Fictitious Images of the Ainu: Ishū Retsuzō and Its Back Story

In 1789, there was an Ainu uprising against Wajin (Japanese) in the Kunashiri and Menashi districts of eastern Ezo. The uprising was quickly quelled in what is often referred to as the Battle of Kunashiri-Menashi. A year later, Matsumae domain, assigned by the Tokugawa shogunate to govern Ezo, completed Ishū retsuzō, a set of portraits of twelve Ainu chiefs who collaborated with the domain in suppressing the uprising. The paintings, executed by Kakizaki Hakyō (1764–1826), were intended not just to honor the chiefs’ deeds but also to represent Confucian ideals. This was a time when the shogunate was campaigning to revive Confucianism. It duly commissioned a work of similar style and purpose, namely the Kenjō no sōji, a set of wall panels for the Shishinden Hall in the imperial palace in Kyoto featuring thirty-two Chinese sages. Was the contemporaneous creation of these two sets of paintings a mere coincidence? Ishū retsuzō was first taken to Kyoto, where it was viewed by Confucian scholars, court nobles, and the emperor himself. The visually striking portraits enjoyed a quiet popularity among intellectuals and daimyo in Kyoto and Edo. Toward the end of the Edo period, part of the Ishū retsuzō was included in publications by Ezo explorer Matsuura Takeshirō. Contrary to the original intent of the work, it was used to introduce the “customs” of the Ainu, and was even introduced to Europe as such.