..,", and squatted on the ground likea statue. Keeping this posture, Shakushain

was killed without moving his hands... (ibid:397-98).

Thus, Shakushain,the chiei character ef this uprising, diedan unexpected death on the

night of October23. The other 26 Ainu who were present at this scene were also killed
except fDr the two swift ・men mentioned above. Five Matsumae soldiers received sword-

wounds during this struggle, which seem to have been made by their own weapons, After
this massacre was over, Yaza'emon advanced his army further forth to Shibuchari where
the remainder of Shakushain's army was entrenched. They besiegedthe citadel, and the

battlelasted throughout the night until the following day.

In this siege, the Matsumae force captured, to their surprise, four Japanesemen from
among the enemy Ainu. All of those Japanesewere frem Honsha and had been staying

in that area capturing falcons.


One of them, a man called Sh6daytt from Echigo province,

had been married to one of Shakushain'sdaughters. Matsumae saw them as traitors,


and accordingly, killed all of them. Sh6daya was especially regarded as a capital criminal

and burned at the stake at Biboku (ET 1969:645).


The Ainu lost eight more men in this battle,but most of them fled to safety before

the citadel was burned down (ibid:645).


the Matsumae side suffered two wounded by
arrow poison and one killedby an Ainu'sgun (ibid:645),
which is the sole reqorded case to

prove that guns were fired by the Ainu in this uprising.

With-those achievements, the exdedition was convinced that they had crushed the core

of the uprising. In view of the situation, they decided to set out on their return trip

te Fukuyama. The winter was coming, and all the travel routes in the Ainu-Land were

soon to shut out by heavy snow-fall and furious winter waves on the sea They had to
hasten their way home. When they started on this trip,several hundred Ainu gathered
again and began chasing them. But those Ainu were scattered away when the expedition

firedcannon at them (ED 1969:398).Otherwise, they met no resistance from the revolters

and hurried their way home. It was the elventh day of the following month, Intercala-
ted-October, that they arrived at Fukuyama. The campain in the Low-Lands was over

for the year of 1669.

-68-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669:A study of a war betwden the Ainu and the Japanese

The total casualties of both sides throughout this campain were summed up as follows:
the Ainu lost a total 74 men and women killed, wounded
of er captured with by far
'more fatalities(EH 1969:645). The Matsumae side lost 11 wounded
presumed and one

killed (ibid:645).
Those captured Ainu who had been sent to Fukuyama totaled eleven, of

whom seven died from disease and four were later aliowed to return home (ibid:645).
During those battles,
the major strength of Matsumae was concentrated in the Low7
Lands; the UP-Lands were kept at a standstM. The UP-Land expedition, which had been
forceof 'area
sent with a some 500 soldiers (Tf1953:306)
in Julyand was・stationed at the

around Kuma'ishi, returned home, following the return of the Lotv-Land expedition without

havingasingle battle. '

With all the soidiers sent out on those expeditions, Fukuyama was sitripped
of itsdefence

force during that period. This emptiness was filled by the Tsugaru army, which was

stationed there -allthrough this period since their arrival on September 8 through their
departureon November 7, a period approximately three months with extra Intercalated-
October in between.During this period, the Tsugaru force furtherinsistedon going to
Kunnui themselves, which wag sternly rejected by Matsumae. As a compromise to this

issue, a hundred soldiers from the Tsugaru army headed by the general commander,

Sugiyama Yahei, were permitted to advance to Ono, a place on a halfway to Kunnui,


and stayed there until the Matsumae forcereturned home (ibid:284;
EH 1969:646).
During their stay on this island, the Tsugaru army reported to their home government

on the situation as it progressed, everyday for the firstfive days and every three days

or less thereafter (Tlr1953:278). The inforrhationthus brought to Tsttgartl


was further
transmitted to the Baleufleby the Tsugaru messengers. In this way, every movement of

this campain was carefully watched by,both Tsugaru and the Baletofu.
'

'
SETTLEMENT OF THE WAR
'

After Matsumae succeeded in crushing Shakushain and his sympathizers at Shibuchari


in the Fall of 1669, they decided to settle the rest of the uprising in terms of reparations

without using physical foree.They made this known to the l:lb-and Low-Land Ainu.
Back on the main island,on the other hand, Tsugaru was still anxious to know the
development of the war after they had leftHokkaid6,From thispoint,on the days of May
-69-

NII-Electronic MbraryService
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt ot 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japapese

25 and 27 of 1670, they launched two reconnaissance ships to that island:one destined
to the Ul)--Lands and the other to the Low-Lands- Those missions were sent illegally so

they sailed out secretly under the pretense of going to Tsuruga, the northern port to
the Capital of Ky6to. Fortunately for our purpose, however, the information which was

brought back by those Tsugaru missions gives a vivid view of the state of affairs at

that time in,those districts,


It tellsthe following:
In Ub-Lands, they saw both pre-war and peace factionsamong the Ainu groups. The

strongest of the pro-war factionswas the Ainu of Ishikari.They were preparing themselves
for an encounter with the forthcoming Matsumae army by gathering in a camp of about

