Far Away, at the Edge of the World

Far away, at the edge of the world near the northern pole, on the rugged, windswept shore of Paramushir Island, where the icy waves of the Sea of Okhotsk crashed against the land, two men stood face to face. It was the year 1713, when Shatanoi, an experienced Ainu merchant from Iturup, met Ivan Kozyrevsky, a Russian explorer and trader, for the first time. The Ainu, clad in a richly decorated robe of furs and leather, held in his hands something of great significance for this exchange—delicate strands of silk and cotton, brought all the way from Ezo (Hokkaidō). The Russian carefully examined these goods while his men weighed the soft sea otter, fox, and sable furs in their hands. The air was filled with the scent of burning wood and salt, and rare rays of sunlight broke through the low-hanging clouds, casting golden reflections over the makeshift trading post.

The two men negotiated in broken Russian, aided by gestures and simple Nivkh words—a northern people with whom the Ainu also traded. This was not just a simple transaction; it was a meeting that opened the doors for Russian knowledge of the southern Kuril Islands and the flourishing trade that had existed there for centuries. Thanks to Shatanoi's information, the Russians gained insight into the geography of the Kurils and the trading routes that had long connected Hokkaidō, Kamchatka, and Sakhalin into a vast network of cultural and commercial exchange.

The Ainu – Masters of the Sea of Okhotsk

For the Ainu, the sea was not a boundary but an artery of life. Their hands crafted cedar boats, light yet sturdy, capable of crossing hundreds of miles through the treacherous waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. Cloaked in mist and snowstorms, they navigated trade routes from Hokkaidō to Kamchatka, not just as fishermen, but more importantly, as merchants and intermediaries between great powers—China, Japan, and Russia.

As early as the 13th century, the Ainu crossed the waters to Sakhalin, where they encountered the Mongols of Kublai Khan. By the 15th century, they had established relations with the Ming Dynasty, trading furs for silk and tools. In the 17th century, European missionaries arrived, such as Jesuit Girolamo de Angelis, who marveled at their commercial skills and described the Ainu of Yezo (Hokkaidō) as people who arrived in Matsumae every year with entire fleets of boats filled with salmon, herring, leather goods, and sea otter furs.

Trade was not just about exchanging goods—it was a network of oaths, kinships, and agreements that the Ainu established both with the Kamchadals in the north and the Japanese Matsumae domain in the south.

The Ainu—the indigenous inhabitants of what is now Japan’s Hokkaidō—were not only hunters and fishermen but also skilled traders who, for centuries, connected the northernmost reaches of Asia with an extensive network of commerce and exchange. Their courage and ability to forge alliances made them key intermediaries between Japan, China, and Russia.

In today’s article, we will explore the Ainu from a lesser-known perspective—not just as a resilient indigenous people, but as enterprising merchants who ruled economically over the icy waters of the Sea of Okhotsk.

Let’s dive into their fascinating history!

The Ainu in the History of Northern Asian Trade

Early Ainu Presence in the Sea of Okhotsk

In the far north, where icy winds whip against snow-covered shores in an almost eternal winter, the Ainu sailed across the restless waters of the Sea of Okhotsk for centuries. They were not merely a forest people, living in the shadow of Hokkaidō’s mountains, as modern pop culture sometimes depicts them, but a bold and resourceful seafaring and trading nation that expanded to Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and Kamchatka, establishing their own northern network of trade and commerce.

While Japan saw these cold, northern frontiers as distant, almost mythical wastelands, for the Ainu, they were well-trodden routes where they set out laden with fish, furs, wood, and tools, returning with metal blades, silk, and exotic goods.

Archaeological evidence suggests that their maritime activities date back at least to the 13th century. Excavations on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands have revealed cedar boats, stone anchors, and fishing nets made from roots and animal sinews, attesting to their advanced navigation skills. Chinese-made crafts and Japanese ceramics from the Kamakura period found on the Kurils further suggest that by this time, the Ainu were already masters of long-distance trade.

However, the Ainu were not merely silent travelers; their expansion often meant displacing other northern peoples. In the 13th century, they began to dominate southern Sakhalin, gradually pushing out the Nivkh, the island’s indigenous inhabitants. Forced to retreat north, the Nivkh resettled near the Amur River delta.

