Ezo

Ezo (蝦夷), also known as Yezo or Yeso,^[1] is an ancient Japanese name for the lands to the north of Japan.^[2] It was the name of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō.^[3] It was also used as a name for islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, including the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin.

The terms Ezo, Yezo, Ebisu or Emishi were also used as a name for the people and culture of northern Honshu,^[3] including Akita Prefecture, Aomori Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture.

1. ↑ The spelling Yezo is related to 17th century pronunciation when Japan's contacts with the West were beginning. The romaji spelling Ezo is Modern Standard Japanese.
2. ↑ Batchelor, John. (1902). Sea-Girt Yezo: Glimpses at Missionary Work in North Japan, pp. 2-8.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ezo" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 184.