300 huts which were constructed at the mouth of IshikariRiver.They were believed to
have 40 to 50 guns (7111953.:379).The standpoint of those pro-war Ainu was that: Ma-

tsumae's peace offer was a trick,as was in the case of Shakshain;theirtrue intention
was
tt
to annihilate the Ainu; therefore, ifthe Ainu had to die anyway, they wanted to fightto death

(ibid:373-74).
The peace faction,which was represented by the Yoichi Ainu, saw their

positionas follows:If the Matsumae army came alone, they would not fearit;but Matsumae
was backed up by thousands of Japanesesoldiers from the main island,
against which there

was no chance for them to win; therefore,they should not take armed resistance (ibid:375).
In other words, those two factionswere close on the points that: both saw the fighting
against the Japaneseas desparate; both wanted to accept the Matsmae's peace offer if
it was genuine; and both had a deep distrust in that offer. AIso, both Ainu groups were

suffering from a shortage of food caused by the stoppage of the Japanesemerchant boats

<ibid
: 374). However, the pro-war clans viewed the situatlon slightly more desparately and

were inclinedto the alternative of fight-to-the-death.


The peace factiontried slightly

more eagerly to findhope in that peace offer. In short, all clans, regardless of the pro-war
or pro-peace orientation of their chiefs, had to prepare themselves for both possibilities,

fight-to-the-death
or peace by reparation. Thus, the Ainu groups of this districtwere all in

a. severely tensed and touch-and-go situation. Even the Yoichi clansmen, of the peace faction,

started to show a threatening mQvernent to take the Tsugaru ship while it was harboring

in their bay. So, the Tsugaru mission had to set sail in ernergency to get away(ibid: 385).

With this experience information they had gathered, this UP-Land


and other mission felt
that it was too dangerous to go up into Ishikari area -where the Ainu were said to be

the most bellicose.They decided to return to their horne country.

On the way home, however, this UP-Land mission was met by the Matsumae troops twice.
-70-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and thg Japanese

In both cases they insistedon the prearranged excuse that they had driftedthere on their

way to Tsuruga. Especially,in the second encounter, they did all but using their weapons

when the Matsumae side insisted on overhauling their ship while they claimed the

extraterritorial privilege of a fief-owned vessel. But in both cases they managed to get

through those parleies (ibid:386-89).


In the Lotv-Lands, the atmosphere was by far more bellicose,
when the Tsugaru mission

entered a bay called Mitsu'ishi,they were sieged by Ainu boats containing 266 or so men,

fully arrned with spears, bows and guns. Those Ainu men claimed that Tsugaru had sent

an army to that island in the previous year so that they were also one of their enemies.

Then, the Ainu started to capture the ship, At that moment, the Tsugaru soldiers were

forced to use their guns in their effort to escape. In this confrontation they lost two

their own Ainu men who were brought on this mission as couriers and interpreters.The
'

Ainu's side lost six kil]ed by guns and five wounded by spears and swords. With this

single incident,the reconnaissance of the Low-Lands judged that the Low-Land Ainu

were still too hostiletoward the Japaneseto continue their mission, and set out on their

retern trip (ibid:389-91).


Those Tsugaru reports from [IP- and Lew-Land Hokkaid6 reveal that the war was

still in its height, at least from the Ainu's point ef view. The propaganda to annihilate

the Ainu was still a]ive, and the Ainu remernebered too wel the way Shakushaincame to

die in the previous year. Furthermore, the .4tTenashileztru Ainu of late Shakushainand their

sympathizers, in the Low-Lands, held a strong grudge against the Japaneseso that they

could not stop the war before they avenged some, if not all, of this resentment against

their enemy. Against such an atmosphere, it was not an easy thing for Matsumae to send

their armies to collect the reparations, a symbol of the surrender. They had to wait until

this war-heat ceoled down, and the time when the rebels would surrender from their

own side,
'
Thus, it took three years before all the rebel clans surrendered themselves to Matsumae

and this uprising was finally settled. In 1670, Matsumae subdued the UP-Land Ainu,
sending a troop of about 500 soldiers to Yoichi in June (EH 1969:648-49). In March

of 1671, they sent some 170 men to Shira'oi,


a HZrinfettru
region of the Loev-Lands,and
suppressed the Ainu of the area In August
(ibid:645-649). of the same year, 479 Ainu
rnen from Kusuri, Atsukeshi and Nosappu,all in an easternmost region of the Low-Lands,

brought themselves in 70 Ainu boats to Shira'oi,


and accordingly, Matsumae sent some 300
-71-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669tA study of a war between the Ainu ancl the Japanese

sold.iers there'to accept theirsurrender (ibid:


