Place · island

Hokkaido

Hokkaido is the second-largest and northernmost of Japan's main islands. Long known to the Japanese as Ezo, it was the homeland of the Ainu, while the Matsumae clan controlled trade from a foothold in the south. Meiji Japan formally annexed the island in 1869, renamed it Hokkaido and settled it with farmers and soldier-colonists, pushing the Ainu to the margins.

Hokkaido
Image: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Ainu chiefdomsMatsumae Domain

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hokkaido. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hokkaido
MLA
“Hokkaido.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hokkaido. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Hokkaido.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hokkaido.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hokkaido’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hokkaido (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