This expansion soon caught the attention of Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor, who saw in the Ainu not just wild warriors, but potential vassals.

The Ainu and the Mongols – 13th Century

In the winter of 1264, as snowstorms howled across the icy waters of the Tatar Strait, Mongol forces set out to subjugate the Ainu of Sakhalin. Kublai Khan, conqueror of China and grandson of Genghis Khan, sought to incorporate these northern lands into his empire. His armies, which had already subjugated the Nivkh and the Jurchens, met with unexpected resistance.

The Ainu, whom the Mongols called Kugi, were not an easy opponent. Known for their long hair, tattoos, and fur-covered coats, they fought in an unconventional style, foreign to Mongol generals—they attacked suddenly, vanished into the dense forests of Sakhalin, only to strike again moments later, wielding battle axes that tore through the leather armor of their enemies.

The Yuan Shi, the official history of the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty, records that Kublai Khan had to send multiple expeditions to conquer the Ainu. His first attempts in 1272–1273 failed to even reach Sakhalin. Only after several more campaigns, from 1284 to 1286, did the Mongols finally subdue them—but even then, the Ainu refused to surrender completely.

In 1296, 1297, and 1305, they launched raids against Mongol outposts along the Amur River, striking back at their conquerors. It was only in 1308 that they finally agreed to pay tribute, not in gold or silver, but in furs and pelts, which were among the most valuable commodities in Asia at the time.

These battles revealed two key aspects of the Ainu—their unwavering resistance in battle and the importance of their fur trade. While they could not match the Mongols militarily, their commercial influence made them valuable even to the most powerful empire of the time.

The Ainu and Ming China (15th Century)

When the Ming Dynasty expelled the Mongols from China in the 14th century, the Ainu quickly reestablished contact with the new rulers. In 1411, Emperor Yongle sent an expedition north, establishing a garrison in Nurgan, near the Amur River’s mouth. It was there, in the shadow of the Yongningsi Buddhist temple, that one of the first documented encounters between the Ainu and the Ming Dynasty took place.

On the imperial stele, an inscription recorded that emissaries from Kui—the Chinese name for the Ainu—had arrived in Nurgan. They were received with gifts of silk robes, tools, and food, a symbolic act indicating that they had agreed to pay tribute.

Archaeological finds in Nurgan confirm these interactions—excavations have uncovered Chinese coins from the 15th century, Buddhist sculpture fragments, and ceramics.

For the Ainu, trade with China meant access to invaluable goods, further strengthening their position as strategic merchants. Their furs flooded Chinese markets, their boats carried silk to Matsumae, and their world stretched from Japanese ports to the icy shores of Kamchatka—where others saw the end of the world, the Ainu saw the center of commerce.

The Life of the Ainu in the 17th Century

Encounters with Europeans

In the far north, where winter winds howled over the frozen shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, and mist rose above the rugged cliffs of the Kuril Islands, European travelers first came into contact with the Ainu—a people who had sailed these icy waters for centuries. To outsiders, they were a mysterious people—long-haired, dressed in furs, their bodies adorned with tattoos, and their rituals filled with prayers to the spirits of animals and ancestors. It was in the 17th century that the Ainu first stood face to face with Europeans, who recorded the first detailed descriptions of this remarkable people.

The first written account of the Ainu was provided by the Jesuit missionary Girolamo de Angelis, an Italian priest who arrived in Matsumae—a Japanese trading outpost at the southern tip of Hokkaidō (then known as Yezo)—in 1618. In his reports to his superiors, he described the Ainu as highly skilled traders who lived in harmony with the harsh northern nature. He wrote that each year, they arrived in Matsumae on hundreds of boats, filled to the brim with salmon, herring, dried fish, and the furs of foxes, sea otters, and sables. Among the goods they traded were leather belts and highly sought-after eagle feathers, which were prized in Japan. The Ainu brought these goods from the northern islands and the Kamchatka coast and, in exchange, acquired from the Japanese cutlery, ceramics, weapons, and most importantly, silk and cotton fabrics, which they could not obtain in their homeland.