645). In 1672, in July,Matsumae sent about

300 soldiers to Kunnui to receive the chiefs of the remain'ing five clans in the Low-Lands

(ibid:645,
646). By this surrender, all the Ainu groups which had joinedthe uprising

had subjugated themselves to Matsumae, and thus, the whole uprising was settled. The
total number of Ainu who joinedthe uprising was estimated to be approximately 3,OOO
peoplei5 from 19 clans (T[ 1953 : 323). The terms of peace which those Ainu chiefs signed

at their surrender was as follows:

PLEDGE
1. whatever the Lord may order us, we, men and women and all the descendants of

our clan, not to mention myself, will never bear a traitorousmind against him.
2. If I hear any plot of treason,I will give advice to the plotternot to at.tempt such an
'
act. If the plotter does not accept my advice, I will notify the Government without

delay.(Ifa fight between our own people occurs, I will make all effort to reconcile

the disputing parties.)

3. When a Matsumae officer passes through our area on official matter, we will

sincerely help him with his trip. We will also cordially accomodate those Japnese
men who come to our area on private business,
4. We will never neglect to accomodate falcon--huntersand gold-miners.

5. In obedience to the codes to be issuedby the Lord from now on, we will never

behave in a selfish manner in trade, but we will keep a good trading relationship

with the merchants. we wi'{1 neither buy geods from other provinces, nor sell our

products in other provinces.


6. From now on, we will'trade at the rate of 5 hides or 5 taba [bundle) oi dried
fish for a bcrgof rice. Also,with tobacco, metal materials and other items, we will

deal at rate higher than beforein accord with the case of rice. In the years of
/
abundance, we will discount the prices of hides and fish.
7. We will work hard day and night in such official services as: helping jo-shi
[letter-
courier), falcontransportation, tenma (post-horses)
andyado-ok"ri [message-send-
ing by relay). we will pay dogs (tobe used for feeding falcon).
We, men and women and ail the descedants of our clan, not to mentien myself, hereby

pleadge not to violate any one of the above-mentioned articles. If any vielation occurs,

the punishment of God will fall upon us and all our descendants will become extinct.

-72-

NII-Electronic Mbrary
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Revoltof 1669:A
S・hakushain's. study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

. (EH 1969:646-47)

It was an unconditional surrender. By establishing these terms of the peace treaty, the

Ainu recognized their positien as subjects to Matsumae.

'

'

AFTERMATH OF THE WAR AND CONCLUSION


'

Thus :
Shakushain's Revolt of 1669 ended with comlete defeat of the Ainu. Apart from

the moral point of view, the war strategy that Matsumae showed in the course of this

war was a superb one. Losing literallya single man, Matsumae brought about the complete

subjugation of many thousands of rebel Ainu. The Ainu suffered 46 confirmed killed

by the Matsumae soldiers and another 6 dead by the Tsugaru mission, Many more dead

were presumed on the Ainu's side, But the total of actual Ainu dead did not, probably,

exceed the order of a few hundred. That is alse a rather small number for the casualties

of a war of this length and size, Keeping the total casualties at such a low level,Mat-

surnae won a complete victory. Why did this happen?

For one thing, a Iarge part ot this war was carried on at a psychological levelrather
than by physical encounters. From the start of this war, such psychological elements

as rumor and propaganda took a considerable part of the war. It appears that the Ainu

was not prepared enough to cope with this intriguing,


aspect of warfare: they Iacked the

skill to control and manipulate information,

Secondly, from a technical point of view, the guns and armor of the Matsumae side

seem to have contributed te this result to a large extent. Although the Ainu also had

some guns, they, it seems, lacked the skill of how to use them. With bows and arrows,

the Ainu were not poor soldiers. Their arrow hit the targets. But the Japanese armor

and cotton-packed clothing prevented them from reaching the bodies underneath.

Otherwise,the Ainu were superb soldiers trained in archery and club-fightingi6 from

childhood.

Thirdly,as Vne ynost important cause of their defeat, tlivnAinu's socia] orgahnizd"tion

was not prepared to carry on a war with such an enemy as Matsumae. The Ainu lacked

centralized political organization. Aft'erthat unsuccessful campain at Kunnui, the Hdink"ne

Ainu seem to have turned their backs against Shakushain. While the campain was being

carried on in the Low-Lands, the UP-Land Ainu did not help their al]y in the Low-Lands
=73-

'
NII-Electronic MbraryService
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 166g:A study of a w.ar between the Ainu and the Japanese
by making a diversion.
Throughoutthe course of this war each powerful chief acted at his
own will and his own expense. In the Lotv-Lands, the Ainu gathered 300 to 350 men

and women at the campains of Kunnui and Shizukari. In the UP-Lands, the Ishikari
Ainu gathered in about 300 huts, which might have accomodated a litt!e
over six hundred
men and women if a hut was occupied by a couple. With these nurnbers of people as

the maximum size of theif groups, the Ainu remained in scattered bands. The peace
treaty was also signed by those individual chiefs of the bands, not the supreme chief

of the total rebel Ainu groups. The Ainu, after all, failed to organize themselves
into a Pan-tribag
consolidation at the time when their existence was threatened by
a common enemy.

