Ezo
Also known as Ezochi, Yezo, Yesso, Ezo-chi
thumb|Map of the "Land of Iesso" by French cartographer Alain Manesson Mallet (1683) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the people and the lands to the northeast of the Japanese island of Honshu. This included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 1869, and sometimes included Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The word Ezo means 'the shrimp barbarians' in Japanese.
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Article
7 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Subdivisions
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
thumb|Map of the "Land of Iesso" by French cartographer Alain Manesson Mallet (1683) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the people and the lands to the northeast of the Japanese island of Honshu. This included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 1869, and sometimes included Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The word Ezo means 'the shrimp barbarians' in Japanese.
In reference to the people of that region, the same two kanji used to write the word Ezo can also be read Emishi. The descendants of these people are most likely related to the Ainu people of today.