Kami Ezochi

…Although a certain number of Ainu lived in the Japanese territories until the late modern period, they were merely an exception when viewed from the perspective of the Ainu people as a whole. Based on this regional division policy, the southern part of Ezochi close to the Japanese territories was called Kuchi-Ezochi or Kin-Ezochi, the eastern part of Hokkaido including the southern Kuril Islands was called Higashi-Ezochi or Shimo-Ezochi, the Japan Sea side from Kumaishi north to Soya and the northwestern part of Hokkaido from Soya to Cape Shiretoko was called Nishi-Ezochi or Kami-Ezochi, and Sakhalin (now Sakhalin) was originally called Karato Island or Karafuto Island, and after 1809 (Bunka 6) was called Kita-Ezochi. However, the extent of the Wajin land changed slightly; in the early modern period, it consisted of Otobe village in the west and Ishizaki village south of Kameda in the east, and at the end of the 17th century it was Kumaishi village in the west and Ishizaki village in the east. In 1800 (Kansei 12), six places in Hakodate between Oyasu and Nodaoi were integrated into a "village district," and the eastern border effectively moved north to Yamakoshiuchi (present-day Yakumo Town). As a result, the southern limit of Ezo also changed slightly over time.
[Ezo Development]
The development of Ezochi in the early modern period was carried out in three stages: (1) from the early modern period to 1798, when Ezochi was under the control of the Matsumae Domain; (2) from 1799 to 1854 (Kansei 11 to Ansei 1), when Ezochi was under direct control of the shogunate and restored to the Matsumae Domain; and (3) from 1855 to the end of the Edo period, when Ezochi was under direct control of the shogunate again.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Kami-Ezo" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…もっとも和人地内にも近世後期まで一定のアイヌが居住していたが，アイヌ民族全体からみれば，これは例外的な存在にすぎなかった。こうした地域区分策を実施したうえで，和人地に近い南部の蝦夷地を口（くち）蝦夷地･近蝦夷地，南千島を含む東北海道部を東蝦夷地･下蝦夷地，熊石以北宗谷までの日本海側および宗谷から知床岬に至る北海道西北部を西蝦夷地･上蝦夷地，樺太(現，サハリン)を当初カラト島･カラフト島，1809年(文化6)以降北蝦夷地と称したが，和人地の範囲が，近世初頭には西は乙部村，東は亀田以南の石崎村，17世紀末に西は熊石村，東は石崎村，1800年(寛政12)には小安～野田追間の箱館6ヵ場所の〈村並〉化に伴い東の境が事実上山越内(現，八雲町)まで北上するなど，若干の変動がみられたため，蝦夷地の南限も時代によって若干の変動がみられた。
［蝦夷地開発］
　近世における蝦夷地開発は，おおむね(1)近世初期～1798年，松前藩による蝦夷地支配の時期，(2)1799‐1854年(寛政11‐安政1)，幕府直轄および松前藩復領期，(3)1855年～幕末，幕府再直轄期，の3段階を経て行われた。…

※「上蝦夷地」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報