Another European who documented the Ainu was Diogo Carvalho, a Portuguese Jesuit who visited Matsumae in 1620 and 1622 and gathered information about the Ainu traveling from the north. His accounts indicate that some Ainu trading journeys lasted over 60 days, highlighting the vast reach of their trade network. He also noted their linguistic abilities—some Ainu could communicate in Japanese, while others understood the basics of Nivkh and Kamchadal languages, spoken by the indigenous peoples of Kamchatka. Carvalho also described the exotic goods the Ainu brought to Japan—live falcons and eagles, which were prized by the Japanese aristocracy for falconry.

Europeans were fascinated by the Ainu's appearance. They described them as strong-built men, with thick beards and long hair reaching their shoulders, distinguishing them from both the Japanese and the indigenous peoples of Siberia. De Angelis noted that they wore richly decorated fur garments and intricate belts and had ritual tattoos on their hands and faces, believed to protect them from evil spirits. To European observers, the Ainu seemed like a people of the north, yet they resembled neither Siberians nor Eskimos. They were skilled sailors, yet their culture was entirely distinct from what European explorers had encountered elsewhere in northern Asia.

Russian Expansion and Contact with the Ainu

While the Ainu traded with the Japanese in the south, a new force appeared in the north—the Russians. By the late 17th century, the expanding Tsarist Empire, ever eager to push its frontiers eastward, turned its attention to Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. In 1697, the Russian explorer Vladimir Atlasov, often called the "Russian Columbus of Siberia," reached Kamchatka and first encountered its indigenous inhabitants—the Kamchadals and a group he referred to in his reports as "the Kurils." Later studies confirmed that these people were actually Ainu, whose settlements extended to the southern tip of Kamchatka.

Atlasov quickly realized that the Kuril Islands and their inhabitants possessed valuable resources, particularly sea otter and sable furs, which were worth a fortune on Russian markets. He also noted that Ainu regularly arrived in Kamchatka by boat from the south, suggesting that there was an extensive trade network linking Kamchatka with Ezo (Hokkaidō). Seeing an opportunity, the Russians decided to explore these territories further.

In 1711, Russia sent an expedition under the command of Ivan Kozyrevsky, which reached Shumshu Island. In 1713, they continued further to Paramushir, where they encountered the Ainu. It was there that Kozyrevsky met Shatanoi, a merchant from Iturup, who revealed to him the trade routes of the Ainu. Shatanoi provided key information about the southern Kuril Islands, their inhabitants, and the trade routes connecting Hokkaidō, Kamchatka, and Sakhalin. Based on this knowledge, Kozyrevsky created the first accurate maps of the Kuril archipelago and sent a detailed report to Russian authorities in Yakutsk.

Shatanoi’s accounts revealed that the Ainu were not passive island dwellers but active intermediaries in a vast trade network linking the Japanese, Kamchadals, and Nivkh. They traveled from Iturup to Kunashir, where they obtained silk and cotton, which they later traded in Kamchatka for furs and eagle feathers. Shiashkotan served as a central exchange hub, where traders from the north and south met, conducting transactions in a system resembling Far Eastern markets.

The knowledge acquired from Shatanoi paved the way for further Russian expansion. In the following decades, the Russians gradually extended their influence over the Kurils, ultimately undermining the Ainu’s dominance in the region.

The Ainu as Entrepreneurs

Cartography and Exploration of the Region

For centuries, the icebound waters of the Sea of Okhotsk remained a mystery to most civilizations. While Japan, China, and Russia focused their expansion efforts southward and westward, the northern islands and coasts remained Ainu territory. They knew the hidden passages between islands, the treacherous sandbanks, and the deadly currents that could swallow careless travelers. However, in the 17th century, foreign powers—first the Japanese, then the Russians—began to map and explore their world.

In 1644, the Matsumae Domain created Shohō Onkoku Ezu, the first Japanese map to depict Kunashir, Iturup, and other northern islands. The Japanese still knew little about the Kurils, treating them as distant lands inhabited by "barbarian Yezojin"—the Ainu. Their knowledge came primarily from Ainu traders, who regularly arrived in Matsumae to trade. However, no official Japanese expeditions were launched to explore these territories.

It was the Russians who made the first systematic effort to understand these lands. Ivan Kozyrevsky, as previously mentioned, recognized that the Ainu were essential guides in the exploration of the region—they knew the best maritime routes, the hidden straits between islands, and the most suitable locations for camps and settlements. Without their knowledge, Russia's expansion into this region might have taken decades instead of just a few years.

