Page "Ainu people" Paragraph 3

During the Tokugawa period ( 1600 – 1868 ) the Ainu became increasingly involved in trade with Japanese who controlled the southern portion of the island that is now called Hokkaido.

The Bakufu government granted the Matsumae clan exclusive rights to trade with the Ainu in the Northern part of the island.

Later the Matsumae began to lease out trading rights to Japanese merchants, and contact between Japanese and Ainu became more extensive.

Throughout this period Ainu became increasingly dependent on goods imported by Japanese, and suffered from epidemic diseases such as smallpox.

Although the increased contact brought by trade between the Japanese and the Ainu contributed to increased mutual understanding, sometimes it led to conflict, occasionally intensifying into violent Ainu revolts, of which the most important was Shakushain's Revolt ( 1669 – 1672 ).