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.