With all these shortcomings, the Ainu fought thiswar in theirown way by themselves.

The Matsumae report mentions the four Japanesefalcon-hunters who were with the rebel
Ainu and executed as traitorsat their hands. But theirrole as military advisers to the Ainu

force Waslimited.They may well have been the victims of the uprising who were forced
to stay with Shakushain to buy their own lives from massacre. In any event, their

presence,in the Ainu camp did not, in reality, make any significant difference in the
conduct and result of the war.

With regard to the Japaneseside, there were three parties involvedin this war: Mat-
sumae, Tsugaru, and the Bakedit, The relationship between Tsugaru and Matsumae
'
during this war appears to be the most puzzling. Tsugaru went to Matsumae as ah
allied power, at the request of the latter.However, Tsugaru was regarded, and acted,

short of an invader. The extent of concern Tsugaru showed in this war oviously

exceeded the limitas a neighboring fief which sent a relief unit: did they want to take

some extra territoryin Hokkaido? Or, did they want te testtheir mil'itary str.ength with

the Ainu? Their true intentionsremain unknown.


'
For the Matsumae's part, it is understandable that they tried by' all means to keep
the Tsugaru army away from the real battlefieldof the uprising. I'f Tsugaru saw the
real scene oC Matsumae's domestic problem and reported on itunfavorably to the Baktofu

through their own interpretation,it might well'have caused a fatalblow to the Matsumae
clan as a whole. Through this relationship between Tsugaru and Matsumae, it appears
.

clear that the fiefsin the Japanesepolitical structure of those days regarded each other

as though a foreign political community, competing with each other at each other's

expense. Such a relationship was, in essence, no different from that between modern,

-74-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevoltof 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

independent states today.


The Bakzofu stood, all through the time of this war, favorably toward Matsumae. When

Matsumae petitioned for a relief arrny, it instantly ordered the neighboring feur fiefs

to help.When Matsumae was running short of funds during the war, it granted a loan
ll
of 1,200 leokuef rice (Tl1953 : 332, 349). Furthermore,after the war was ever, the Baktofu

did not prosecute Matsumae for its reponsibility i'nthis uprising, as it often did in such

a case.i7 Such an attitude ef the Balenjlef


suggests that Matsumae was not fully regarded

as a fief with normal privileges and duties.Itappears, on the contrary, that it was treated

as sornewhat intermediate between a fief and an outer protectorate.iS


The Bahwfu awarded Matsumae Yaza'emon, a Bakofu officer, with an increaseof 500

koku to his annual stipend for his effort in settling the uprising (EH 1969:646). The
Baktoflfalso granted Tsugaru 137.s koku of rice for the latter'sexpense of food in

sending the relief army, a gesture in which the Baleut{reaffirmed the point that the
Tsugaru relief force was sent by its order (TI 1953:289).
Shakushain'sRevelt of 1669, thus, reveals the nature of the politicalrelationships

existing in that part of the world in these days between many politicalunits, involving,
and overlapping, the two cu}tural units, the Japanese and the Ainu.

FOOT--NOTES

1. Masaneri Yamazaki, Waseda University,Tokyo, collected historical documents from many

locationsin Japanupon
clispersed my request, Raoul Naroll, Enid Margelis, Gerald Pacilloand
Rose Hayes, all from State University of New Yerk at Buffalo, read through the draftof this

paper and gave me valuable suggestions. Gordon Schmal of the same university drew the

rnap of Hokkaido. However, any shortcomings and errors in this paper belong to me alone.

2. For the debate cDncerning the origin of the Ainu, see Harumi Befu:1971.

3 The leoku is the largest unit for the measurement of bulk, A kok" is 10 to. A to is 10 shO. A

shb is ten go'.A koha approximates 5,12 U. S. bushels.

4 For the Ainu policy which Matsumae took during this period, see John A. Harrison (trans.)
: 1960.

s See Foot-Note 3.

6. The Japanesee
calender in those days was based upon the system called SenLMlei--Reki,
Under

-75-

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevoltof 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese
this system, a year was divided into twelve to thirteen months, and the months were of two

days,Fnd of
,kipds:thpse.of thi.rty/ twenty ,ninedays. January the first Qf Kdn"ton nineth
year
tQ. February the firFt of A, D. 1669 on the GregorianCalender.This
.corrgpopd,e.q particular
year hidl extra month of Intercalated-Pctober between regular October and .November.January
.an
. the firstDf the following year, Kbnmon tenth, was February the twentieth of 1670 on the

. GregorianCalender (Rekish.igaku Kenkyu Kai 1966:314. 332).Dates and months given threughout
tttt
this study are based upon the Sen-Mei-Refei system.

