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The Emishi were natives of the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and northern
Honshu that opposed and resisted the rule of the Japanese Emperors during
the late Nara and early Heian periods. They are also called Ezo.
By Japanese tradition the Emishi are said to be ancestors of, or related
to, the Ainu. There are arguments and evidence for and against this theory.
Much like the Native American who is represented by a large number of
different tribes, so the Emishi were also represented by different tribes
with different ways of life. The Emishi were semi-nomadic and relied on
their horses in warfare.
The first major attempts to finally subjugate the Emishi by the emperors
of Japan, particularly Emperor Kammu in the late 8th century were largely
unsuccessful. The imperial armies modeled after the mainland Chinese were no
match for the guerilla tactics of the Emishi.
As during the 9th century the emperors began to rely on the powerful
regional clans - introducing the title of Shogun and the the basis of the
Samurai - and with the development of horse archery the Emishi were driven
to Hokkaido. By the mid 9th century their land in Honshu was conquered.
Soon after the Second World War mummies were discovered in Hiraizumi (the
capital city of the Northern Fujiwara) who were thought to be related to the
Emishi who had originally submitted to Yamato rule, and hence were thought
to have been related to the Ainu. However, after further research on the
mummies it was found that the rulers of Hiraizumi were like other Japanese
of the time, and certainly not related to ethnic Ainu. This was seen as
evidence that the Emishi were not related to the Ainu. This had the effect
of popularizing the idea that the Emishi were like other contemporary ethnic
Japanese who lived in northeast Japan, outside of Yamato rule.
This viewpoint went hand in hand with the idea that the Japanese were a
single ethnic group that had undergone little change since antiquity.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Japan was a melting pot of many different ethnic groups ranging from
continental Asians, both distant in time, such as those related to Native
Americans, and more recent migrants such as the Chinese and Koreans, as well
as various groups of Pacific Islanders related to the Polynesians. In the
study of Jomon skeletal remains dating from thousands of years ago, a very
ancient Asian was recovered, someone who was directly ancestral to the Ainu.
This said, it was found that diachronically, and geographically, the
skeletal structure of the Jomon population changed over time from southwest
to northeast, paralleling the actual migration of Japanese speakers
historically.
Even relying on historical documents, it was clear that the ancestors of
the Ainu left many Ainu place names in the main island of Honshu, indicating
that an Ainoid population had lived in the area before the Yamato expansion.
Further, even as late as the nineteenth century, there were remnant Ainu who
were living in Aomori province in far northeastern Honshu. Though still
inconclusive, the main body of Satsumon culture, seen by all scholars as
definitely ancestral to Ainu culture in Hokkaido, may have gotten its start
from migrants from northeastern Japan.
Finally, the so-called Emishi rulers of Hiraizumi were not actually
direct descendants of that ethnic group and therefore cannot be seen as any
sort of evidence. It was customary for local rulers to take on local titles
that would suggest a direct ancestry. There is no doubt that the Northern
Fujiwara had some Emishi blood in them a few generations removed, but for
the most part they were from the Japanese aristocracy. For example, many
Ainu in Hokkaido today, are typically one-fourth to one-eighth Ainu, and
cannot be easily distinguished from other ethnic Japanese. Even though the
pattern of assimilation is not known in detail for the Emishi who fought
against Yamato (Japanese) control in northeast Honshu, ethnic
characteristics are lost after three generations of intermarriage or
interbreeding in areas that did not remain isolated from the immigrant
Japanese population that poured into the area after the conquest.
In a time when the Ainu of Hokkaido have been more vocal in breaking the
majority's silence in regard to the ethnic diversity of Japan, their history
is still being denied them through the back door--a history that was not
just confined to Hokkaido but included the rich cultural heritage of the
main island of Honshu.
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