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| Matsumae clan 松前 | |
|---|---|
.svg) Banner with the crest (mon) of the Matsumae clan, from the collection ofHeinrich von Siebold (Weltmuseum Wien) | |
| Home province | Matsumae, Hokkaido |
| Parent house | |
| Titles | |
| Founding year | 1590 |
TheMatsumae clan (松前氏,Matsumae-shi) was a Japanese aristocratic family who weredaimyo of theMatsumae Domain, now inMatsumae, Hokkaido, from theAzuchi–Momoyama period until theMeiji Restoration. They were given themarch as theirfiefdom in 1590 byToyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from theAinu "barbarians" of the north.
TheLate Middle Japanese andEarly Modern Japanese term forHokkaido was Yezo, now pronouncedEzo; it was renamed only during theMeiji Restoration of 1868.
The Matsumae were the firstYamato people to negotiate with theRussian Empire. Following the Meiji Restoration, the family was bestowed the title ofViscount.
The Matsumae, originally theKakizaki clan (蠣崎氏,Kakizaki-shi)), had settled in Kakizaki,Kawauchi,Mutsu on theShimokita Peninsula. Claiming descent from theTakeda clan ofWakasa Province, the family later took the name Matsumae.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave the Matsumae the area around what is now Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590. They were charged with defending it andMainland Japan from the non-Yamato peoples of the north. In exchange for their service in protecting the country, the Matsumae were made exempt from owing rice to theTokugawa shogunate in tribute and fromsankin-kōtai, which kept feudal lords and their families hostage inEdo to prevent rebellion.[citation needed]
Following theMeiji Restoration in 1868, the family was appointed the rank ofviscount in the newkazoku peerage.[1]
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In the summer of 1779, a merchant fromYakutsk by the name ofPavel Lebedev-Lastochkin arrived in Ezo with a small expedition. He managed to reach abasho, or official Matsumaetrading post for the Ainu, atAkkeshi on the easternmost point of the island. Here he was told no trade was possible except via the Ainu, and he and his crew sailed back to their exploratory base onUrup, an uninhabited island in theKurile Islands to overwinter. However,Sakurajima erupted, and a related massive earthquake struck Hokkaidō. On January 19 1780, atsunami deposited his ship, theNatalia, a quarter-mile inland. The survivors returned to Russian-controlledKamchatka byAleutian-style sea kayaks. He ceased further attempts to return to the Kuriles and Hokkaido afterCatherine the Great declared that the Ainu no longer had to pay theyasak, theImperial fur tribute. The expanding Yamato colony was pushing the Ainu into the Kuriles from theirearlier territories in Sakhalin and Yezo (now Hokkaidō).[2]
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The Matsumae clan fief maintained extensive contacts with the Yezo Ainu and held exclusive rights to trade with their communities and to guarantee the security of Yamato interests there. Relations between the Matsumae and the Ainu were sometimes hostile, demonstrating that their power was not absolute in the region. In 1669, what began as a dispute over resources between rival Ainu clans escalated into a rebellion against Matsumae control. It lasted until 1672, whenShakushain's revolt was finally put down. The last serious Ainu rebellion was theMenashi-Kunashir rebellion in 1789.
In 1790,Kakizaki Hakyō paintedIshūretsuzō, a series of portraits of Ainu chiefs, to prove to the Mainland populace that the Matsumae were capable of controlling the northern borders and the Ainu[citation needed]. The 12 paintings of Ainu chiefs were exhibited in Kyoto in 1791.
At roughly the same time, in 1789, aSwedish Finn professor,Erik Laxmann, of theRussian Academy of Sciences, came across several Japanese castaways inIrkutsk. Like others before them, Russian sailors found them in theAleutian Islands off the coast ofAlaska and asked to be returned to Japan, but were instead transported toSaint Petersburg. Laxman saw their plight as an opportunity to work towards the opening of Japan, and suggested this to Catherine the Great, who agreed. In 1791, she appointed the professor's son,Adam Laxman, to command a voyage to repatriate the castaways and open discussions towards a trade agreement.
The expedition reached Hokkaidō in October 1792, and the Matsumae were hospitable. The Russians were allowed to spend the winter, and documents about them were sent to thebakufu in Edo. However, Professor Laxman insisted on bringing the castaways to Edo and said that he would sail there himself, even against the Shōgun's wishes. The bakufu sent envoys to the Matsumae, who requested that the Russians travel overland to Matsumae town. Sensing a trap, they refused and were eventually permitted to enterHakodate by sea with a Japanese escort. They were assigned a guest house nearMatsumae Castle and officially allowed to maintain their own customs. They did not have to deny Christianity despitea Shogunate ban on the religion, nor were they forced to remove their boots indoors, and they did not have to bow to the Shōgun's envoys.
The envoys gave them three swords and a hundred bags of rice, but also informed them that the Shōgun's rules remained unchangeable. Foreigners could trade only atNagasaki in westernKyushu, and only if they came unarmed. All other ships would be subject to seizure. Laxman had been pardoned of this because he was returning castaways.
However, Laxman refused to relinquish them until he was given something in writing answering his trade request. The envoys returned three days later with a document restating the rules regarding trade at Nagasaki and the laws against the practice of Christianity. The Russians never established any regular system of trade at Nagasaki, and historians still disagree as to whether the document given to Professor Laxman was an invitation to trade or an evasive maneuver by the shogunate. The Russian expedition led byAdam Johann von Krusenstern andNikolai Rezanov stayed for six months in the port of Nagasaki in 1804–1805, failing to establish diplomatic and trade relations with Japan.
Since the Matsumae land was a march or borderland, the remainder of Yezo essentially became an Ainu reservation. Although Japanese influence and control over the Ainu gradually grew stronger over the centuries, at that time they were largely left to their own devices, and the shogunate did not regard their lands as Japanese territory. It was only during theMeiji Restoration in the late 19th century that the march was dissolved, and Hokkaidō was formallyannexed and renamed.
The fourteendaimyō of the Matsumae Domain before theabolition of the han system in 1871 were:[4]
A fictionalized depiction of the Matsumae clan is present in the video gameGhost of Yotei.[5]
