Ezo, or Yezo, (蝦夷) is old name of Ainus, native people of Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu in Northern Japan in Japanese. Japanese people also called Ainu's homeland Ezo, and renamed Ezo to Hokkaido prefecture in Meiji Restoration.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Rivers 3 Lakes 4 Climate 5 Zoology 6 Population (as of 1911) 7 History |
The article is originally from 1911 Encyclopaedia BritannicaOrography
The highest mountain in the island is Ishikaridake (6955 ft.) and the next in importance is Tokachi-dake (6541 ft.). Yubari-take in Ishikari has a height of 6508 ft., and in the province of Kushiro are O-akan-dake (4470 ft.) and Meakan-take (4500 ft.). Dr Rein's investigations led him to state that Tokachi-dake forms a species of central elevation whence most of the principal rivers flow towards the sea, and that the mountain system is a continuation, on the W. of the Sakhalin range, and on the E. of the Kuriles range; the former consisting of granite and old schists, the latter chiefly of volcanic formations. Near Hakodate are two conspicuous volcanic peaks, Komaga-take (3822 ft.) and Tokatsu-dake (3800 ft.); and 24 m. from Kushiro (by rail) is a volcano called Atosa-nobori, or Iwo-zan (sulphur mountain), whence great quantities of first-rate sulphur are exported to the United States. Mention must also be made of Rishiri, an islet on the extreme N.W. of Yezo, which has a peak of the same name rising to a height of nearly 6000 ft.Rivers
Yezo boasts the largest river in the Japanese empire, the Ishikari-gawa, which is estimated to measure 275 m. Its other large rivers are the Teshio-gawa (192 m.), the Tokachi-gawa (120 m.), the Shiribeshi-gawa (88 m.). the Kushiro-gawa (81 m.), the Toshi-betsu-gawa (64 m.), and the Yubetsu-gawa (64 m.). The valley of the Ishikari is believed to be the most fertile part of the island; the Tokachi is navigable to a point 56 m. from its mouth, but the Teshio has a bar which renders its approach extremely difficult. A peculiarity of several of the rivers is that, on approaching the seashore, they run parallel to it for some distance before finding an exit. Those flowing to the S. coast take a W. direction, those flowing to the E. coast a N. direction. This is attributed to the fact that the prevailing winds set up the sand so as to deflect the rivers from their straight course. Nearly all these rivers abound with salmon, the most remarkable in that respect being the Nishibetsu-gawa, which yields an average of over 2000 tons of fish annually.Lakes
There are no large lakes, the most extensive Toyako, Shikotsuko and Kushirokonot having a circumference of more than 25 m. Lagoons, however, are not uncommon. The largest of these Saruma-ko in Kitamiis some 17 m. long by 7 wide. It abounds with oysters nearly as large as those for which the much smaller lagoon at Akkeshi is famous, the molluscs measuring about 18 in. in length.Climate
The climate differs markedly from that of the main island of Japan, resembling rather the climate of the British Isles, though the winter is longer and more severe, and the atmosphere in the warm season contains a greater quantity of moisture. During five months the country is under snow, its depth averaging about 2 ft. in the regions along the southern coast and more than 6 ft. in the northern and western regions. An ice-drift, setting from the north and working southwards as far as Nemuro, stops all sea trade on the E. coast during January, February and March, though the W. coast is protected by the warm current of the Kuro-shiwo. Fogs prevail along the E. coast during the summer months, and it is not uncommon to find a damp, chilly atmosphere near the sea in July, whereas, a mile inland, the thermometer stands at 80 or 90º F. in the shade, and magnolia trees are in full blossom.Zoology
Tsugaru Strait has been shown by Captain T. W. Blakiston, R.A., to form a line of zoological division. Pheasants and monkeys are not found on the Yezo side of this line, though they abound on Nippon, and, on the other hand, Yezo has grouse and solitary snipe which do not exist in Nippon. The Yezo bear, too, is of a distinct species, and the island has an abundance of singing birds which are absent S. of the strait. There are also notable differences in the flora, the trees and flowers of Yezo resembling those of the British Isles rather than those of Japan.Population (as of 1911)
The island seems to have been originally peopled by a semi-barbarous race of pit-dwellers, whose modern representatives are to be found in the Kuriles or their neighbours of Kamchatka and Sakhalin. These autochthons were driven out by the Ainu, and the latter, in their turn, succumbed to the Japanese. The population of Yezo is 605,742, of whom 17,573 are Ainu. There is a steadily growing but not large emigration from Japan proper to Yezo. Yezo is divided into ten provinces, the names of which, beginning from the S., are Oshima, Shiribeshi, Ishikari, Teshio, Kitami, Iburi, Hidaka, Tokachi, Kushiro and Nemuro. Of these, Oshima, Shiribeshi and Ishikari are by far the most important. There are only three towns having a population of over 20,000, viz. Hakodate (50,314), Sapporo (46,147) and Otaru (34,586). Other towns of importance are Fukuyama (formerly called Matsumae), the seat of government in feudal days, Esashi, Mombetsu, Oiwake, Tomakomai, Piratori (the chief Ainu settlement), Mororan, Kushiro, Akkeshi, Nemuro, Horobetsu, Yunokawa, Abashiri and Mashike. Yunokawa, 41 m. from Hakodate, is much frequented for its hot springs; Oiwake is the junction of the main line of railway with the branch to the Yubari collieries; Kushiro exports coal and sulphur; Akkeshi is celebrated for its oysters.History
Yezo was not brought under Japan's effective control until medieval times. In 1604 the island was granted in fief to Matsumae Yoshihiro, whose ancestor had overrun it, and from the close of the 15th century the E. was governed by officials sent by the sh6gun, whose attention had been attracted to it by Russian trespassers. In 1871 the task of developing its resources and administering its affairs was entrusted to a special bureau, which employed American agriculturists to assist the work and American engineers to construct roads and railways; but in 1881 this bureau was abolished, and the government abandoned to private hands the various enterprises it had inaugurated.