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TheMenashi-Kunashir rebellion orwar (クナシリ・メナシの戦い,Kunashiri Menashi no tatakai) orMenashi-Kunashir battle took place in 1789 between theAinu and theYamato people (i.e. the ethnic Japanese) on theShiretoko Peninsula in northeasternHokkaido.[1][2][3]
Through theEdo period theMatsumae clan developed the fishing industry in Hokkaido, where Yamato Japanese merchants oversaw Ainu fishers whose catch was processed and sold to the Yamato Japanese ofHonshu.[4][5] The Ainu working in this industry were forced into it, and subjected to rampant exploitation.[4][3]
In response to the exploitation and the abuses of Ainu workers in the industry, and potentially a suspicion of poisonedsake being given to Ainu in a loyalty ceremony,[citation needed] in May 1789 the Ainu attacked the Yamato onKunashir and parts of theMenashi District, as well as at sea.[6] More than 70 Yamato were killed. The Yamato executed 37 Ainu identified as conspirators and arrested many others.[7]
After the battle, the Matsumae Domain commissioned theIshūretsuzō series of portraits of twelve elders who had helped suppress the revolt.[citation needed]
The battle is the subject ofMajin no Umi, a children's novel byMaekawa Yasuo that received the Japanese Association of Writers for Children Prize in 1970.[citation needed]
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