 Hokkaidō
(北海道, literally "North Sea Circuit", Ainu: Ainu Mosir) or
Hokkaido, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso
- Japan's second largest island and the largest,
northernmost of its 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The
Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshū, although the
two islands are connected by the underwater Seikan Tunnel.
The largest city on Hokkaidō is its capital, Sapporo, which
is also its only ordinance-designated city.
The island of Hokkaidō is located at the north end of Japan,
near Russia, and has coastlines on the Sea of Japan, the Sea
of Okhotsk, and the Pacific Ocean. The center of the island
has a number of mountains and volcanic plateaus, and there
are coastal plains in all directions. Major cities include
Sapporo and Asahikawa in the central region and the port of
Hakodate facing Honshū.
The governmental jurisdiction of Hokkaidō incorporates
several smaller islands, including Rishiri, Okushiri Island,
and Rebun. (By Japanese reckoning, Hokkaidō also
incorporates several of the Kuril Islands.) Because the
prefectural status of Hokkaidō is denoted by the dō in its
name, it is rarely referred to as "Hokkaidō Prefecture",
except when necessary to distinguish the governmental entity
from the island.
The island ranks 21st in the world by area. It is 3.6%
smaller than the island of Ireland while Hispaniola is 6.1%
smaller than Hokkaidō. By population it ranks 20th, between
Ireland and Sicily. Hokkaidō's population is 4.7% less than
that of the island of Ireland, and Sicily's is 12% lower
than Hokkaidō's.
The Nihonshoki is often said to be the first mention of
Hokkaidō in recorded history. According to the text, Abe no
Hirafu led a large navy and army to northern areas from 658
to 660 and came into contact with the Mishihase and Emishi.
One of the places Hirafu went to was called Watarishima,
which is often believed to be present-day Hokkaidō. However,
many theories exist in relation to the details of this
event, including the location of Watarishima and the common
belief that the Emishi in Watarishima were the ancestors of
the present-day Ainu.
During the Nara and Heian periods, people in Hokkaidō
conducted trade with Dewa Province, an outpost of the
Japanese central government. From the medieval ages, the
people in Hokkaidō began to be called Ezo. Around the same
time Hokkaidō came to be called Ezochi or Ezogashima. The
Ezo mainly relied upon hunting and fishing and obtained rice
and iron through trade with the Japanese.
During the Muromachi period, the Japanese created a
settlement at the south of the Oshima peninsula. As more
people moved to the settlement to avoid battles, disputes
arose between the Japanese and the Ainu. The disputes
eventually developed into a battle. Takeda Nobuhiro killed
the Ainu leader and established a Japanese victory.
Nobuhiro's descendants became the rulers of the Matsumae-han,
which ruled the south of Ezochi until the end of the Edo
period.
The Matsumae-han's economy relied upon trade with the Ainu.
The Matsumae family was granted exclusive trading rights
with the Ainu in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods.
Matsumae gradually changed trade conditions so they came to
favor Japanese merchants. As a result, some Ainu rebelled
against the Matsumae-han, but the rebellions were defeated.
During the Meiji Restoration, the Tokugawa Shogunate
realized there was a need to prepare northern defenses
against Russian aggressions and took over most control of
Ezochi. The Shogunate made the Ainu burden slightly easier,
but did not change the overall form of rule.
Hokkaidō was known as Ezochi until the Meiji Restoration.
Shortly after the Boshin War in 1868, a group of Tokugawa
loyalists led by Enomoto Takeaki proclaimed the island's
independence as the Republic of Ezo, but the rebellion was
crushed in May 1869. Ezochi was subsequently put under
control of Hakodate-fu (箱館府, Hakodate Prefectural
Government). When establishing the Development Commission
(開拓使), the Meiji Government decided to change the name of
Ezochi. Matsuura Takeshirō submitted 6 ideas, including
names such as Kaihokudo (海北道) and Hokkaidō (北加伊道) to the
government. The government eventually decided to use the
name Hokkaidō, but decided to write it as 北海道, as a
compromise between 海北道 and because of the similarity with
names such as Tōkaidō (東海道). According to Matsuura, the name
was thought up because the Ainu called the region "Kai."
Historically, many peoples who had interactions with the
ancestors of the Ainu called them and their islands Kuyi,
Kuye, Qoy, or some similar name, which may have some
connection to the early modern form Kai. The Kai element
also strongly resembles the Sino-Japanese reading of the
characters 蝦夷 (Sino-Japanese /ka-i/, Japanese kun /emisi/),
which have been used for over a thousand years in China and
Japan as the standard orthographic form to be used when
referring to Ainu and related peoples; it is possible that
Matsuura's Kai was actually an alteration, influenced by the
Sino-Japanese reading of 蝦夷 Ka-i, of the Nivkh exonym for
the Ainu, namely Qoy. In 1882, the Development Commission
was abolished, and Hokkaidō was separated into three
prefectures, Hakodate (函館県), Sapporo (札幌県), and Nemuro
(根室県). In 1886, the three prefectures were abolished, and
Hokkaidō was put under the Hokkaidō Agency (北海道庁). Hokkaidō
became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the
revised Local Autonomy Law became effective. The Japanese
central government established the Hokkaidō Development
Agency (北海道開発庁) as an agency of the Prime Minister's Office
in 1949 to maintain its executive power in Hokkaidō. The
Agency was absorbed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure
and Transport in 2001. The Hokkaidō Bureau (北海道局) and the
Hokkaidō Regional Development Bureau (北海道開発局) of the
Ministry still have a strong influence on public
construction projects in Hokkaidō.
Information source: “Hokkaidō.” wikipedia.org. Article date:
27 Jan. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Feb. 2008 <Hokkaidō>. |
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