Tokachi

Tokachi takes its name from the great river flowing across eastern Ezo to the Pacific. Ainu settlements stood along the river and its tributaries, where salmon and deer supplied food and goods for exchange. The river mouth at Tokachibuto was an early center of trade with the Matsumae domain. In 1643 a Dutch exploring ship met an Ainu canoe off the coast and recorded the name Tokachi; in 1669 the Tokachi Ainu joined the wider uprising led by Shakushain.