Matsumae Clan

Matsumae clan 松前氏
The emblem (mon) of the Matsumae clan
Home province	Matsumae, Hokkaido
Parent house	Wakasa Takeda clan Kakizaki clan
Titles	Daimyo
Founding year	1590

The Matsumae clan (松前氏, Matsumae-shi^?) was a Japanese clan which 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 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 daimyo (feudal lords of Edo period Japan) 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.

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 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 shogun 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.