page_title: Matsumae clan
section_title: Relations with Russia and the Ainu
hierarchical_section_title: Matsumae clan / Relations with Russia and the Ainu
caption_attribution_description: English: Print is entitled "Deputy of the Prince of Matsmay." Note that Japanese en:mon of figure standing in the back is recognizable as that of en:Matsumae clan; the mon on clothing of seated figure is less clearly drawn, but recognizable in context as Matsumae. This is an original 1850s print: Very small print reads "Dag. by E. Brown" at bottom left; and "Ackerman Lith. 379 Broadway N.Y." at bottom right 日本語: 松前勘解由と従者像。元の写真（1854年、ペリーの箱館来航時に撮影）は日本最古の銀板写真の一つで重要文化財。
context_page_description: The Matsumae clan was a Japanese clan that was granted the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" to the north. The clan, originally known as the Kakizaki clan, had settled in Kakizaki, Kawauchi, Mutsu on the Shimokita Peninsula. Claiming descent from the Takeda clan of Wakasa Province, the family later took the name Matsumae. In exchange for their service in defending the country, the Matsumae were made exempt from owing rice to the shogunate in tribute, and from the sankin-kōtai system, under which most daimyōs were required to spend half the year at Edo, while their families spent the entire year at Edo and were, essentially, held hostage to prevent rebellion.
context_section_description: Due to their location, and their role as border defenders, the Matsumae were the first Japanese to negotiate with Russia in any way. They may well have been the first Japanese to meet Russians at all within Japanese territory. In 1778, a merchant from Yakutsk by the name of Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin arrived in Hokkaidō with a small expedition. He offered gifts and politely asked to trade. The Matsumae official tried to explain that he had no authority to agree to trade on behalf of the shōgun and suggested that the Russians come back the following year. The following September, the Russians did just that. According to some accounts, they had misinterpreted what had been said and expected to trade. Instead their gifts were returned to them, they were forbidden to return to the island, and they were advised that foreign trade was allowed only at Nagasaki, a port on the southernmost of Japan's home islands.
  In 1790, a massive earthquake struck Hokkaidō, and a forty-two-foot tsunami lifted the Russian ship out of the sea, depositing it a quarter-mile inland. The merchant Lebedev then gave up on Hokkaidō.
  The Matsumae clan's fief had extensive contacts with the Ainu of Hokkaidō, and had exclusive rights to trade with the Ainu communities of the island and to guarantee the security of Japanese interests there. Relations between the Matsumae and the Ainu was sometimes hostile, demonstrating that their power was not absolute in the region. In 1669, what started as a fight for resources between rival Ainu clans developed into a rebellion against Matsumae control of the region. It lasted until 1672, when Shakushain's Revolt was finally put down. The last serious Ainu rebellion was the Menashi-Kunashir Rebellion in 1789.
  In 1790, Kakizaki Hakyō painted the Ishū Retsuzō, a series of portraits of Ainu chiefs, in order to prove to the Japanese populace that the Matsumae were capable of controlling the northern borders and the Ainu. The 12 paintings of Ainu chiefs were displayed in 1791 in Kyoto.
  At roughly the same time, in 1789, a Finnish professor, Erik Laxmann, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, came across several Japanese castaways in Irkutsk. Like several other Japanese before them, they had been found in the Aleutians, off the coast of Alaska, by Russian sailors and had asked to be brought back to Japan. Like those before them, these castaways had been transported instead across Siberia on their way to St. Petersburg. Laxman saw their plight as an opportunity to work towards the opening of Japan, and suggested this to Catherine the Great, who agreed. In 1791, she appointed the professor's son, Lt. Adam Laxman, to command a voyage to return these castaways to Japan, and to open discussions towards a trade agreement.
  The expedition reached Hokkaidō in October 1792, and found the Japanese surprisingly hospitable. The Russians were allowed to spend the winter, and documents about them were sent to the bakufu in Edo. However, Professor Laxman insisted on bringing the castaways to Edo, and said that he would sail there himself even against the Shōgun's wishes. The bakufu sent an envoy to the Matsumae, requesting that the Russians make their way to the town of Matsumae by land. Sensing a trap, the Russians refused, and they were eventually allowed to make port in Hakodate, escorted by a Japanese vessel. They were given a guest house near Matsumae Castle, and were, unusually, allowed to maintain their own customs: they did not deny their Christianity, remove their boots indoors or bow to the Shōgun's envoys. The Japanese envoys gave them three swords and a hundred bags of rice, but also informed them that the Shōgun's rules remained unchangeable: foreigners could trade only at Nagasaki, and only if they came unarmed. All other ships would be subject to seizure. Due to his purposes in returning castaways, Laxman was granted a pardon in this instance, but he refused to relinquish the castaways until he was given something in writing answering his request for trade. The envoys returned three days later with a document restating the rules 
caption: This 1856 print is entitled "Deputy of the Prince of Matsmay."  This artist's impression of four samurai was among the images that were published after the Perry Expedition "opened the door" to Japan.
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