The east of Hokkaido, from the Tokachi plain to the Shiretoko cape and the Nemuro peninsula, is where the late Okhotsk culture (the Tobinitai phase, about the tenth to the thirteenth century) merges with the Satsumon and the early Ainu: sea-hunters of seal and whale and fishers of the Okhotsk coast, with houses and bear ceremonies of the northern type.
No chief or fort is named for 1200; the process by which the Okhotsk people are absorbed is dated by archaeology, not by chronicle.
Who holds it
- Title
- No ruler: the sea-hunting and river villages
- Confidence
- low
Archaeology (English Wikipedia: Okhotsk culture, Satsumon culture).
What it holds
- The Okhotsk coast and its seal and fish grounds
Allies and rivals
Trade by sea with the Kuril and Sakhalin peoples.
How things stand that morning
What Kamakura names or controls: nothing. What stops it: distance and the sea.
Wealth
Sea mammal products, fish; no figure.
Threats
- Cold and drift ice
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Archaeology.
On the map: Soft outline.
Primary sources for Ezo (Hokkaido, Sakhalin tip, south Kurils)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Mirror of the East, Anonymous; compiled by officials of the Kamakura shogunate (compiled about 1300 from the shogunate's records, diaries and family documents). The Kamakura house's own chronicle, in daily entries. Read online
Sources and studies
- KJA_BRIEF.md and the OMNIA board for sheet kja (the lead's notes: [own] computation, [not yet checked against the source] recollection, [en] English Wikipedia)
- Azuma Kagami (the Kamakura chronicle), Kenkyu 10 to Shoji 2 entries, recalled and through the brief; ja.wikipedia and ja.wikisource were refused in this session, so no entry was re-read
- Jeffrey P. Mass, Warrior Government in Early Medieval Japan (1974), from memory; the archive.org full text could not be opened
- English Wikipedia: Okhotsk culture (read this session; thin)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.