7. Hokkaido produced good falcons for''falcon-hunting.


The profit of selling those faicons to the
rnain island Japafi'ese
was regarded as one of the three major income sources of the Matsumae
Fief (Tl1953:351), The word,
-falconhunters", in this paper
used inclicatesthe hunters who

captured falcons, noti' the folboners.


s'. 71sabkdrufitb Shi that the fatalitiesin the Letv-Lands
claims were 220 men (TI 19s3:30s).
9'. -According to IZsuguru'fitj Shi,the fa'talities
in the tlp-Landstotaled 143 nien (Ti 1953/305).
'the
Ie. The'number of the total soldier'siand the constituent samurai were obtained based upon

tables of the troops sent on the Shizukari and Shibuchari expeditions (EH 1969i647-48).

.11.,.TheAinu bow was about 5 feet long, made of the heart of atree called wonleo. The bowstring
' was mad.e by twisting the central part of wisteria vines. It was a strong bow. The arrow was

about 3 feetlong. Its stem was made of banboo, The arrowhead was made of wood or stone.

With those bow and arrows, the Ainu usually approached with his back toward the target,
and justbeforehe shot the arrow, he would turn his head back toward the target (Sakakura
1969:411).

12. The Ainu arrow poison consisted, for its major part, of extract from the roots of Dne or more

species of Aconitum,,.such
as A. .ferox
and A, imponicum,
For further informatien, see Stuart
Eldridge:1888・
13. The the
CChousemen'.'
were members ef an extended family whG may er may not be related to the
head of the household. When a samurai, head of a household, went to war he normally tQok

some.of his household members, such as sons, brothers or servants and the like,as his attendants.
This household .groupworked as an indivisibleunit of a treop in those days. ・

14. 7}sngaru ntb Shi maintains the age of Shakushain as sixty four in the year of 1669 (1111953:310).
These figures for.the age $eem to have been estimates. Mogami (1969:445)
and KUshihara
(1969:488)
reported that the Ainu had no calender and did not know the years of their birth.
15. It is not clear, in the document, whether.this figure of 3,OOO individuals covered the total

population of the rebeI clans, includingthe infants,women and the aged, or only the adult,

fightable persons. Ezo Hbki states that in August of 1671 as many as 479 Ainu, only fjghtable
ipdividuals
in-this case, from one region of the Low-Lancls brought themselves to Shira'oi to
-76.

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Reveltof 1669:A study' of a war betweenthe Ainu and the Japanese

surrender. On the basisof this ground and the figuresgathered at other localities,
the present

author feelsthat this number of 3,ooo is reasonable only as the total number of the Ainu
soldiers from the rebel clans.

16. The the Ainu. Each Ainu


"club-fighting",
or ukarza, was a peculiar custom of mnn prepared

a wooden club, which was called sutto, about two feet long with the beating end speciFlly

engraved er revetted so that it could give the most damage te the oppenent, The art of how

to beat and how to endure the beating of this club-match was considered・ so vital for all Ainu

men to survive in their society that they practiced it from childheod, Occationallythey played
this art as a sport, too (Mogami 1969b :529),

17. The Bakofu exercised despotic power over the daimpb, feudal lords, especially in the 17th cen-

tury. A farmers' riot in a doimyO's demain was often regarded as an evidence oi his misrule

and his fiefwas confiscated. A fameus uprising of this kind took place in years of 1637 and

1638 in the province of Shimabara in Kyushu. Accused of being responsible for this uprising,

Matsukura Katsu'ie,
the lord of that fief,was sentenced death and hi's fief was confiscated

(Sukeno1967:459)・
18, In the early years of the Tokugawa period (16o3-ls67)
Lord Matsumae was, in fact, treated

the (Eeo-Ga-Shima)
in the ShOgun's palace (Hokkaido-Cho
"Ainu-Island"
as the chief of

1970:2-122)'

- 77

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefectural College
Kanagawa Prefectural College of Foreign
of Foreign Studies
Studies

'

Shakushain'sRevolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

APPENDIX I:TABLE OF ORGANIZATION OF THE TSUGARU RELIEF ARMY

Componeht Samurai ' Non-Samurai .