Ainu Relations with Japan and Russia

For centuries, the Ainu lived in independent clans, but over time, they felt the growing influence of major powers. Japan, which had long regarded the Ainu as outsiders, began to exert greater control over their trade and lives in the 17th century. The Matsumae Domain, which held a monopoly on contact with the Ainu, gradually imposed its dominance over them.

By the mid-17th century, the Ainu of southern Hokkaidō, Kunashir, and Iturup were subjected to taxation—Matsumae demanded regular tributes of furs, fish, and other maritime goods. This marked the first step toward their subjugation under Japanese rule. However, unlike the Russians, the Japanese did not use military force, whereas in the 18th century, Russia adopted a far more aggressive policy.

Russian settlers, driven by economic gain, increasingly displaced the Ainu from their lands, particularly in Kamchatka and the northern Kurils. In 1777, an expedition led by Ivan Antipin and Dmitry Shabalin formally subjugated more than 1,500 Ainu from Iturup and Kunashir under Russian rule.

By the late 18th century, the Ainu found themselves trapped between two expanding empires—the Japanese tightening their grip on the south, and the Russians pushing from the north, threatening the very autonomy they had maintained for centuries.

The International Dispute Over Ainu Lands

In the 18th century, the Sea of Okhotsk became a stage for international rivalry. While Japan and Russia held the greatest influence, other European powers began to take an interest in these cold, remote lands. The Dutch, French, and British, much like the Russians, recognized the strategic importance of the Kuril Islands and, in their efforts to explore the region, encountered the Ainu.

In 1643, the Dutch navigator Martin Gerritsz de Vries became the first European to reach the islands of Iturup and Kunashir. However, he did not claim them for any European state and made no attempts at colonization, leaving the region untouched.

Far more serious expeditions were undertaken in the 18th century by the French and British. In 1787, the French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse, surveyed the Kuril region, though he did not make direct contact with the Ainu. However, his reports indicated that the inhabitants of these lands engaged in active trade with various parts of Asia.

The British went further. In 1794, Royal Navy officer William Robert Broughton explored the Kuril Islands, contemplating the possibility of colonization. His expedition concluded that the Kurils could become a key strategic checkpoint for trade in northern Asia, immediately raising concerns among the Russians.

To the Ainu, the expeditions of European powers may have seemed like distant events, but in reality, they had far-reaching consequences. As more nations became interested in the Kurils, pressure mounted on the Ainu—would they become subjects of Japan, Russia, or perhaps one of the European empires?

By the 18th century, the Ainu found themselves at the center of a geopolitical struggle. What had once been their world—icy, yet free, where they controlled trade on their own terms—was rapidly shrinking. Cartographers began marking their lands on maps, settlers built new outposts, and ships from European and Asian powers appeared more frequently on the horizon.

They were no longer the sole rulers of the northern routes of the Sea of Okhotsk—yet their footprints remained, etched in ancient maps and half-legendary travelogues, where explorers described with awe the mysterious people who had, for centuries, ruled over the kingdom of ice and waves.

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"Strong Japanese Women"

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    未開    ソビエライ

 An enthusiast of Asian culture with a deep appreciation for the diverse philosophies of the world. By education, a psychologist and philologist specializing in Korean studies. At heart, a programmer (primarily for Android) and a passionate technology enthusiast, as well as a practitioner of Zen and mono no aware. In moments of tranquility, adheres to a disciplined lifestyle, firmly believing that perseverance, continuous personal growth, and dedication to one's passions are the wisest paths in life. Author of the book "Strong Women of Japan" (>>see more)

Personal motto:

"The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest." - Albert Einstein (probably)

  Mike Soray

   (aka Michał Sobieraj)

未開    ソビエライ

 An enthusiast of Asian culture with a deep appreciation for the diverse philosophies of the world. By education, a psychologist and philologist specializing in Korean studies. At heart, a programmer (primarily for Android) and a passionate technology enthusiast, as well as a practitioner of Zen and mono no aware. In moments of tranquility, adheres to a disciplined lifestyle, firmly believing that perseverance, continuous personal growth, and dedication to one's passions are the wisest paths in life. Author of the book "Strong Women of Japan" (>>see more)

Personal motto:

"The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest." - Albert Einstein (probably)

Mike Soray

(aka Michał Sobieraj)

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