Emishi

The Emishi, Ebisu or Ezo were a group of people who lived in parts of northern Honshū in present-day Japan, especially in the Tōhoku region.
The first mention of the Emishi in literature that can be corroborated with outside sources dates to the 5th century, in which they are referred to as in Chinese records. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of various Japanese emperors during the Asuka, Nara, and early Heian periods.
The origin of the Emishi is disputed and continues to be a topic of discussion; however, some theories propose a connection to either the Zoku-Jōmon peoples of Japan that became the ancestors of the Ainu people, or pre-Yamato migrants. It has been posited that the Emishi may have either spoken a unique Japonic language similar to the Umpaku dialect, or a distinct language related to the Ainu languages, or both. Moreover, even though there is a significant geographical gap between Northeast Japan and the South—particularly Northern Kyushu, which is believed to be the initial site of rice agriculture in the archipelago—evidence indicates that local communities in northeast Japan entirely embraced rice cultivation in the early Yayoi period. This relationship could have been facilitated by human migration along the coastline of the Sea of Japan, suggesting a link between the northeast and the adoption of rice farming during the Yayoi era. A majority of scholars have also noted cultural similarities to the Ainu. The Emishi that inhabited northern Honshu likely consisted of several tribes, which included pre-Ainu people, non-Yamato, and admixed people, who united and resisted the expansion of the Yamato Kingship and subsequent states.

Etymology

The first mention of the Emishi is from a Chinese source, the Book of Song in 478 CE, which referred to them as "hairy people". The book refers to "the 55 kingdoms of the hairy people of the East" as a report by King Bu — one of the Five kings of Wa.
The first recorded use of the Japanese word Emishi is in the Nihon Shoki in 720 CE, where the word appears in the phonetic spelling 愛瀰詩 for . This is in the record of Emperor Jimmu, stating that his armed forces defeated a group of Emishi before Jimmu was enthroned as the Emperor of Japan. According to the, Takenouchi no Sukune in the era of Emperor Keikō proposed the subjugation the Emishi of Hitakami no Kuni in eastern Japan.
In later records, the kanji spelling changed to 蝦夷, composed of the characters for "shrimp" and "barbarian". The use of the "shrimp" spelling is thought to refer to facial hair, like the long whiskers of a shrimp, but this is not certain. The "barbarian" portion clearly described an outsider, living beyond the borders of the emerging empire of Japan, which saw itself as a civilizing influence; thus, the empire was able to justify its conquest. This kanji spelling was first seen in the T'ang sources that describe the meeting with the two Emishi that the Japanese envoy brought with him to China. The kanji spelling may have been adopted from China.
The oldest attested pronunciation may have come from Old Japanese, perhaps from the word meaning "bowyer", however some suggest that it came instead from the Ainu term meaning "sword". The yumishi theory is problematic, as the Old Japanese term for "bowyer" was 弓削, whereas 弓師 is not attested until the 1600s. Meanwhile, the later pronunciation Ebisu was also spelled as 戎, which also means "warrior", possibly aligning with the proposed Ainu derivation via metonymy wherein the word for "sword" was used to mean "warrior".

History

The Emishi were represented by different tribes, some of whom became allies of the Japanese while others remained hostile. The Emishi in northeastern Honshū relied on horses in warfare, developing a unique style of warfare in which horse archery and hit-and-run tactics proved very effective against the slower contemporary Japanese imperial army that mostly relied on heavy infantry. The livelihood of the Emishi was based on hunting and gathering as well as on the cultivation of grains such as millet and barley. Recently, it has been thought that they practiced rice cultivation in areas where rice could be easily grown.
The first major attempts to subjugate the Emishi in the 8th century were largely unsuccessful. The imperial armies, which were modeled after the mainland Chinese armies, proved unsuccessful when faced with the guerrilla tactics employed by the Emishi. Following the adoption and development by the imperial forces of horseback archery and the guerrilla tactics used by the Emishi, the army soon saw success, leading to the eventual defeat of the Emishi. The success of the gradual change in battle tactics came at the very end of the 8th century in the 790s under the command of the general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. The adoption of horseback archery and horseback combat later led to the development of the samurai. Following their defeat, the Emishi either submitted themselves to imperial authorities as or, or migrated further north, some to Hokkaidō.
By the mid-9th century, most of the land held by the Emishi in Honshū had been conquered, and the Emishi became part of wider Japanese society. However, they continued to be influential in local politics, as subjugated, though powerful, Emishi families created semi-autonomous feudal domains in the north. In the two centuries following the conquest, a few of these domains became regional states that came into conflict with the central government.
The Emishi are described in the, which presents a view of the Emishi stemming more from a need to justify the Yamato policy of conquest than from accuracy to the Emishi people:

Amongst these Eastern savages the Yemishi are the most powerful; their men and women live together promiscuously; there is no distinction of father and child. In winter, they dwell in holes; in summer, they live in nests. Their clothing consists of furs, and they drink blood. Brothers are suspicious of one another. In ascending mountains, they are like flying birds; in going through the grass, they are like fleet quadrupeds. When they receive a favour, they forget it, but if an injury is done them they never fail to revenge it. Therefore, they keep arrows in their top-knots and carry swords within their clothing. Sometimes, they draw together their fellows and make inroads on the frontier. At other times, they take the opportunity of the harvest to plunder the people. If attacked, they conceal themselves in the herbage; if pursued, they flee into the mountains. Therefore, ever since antiquity, they have not been steeped in the kingly civilizing influences.