1,. Headquafters ! commander-in-chief.,....20 attendants

100 spear-men

1 scout.,,..,.."...,.H...".,",,.7 housemen

2. Banner 12leader.,...,.,,.,,.,....,,..,,.,.9
housemen
foremen 8 banner-holders '

2 gurdians
3. Bow-and-Gun I. 1 leader....,...,'..,.......,..,,.;,14
housemen

255125
ashignrui (shooters)
ashigaru (gurdians)
4. Bew-and-Gun II. leader-..,...........".H..,...16
housemen
ashig' aru (shooters) ,

' 51 ashigaru (gurdians) ・


5. Long-Lance I. leader.,..,.,"".,...,,..,."",
5 housemen
' '
1 foreman 14 lance-men

3 gurdians

6i Long-Lance II. 1 leader",",,,....,..,.,v,.,.,"


6 housemen

1 foreman 14 lance-men
3 gurdians

7. Heavy Cavalry2 I. 11leader.H.,.",."....,..H..,.,.12


housernen
leutenant.......,,,...,...,...,..6
housemen

1 overseer...........,....,...,.,.4
houseMen

181horsemen..,.,................
74 housemen
8. Heavy Cavalry II. leader.,."hH.,.H-""h,..H12 housemen

1810horsemen ...,.,..,...,.,,...,.
74 housemen
9. Light Cavalry horsemen .,.,.,.....,.........,
32 housemen

10. Ash[gar" leader 1 leader,....,.-".",.....,,-,..


2 housemen

11. Non-Samurai leader 11 leaderH..".".".,..,..H.,.."


2 housemen
12. Medicihe surgeon,...,,,...".".,.."...".5 housemen

1 horse-veterinarian,.....,....,2
housemen
-78-

NII-ElectronicMbrary
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669:A study of ,awar between the Ainu and・ the Japanese

(Tableof continued)

ComponentOrganization, Samurai Non-Samurai


13. Provision housemen
6 provision-officers.,.....,....12

14. Transport 48 coolies


3
15. (?) 10 men 79 coolies

16. Gun-Maintenance 2 gunsmiths

17. Fleet 4 leaders 8 attendants


. ]
Sub-Total: 145 samurat 585 non-samurai

Grand Total: 730 men.4

l
(n 1953 : 279-84)

FOOT-NOTES TO APPENDIX I

An (literally hereditary the lowest He


"light-legs")

1. ashtgaru meaning was a soldier of rank.

was neither regarded fully as a samurai nor a commener. But we include ashiguru in the -samurai
class here.
2. TsttgcuulttbShi says, 'tSince
both Matsumae-Land and Ainu-Land are available for landing
from the sea, we omit horses in accord with the tradition of a naval campaign" (TI lgs3:2s4),
The horses actually taken with them were only seven in number. Therefore, it appears that
'
those horsemen listed in Components 7, 8 and 9 were actually afeot.

3. The Chinese characters repre$enting the word ior this positionread Flecmeaning
Flet-1?trn-Shi,
man or husband, Rtznmeaning storm, and Shimeanlng peopre or child. The present author cannot

find the meaning of this word, Those Chinese characters may or may not be a misspellings

in the manuscript.

4. This figure of 730 men indicatesthe soldiers and coolies stationed at Fukuyama. Besides
this nurnber, there were about 200 more men listed in this army whose assignment was

traveling between the camp and heme as sailors or messengers.

- 79

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefecturalCollegeof
Kanagawa Prefectural College of ForeignStudies
Foreign Studies

Shakushain'sReyoit of 1669:A stucly of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

APPENDIX II:MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES OF THE TSUGARU RELIEF ARMY

The munitions and suplies which the Tsugaru relief army actually broughtwith them

to Hokkaid6 were not recorded in the Tsugaru document. However, they left a detailed

plan of them made when they were firstpreparing the relief arrny in July, 1669. The

tetal number Df this planned army was 442 soldiers and 1,140 coolies, making atotal

ef 1,582 men. The major difference between the actual army and the planned is

in the number of coolies: 1,140 men in the planned and only 127 in the actual one.

This difference is probably due to the fact that the army actually sent was designed

to be statiened at Fukuyama as a reserve unit, resulting that it did not need heavy

man-power to move ammunition and provisions.The number of soldiers was larger in

the actual army (about600 men) than in the planned (442men). Apart from the difference

stemming from those numbers changed, the content of the munitions and supplies in

the actual army must have been the sarne in principle.The following is the munitiDns

'soldiers
and supplies planned for a 30-day campaign of 442 and 1,140 coolies,

TABLE OF MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES (PLANNED IN JULY)

I. Ammunition.
'
Guns ・ Bullets - ・-- Gunpowder-- -- T

(1) 4-menmei gun, 22,500 pieces or 78,750 45,OOO monme (2 monme


50 pieces monme (15shotsaday per shot)

and 4 monme per bullet) '


(2) 6-monmegun, 3,OOO pieces or 16,800 9,OOO monme (3 monnte

10 pieces monme (10shotsaday per shet)

and 6 monme per bullet)

e) 10-monme gun, ooO pieces or 9,OOO 4,500 monme (5 monme


10 pieces monme (3 shotsaday per shot)

and 10 monme per bullet)

Total: 70 guns, 104,550 monme bullets, 58,500monmegunpowder.

