Tomamae

Tomamae faces the Sea of Japan on the northwestern coast of Ezo, with wooded hills rising inland. Its Ainu name is associated with a place where the plant Ezo-engosaku grows. In 1787 the Suhara merchant family undertook the management of the Tomamae trading district and established a trading house. Fishermen following the herring north increasingly came to these shores, adding to the activity around the Ainu trading place.