Sōya

Sōya faces Sakhalin across the strait at the northern end of Ezo. Ainu communities lived along this coast and maintained connections across the northern seas. In 1685 the Matsumae domain established the Sōya trading district, through which local products were exchanged with Japanese merchants. The area also formed part of a wider northern trade in which goods from the lower Amur and Qing territories reached Sakhalin and Sōya through Ainu intermediaries.