-80-

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669:A study of a' war between the Ainu and the Japanese e/

(Tableof Munitions and Supplies,continued)


Coolies To Carry The Above Ammunition

(1)<2)
70 men for guns (onefer each)
26 men for bullets(4,
OOO monme for each)

mp 12 men for gunpewder (5,OOOmonme each)

Total: 108 coolies.

II.Equipment

EquipmentCarried By IndividualsZ Numder ef Units


.7e
(1)(2)
armor for ashigiru unlts

helments for ashigaru 60 units


J60
ce) uniferm coats for ashignru units

co long-lances 30 pieces
banners
(5)(et 5 units

'20
armor for banner-holders units

(" uniform coats 32 units

(e> white-and-red cloth for


1
spear-marks 1 T units

(9) white cloth for sleeve-marks 1 ! units


4(unspecified)
an trumpet-shells

an 3-fo.o.t.
.tgwels .. 30 unjts

EquipmentCarried By Cooli'es Nurpber of units Number of Coolies

(1)(2)
hoesickle 20 pieCes 3 men

30 pieces 1 men

e) hand axe 50 pieces 2 men

@(5)
large axe 10 pieces 2 men

waxed paper 130 units 3 men

(6) light rope 200 units 2 men

(7)straw-rope 1,OOO units 30 men

-81-

NII-Electronic Mbrary
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCoLlegeof
Kanagawa Prefectural College of ForeignStudies
Foreign Studies

stakushain's
Revolt ef 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

(Tableof Munitionsand Supplies,continued)


.
(at straw-shoes 500 units 5200
men

(ststraw 100 units men

"o) lunch boxes 200 pieces 5 rnen

an under-clothes for

442 soldiers 74,600 monme 16 men

Total: 269coolies

III. Provisions

Provisions for 442 soldiers

Items Amount Carriers


(1) rice 132. 600 koku (a shb per-day-per-man) 663 menmen
(2) miso3 3,315 hofeu(a shj per-day-per-80-men) 33
e) salt 3,315 leoleu(a shfi per-day-per-80-men) 16 men

(O rice-pans 8 sets (a set consisting of a six-shO-

ceoking, a five-shO-cooking and a four-


shO-cooking rice pan) 8 men

{5) soup-pan 4 sets (ibid.) 4 men

Total :4 724coolies

Provisions for 1, 140 coolies

Items Amount Carriers5


(1) rice 324, OO koku (a shO per-day-per-man)

(2) miso 8. 55 koku (a shO per-day per-80-men)


Ce) salt 8 55 koku (a sho' per-day-per-80-men)
'
el) rice-pan 19 sets (a set consisting of a six-

sho'-cooking, a five-shO-cooking
and a

four-sho'-cookingrice pan)

(5)soup-pan 11 sets (ibid.)

-82-

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revelt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japafiese

(Table
of Munitions and Supplies,continued)
IV. Horses and Fodder

Horses and Fodder Number and Amount Carriers


ll) horse
d

5 head 15 men

(aj soybean 3 koleu (2 shb per-day-per-horse) 15 men24

B) rice-bran 12 leohu(8 shj per-day-per-horse) men

Total:Grand 39 coolies

Total: 442 soldiers; 1,140 coolies; 5 horses.

FOOT-NOTES TO APPENDIX II

L The t'monme"
is a unit of the weight measurement, A monme approximates O.132 ounces. A
thousand monme constitute a
!tkan''.

2, This table indicates that the armer for the ashigaru and those non-sainurai who did not beleng
to any samurai family was provided by the clan; samurai and their family members prepared
their armor them$elves.
3. The is one of the basic ingredients for Japanese meal, It is the
"miso"
u paste made of ferm-
ented soybean and salt. Miso {s most commonly used to make seup.

4. The nutritional composition oi this foocl is the following: A shO of uncooked rice, the daily
ration for a person, weighs about 1.5 kilogrammes, which may produce 5,250 Calories under
normal human conclitions. The daily intake of one sOth shb of miso is almost ignorable in terms
of ealories. Therefore, the total calorie intake of a in the battlefield
soldier amounted slightly

over 5,250 Caloriesa clay.A unit of polished Japanese rice (Otrvza sativa L. jaPonica)cotains

76.6 per cent of starch, 6.2 per cent of protein, O.8 per cent of fat, 15.5 per sent of water, and

other ingredients, It appears that this ration ef food lacked a minimum amount of many vital

minerals and vitamines, although it was excellent in terms of calorie intake, It may have been
the case that the army supplied this basic food and each soldier carried, on his own, supplem-

entary food such as dried vegitables and dried fish. The same thing can be said for the coolies'

provisions which were the same as the soldiers',

5. The carriers of the provisions for the coolies themselves are not listedin this table. The total
number of coolies is given as 1,140 men and the total of the listed coolies coincides with

this figure. Therefore, provisions for the coelies must also have been carried by those same

1,140 men, If that was the case, the total load for a coolie amounts about 80 kilogrammes
or pounds, This seeTT,iis to be beyond
1nytO--odd nornial hu'rr,iian
strength. He'v'y'ever,provisions for
30 days do not have to be carried all at once, For this reason, or others, it may have been
possible to get just enough manpower without taking into separate account previsions for
the coolies themselves.

