Sakanoue no Tamuramaro Military career . Serving Emperor Kammu , he was appointed shogun and given the task of conquering the Emishi ( 蝦夷征伐 " Emishi Seibatsu " ) , a people native to the north of Honshū , which he subjugated . Recent evidence suggests that a migration of Emishi from northern Honshū to Hokkaidō took place sometime between the seventh and eighth centuries , perhaps as a direct result of this policy that pre - dated Tamuramaro ' s appointment . However , many Emishi remained in the Tōhoku region as subjects of the expanding Japan ese Empire , and later established independent Fushu domains . After Emperor Kammu ' s death , the general continued to serve Emperor Heizei and Emperor Saga as He was the second man to given the title of shogun . The first to receive this title was Ōtomo no Otomaro . It is said that the famous Tanabata festivals and parades of Aomori prefecture ( also celebrated in the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture ) , which draw over 3 million people to the prefecture a year , were popularized in remembrance of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro ' s campaign to subdue the tribal societies then living in Tōhoku . These annual " matsuri " are called the " Nebuta " festival in Aomori City and " Neputa " festival ( ねぷた祭り ) in Hirosaki City . Tamuramaro ' s military successes are commemorated today in autumn matsuri which feature a number of gigantic , specially - constructed , illuminated paper floats . These huge festival structures are colorfully painted with mythical figures ; and teams of men carry them through the streets as crowds shout encouragement . Aomori ' s great nebuta lanterns are said to hark back to Tamuramaro ' s innovative strategy in that early ninth century campaign . According to legend , the taishogun is remembered for having ordered huge illuminated lanterns to be placed at the top of hills ; and when the curious Emishi approached these bright lights to investigate , they were captured and subdued . Until the mid - 1990s the prize awarded for the best float of the parades was called the Tamuramaro Prize . However , there is no historical record that he went farther north than Iwate prefecture . Tamuramaro ' s name is linked with payments for construction projects at Kiyomizu Temple ( " Kiyomizu - dera " ) in the late 8th century . Tamuramaro is reputedly buried at Shōgun - zuka , and his spirit is said to be guarding Kyoto still ; but even if part of that tale is only myth , the recorded final resting place of the old warrior was near the village of Kurusu ( " Kurusu - mura " 栗栖村 ) in Yamashiro ' s Uji district . Ancestry . According to the Shoku Nihongi , an official historical record , The Sakaue clan is descended from Emperor Ling of Han China . And Sakaue clan ' s family tree shows that Tamuramaro is a 14th - generation descendent of Ling . However , according to Alexander Francis Chamberlain , in April 1911 the Journal of Race Development published an essay by Chamberlain entitled " The Contribution of the Negro to Human Civilization . " While discussing the African presence in early Asia , Chamberlain stated in an exceptionally frank and matter of fact manner : " And we can cross the whole of Asia and find the Negro again , for when , in far - off Japan , the ancestors of the modern Japanese were making their way northward against the Ainu , the aborigines of that country , the leader of their armies was Sakanouye Tamuramaro , a famous general and a Negro . " 1 ( 1865 - 1914 )