Battles with Yamato army

The 's entry for Emperor Yūryaku, also known as Ohatsuse no Wakatakeru, records an uprising, after the Emperor's death, of Emishi troops who had been levied to support an expedition to Korea. Emperor Yūryaku is suspected to be King Bu, but the date and the existence of Yūryaku are uncertain, and the Korean reference may be anachronistic. However, the compilers clearly felt that the reference to Emishi troops was credible in this context.
In 658, Abe no Hirafu's naval expedition of 180 ships reached Aguta and Watarishima. An alliance with Aguta Emishi, Tsugaru Emishi and Watarishima Emishi was formed by Abe who then stormed and defeated a settlement of the Mishihase, a people of unknown origin. This is one of the earliest reliable records of the Emishi people extant. The Mishihase may have been another ethnic group who competed with the ancestors of the Ainu for Hokkaidō. The expedition happens to be the furthest northern penetration of the Japanese Imperial army until the 16th century, and that later settlement was from a local Japanese warlord who was independent of any central control.
In 709, the fort of Ideha was created close to present day Akita. This was a bold move since the intervening territory between Akita and the northwestern countries of Japan was not under government control. The Emishi of Akita, in alliance with Michinoku, attacked Japanese settlements in response. Saeki no Iwayu was appointed Sei Echigo Emishi. He used 100 ships from the Japan sea side countries along with soldiers recruited from the eastern countries and defeated the Echigo Emishi.
In 724, Taga Fort was built by Ōno no Omi Azumahito near present-day Sendai and became the largest administrative fort in the northeast region of Michinoku. As Chinju, he steadily built forts across the Sendai plain and into the interior mountains in what is now Yamagata Prefecture. Guerilla warfare was practiced by the horse riding Emishi who kept up pressure on these forts, but Emishi allies, and, were also recruited and promoted by the Japanese to fight against their kinsmen.
In 758, after a long period of stalemate, the Japanese army under Fujiwara no Asakari penetrated into what is now northern Miyagi Prefecture, and established Momonofu Castle on the Kitakami River. The fort was built despite constant attacks by the Emishi of Isawa.

Thirty-Eight Years' War

On 5 September, 774 CE, the Emishi stormed Monou castle and the rebellion began.
The Emishi counterattacked along a broad front, starting with Monou Castle, destroying the garrison there before going on to destroy a number of forts along a defensive line from east to west established painstakingly over the past generation. Even Taga Castle was not spared. Large Japanese forces were recruited, numbering in the thousands, the largest forces perhaps ten to twenty thousand strong fighting against an Emishi force that numbered at most around three thousand warriors, and at any one place around a thousand. In 776 a huge army of over 20,000 men was sent to attack the Shiwa Emishi, an effort that failed, before the Shiwa Emishi launched a successful counterattack in the Ōu Mountains. In 780, the Emishi attacked the Sendai plain, torching Japanese villages there. The Japanese were in a near panic as they tried to tax and recruit more soldiers from the Bandō.
In the 789 CE Battle of Koromo River the Japanese army under Ki no Kosami Seito was defeated by the Isawa Emishi under their general Aterui. A four thousand-strong army was attacked as they tried to cross the Kitakami River by a force of a thousand Emishi. The imperial army suffered its most stunning defeat, losing a thousand men, many of whom drowned.
In 794, many key Shiwa Emishi, including Isawa no kimi Anushiko of what is now northern Miyagi Prefecture, became allies of the Japanese. This was a stunning reversal to the aspirations of the Emishi who still fought against the Japanese. The Shiwa Emishi were a very powerful group and were able to attack smaller Emishi groups successfully as their leaders were promoted into imperial rank. This isolated one of the most powerful and independent Emishi, the Isawa confederation. The newly appointed general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro then attacked the Isawa Emishi, relentlessly using soldiers trained in horse archery. The result was a desultory campaign that eventually led to Aterui's surrender in 802. The war was mostly over and many Emishi groups submitted themselves to the imperial government. However, skirmishes still took place, and it was not until 811 that the so-called Thirty-Eight Years' War was over. North of the Kitakami River, the Emishi were still independent, but the large scale threat that they posed ceased with the defeat of the Isawa Emishi in 802.