- 83

NII-Electronic Library Service


KanagawaPrefectural College
Kanagawa Prefectural College of Foreign
of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain's Revolt of 1669:A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

REFERENCESCITED(Japanese
literaturewith translation and annotation)

Befu,Haruini
1971 laPan:An Anthropolqgical introduction;
San Fransisco,
ChandlerPublishingCom-
'
pany.
Eldridge, Stuart

lsss The Arrow Poison in Use Among The Ainos Yezo," The AsiaticSoci-
`'On

of

ety oflaPan,
Transactions,
Vol. 4, pp, 78-86. (Reprinted
by Hakubunsha, Tokyo.

Originally.1867.)
Eze Danpitsuki ("Recordef The Hearing on The Ainu")
1969 in Nihon Shomin Ser'leatsu
Shiryj Skdisei,
Vol. 4. Tokyo, San'ichi Shobo. For
annotation, see the Introdugtion,

Ezo H6ki ("AinuUprising")


1966 in IVihon Shomin SeikatsuShiry6 Shasei,Vol. 4, pp. 639-50,Tokyo, San'ichi
Shob6. For annotation. see the Instroduction.

Harrison, John A. (Translation)


1960 "The
Ainu oi Northern Japan:A study in Conqest and in l>rans-
Accrilturation,"

actions of 71heAmerican Philosophical


Sbciely,
Vol. 50, Part 4. (Thisis a trans-
lation from a part of a beok: Takakura, Shin'ichirO:
Ainu Seisaku Shi (t{A
History of Ainu Policy").Tokyo, Nihen Hy6ron Sha. 1947.)
Hokkaid6-Ch6 (Hokkaid6-Governrnent),
ed.

・ 1970 Shin-Sen HbkleaidO Shi ("History


of Hokkaid6,A New Edition") Sapporo.
Mogami, Tokunai

1969a Ezo No Kuni Fazoku Ninj6 No Sata ({'Custorns


and Humanity in The Ainu

Country"),in IVihon Shomin SeikatsuShi7yOShdisei,


Vol. 4, pp. 439-84. Tokyo,
San'ichi
ShobO. Mogami Tokunai was a scholar of astronomy, mathematics and

geography. He accempanied the Bakwfu inspectors


who traveled to the Low-Lands
of HokkaidO in 1789. From that time, he stayed in the Ainu-Land for twelve
years, Original pudlication, 1790.
1969b Watari-Shirna Hikki (itAnEssay From Hokkaid6"),in Nihen Shomin Seikatsu
ShiryOShdisei,Vol. 4, pp. 521-43.Tokyo, San:ichiShob6. 0riginal publication, 18e8.
-84- ・

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service
KanagawaPrefecturalCollege
Kanagawa Prefectural of Foreign
College of Foreign Studies
Studies

Shakushain'sRevolt of 1669 :A study of a war between the Ainu and the Japanese

Rekishi-Gaku Kenkytt-Kai (StudyGroup ef History), ed.

1966 IVihon Shi IVen for Japanese History"). Tokyo,


Ryo (C'Tables Iwanami Shoten.

Sakakura,Genjir6
l969 Hokkai Zuihitsu("AnEssay From The NorthernSea"),in AlihonShomin Seileatsu
,'
Shit:yOShtisei,Vel. 4, pp. 4el-14. Tokyo, San'ichiShob6.The author was' ag
agent of the Gold Departrnentof the Baletofes.
He traveled to Hokkaid6 with the

purpose of surveying the gold-deposits. This book came out of that trip.Original

publication. 1739.
'
Sansom, George /

1966 A Histoiy oflaPan:1615-1867. Stanford,Stanford University Press.


Sukeno,Kentar6
1967 Shimabara AIb Ran ("TheShimabara Uprising").Tokyo, Azuma Shuppan.
Shi ("TheHistory
Tsugtxru,ltt6 of The Tsugaru Clan")
1953 pudlished by Aomori KenritsuToshokan C'AomoriPrefecturalLibrary"), Aomeri.
For annotatien, .see the Introduction.
Watanabe, Hitoshi

1973 The Ainu Ecosystem:Environment and Seattleand


GteuP Struct"re. Lendon,
University of Washington Press.

- gs -

NII-Electronic
NII-Electronic Library Service

You might also like