japanreviewRussian Japanology ReviewRussian Japanology Review2658-67892658-6444Association of Japanologists10.55105/2658-6444-2025-1-5-27japanreview-116Research ArticleСтатьиMatsuda Denjūrō’s Service in Hakodate and the Surrounding Area From October 31, 1799, to January 1, 1801 (Based on the Tales of the Northern Barbarians)https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3461-6677KlimovA. V.

KLIMOV Artyom Vadimovich – Senior Lecturer, Department of Japanese Studies, Institute of Oriental and African Studies

123a, Griboyedov Canal Embankment, St.-Petersburg, 190068

avklimov@hse.ruNational Research University “Higher School of Economics” (HSE University Saint-Petersburg)Russian Federation20252307202581527Copyright © Klimov A.V., 20252025Klimov A.V.Klimov A.V.Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.https://www.japanreview.ru/jour/article/view/116

The manuscript Tales of the Northern Barbarians (Hokuidan, 「北夷談」) by Matsuda Denjūrō (松田伝十郎, 1769–1843) is a valuable source on the history of Russian-Japanese relations, the development of the northern territories inhabited by the Ainu conducted by the Japanese, relations between the Ainu and the Japanese, their barter trade. The written source consists of seven notebooks. The manuscript was created in the first years of the Bunsei era (文政, 1818–1831). It describes the events from 1799 to 1822 in chronological order, i.e., events that occurred during the 24 years of Matsuda’s service in the lands of the Ainu. The manuscript is written in cursive (Japanese: “grass writing”, sōsho 草書). The second half of the first book examines the bear festival and the inau, cult objects of the Ainu, which were described in detail by the author in [Klimov A.V. 2024].This article is the continuation of the description of the events of the first notebook, in which Matsuda describes: wintering in Akkeshi, the life and clothing of the Ainu, the peculiarities of hunting sea lions, the attitude towards the moon fish, wintering in Aputa, the fight against the smallpox epidemic that arose, and his return to Edo. The text is accompanied by numerous sketches. The illustrations in the manuscript are of great value, providing additional information that is missing from the text itself.Matsuda’s descriptions refer to November 1799 – January 1801. The Hokuidan manuscript has not yet been translated into any of the European languages other than Russian. The author of this article provides translations of fragments of the written source in the chapters of published collective monographs [Klimov A.V. 2020; Klimov A.V. 2021; Klimov A.V. 2022].The translation was carried out from the published text of the Japanese manuscript in the ten-volume series of written monuments entitled Collection of Historical Materials About the Life of the Common People of Japan (Nihon shomin seikatsu shiryō shū sei 日本庶民生活史料集成), in the fourth volume [Matsuda 1969]. In addition to this series, the Tales were published in Old Japanese in the fifth volume of a six-volume series of written monuments called Library: Northern Gate (Hokumon sō sho 北門叢書), published in 1972.

MatsudaHokkaidoHakodateAinuAputa/AbutaTales of the Northern BarbariansReferencesArutiunov, S. A., Shcheben’kov, V. G. (1992). Drevneishii narod Yaponii. Sud’by plemeni ainov [The Most Ancient People of Japan. The Fate of the Ainu Tribe]. Moscow: Nauka, Vostochnaya literatura. (In Russian).Arutiunov, S. A., Shcheben’kov, V. G. (1992). Drevneishii narod Yaponii. Sud’by plemeni ainov [The Most Ancient People of Japan. The Fate of the Ainu Tribe]. Moscow: Nauka, Vostochnaya literatura. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2020). Torgovlya ainov Sakhalina s narodami Primor’ya do nachala XIX v. [Trade of the Ainu of Sakhalin With the Peoples of Primorye Until the Beginning of the 19th century]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Ainy v istorii rossiisko-yaponskikh otnoshenii XVIII–XIX vv. [Ainu in the History of Russian-Japanese Relations in the 18th – 19th Centuries] (pp. 214–254). Saint Petersburg: Lema. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2020). Torgovlya ainov Sakhalina s narodami Primor’ya do nachala XIX v. [Trade of the Ainu of Sakhalin With the Peoples of Primorye Until the Beginning of the 19th century]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Ainy v istorii rossiisko-yaponskikh otnoshenii XVIII–XIX vv. [Ainu in the History of Russian-Japanese Relations in the 18th – 19th Centuries] (pp. 214–254). Saint Petersburg: Lema. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2021). Kabotazhnye perevozki v Yaponii kontsa XVIII – nachala XIX vv. i pervyi morskoi perekhod iz Edo v Akkesi (po “Rasskazam o severnykh varvarakh”) [Coastal Transportation in Japan in the Late 18th – Early 19th Centuries and the First Sea Passage From Edo to Akkeshi (according to the “Tales of the Northern Barbarians”)]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Novye istochniki po istorii i kul’ture ainov [New Sources on the History and Culture of the Ainu] (pp. 277–334). Saint Petersburg: Lema. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2021). Kabotazhnye perevozki v Yaponii kontsa XVIII – nachala XIX vv. i pervyi morskoi perekhod iz Edo v Akkesi (po “Rasskazam o severnykh varvarakh”) [Coastal Transportation in Japan in the Late 18th – Early 19th Centuries and the First Sea Passage From Edo to Akkeshi (according to the “Tales of the Northern Barbarians”)]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Novye istochniki po istorii i kul’ture ainov [New Sources on the History and Culture of the Ainu] (pp. 277–334). Saint Petersburg: Lema. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2022). Pervaya zimovka yapontsev na ostrove Iturup v 1803– 1804 gg. (po materialam “Rasskazov o severnykh varvarakh”) [The First Wintering of the Japanese on the Island of Iturup in 1803–1804 (Based on the “Tales of the Northern Barbarians”)]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Chetyre veka ekspeditsii v zemli ainov [Four Centuries of Expeditions to the Lands of the Ainu] (pp. 151–169). Saint Petersburg: Art-Express. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2022). Pervaya zimovka yapontsev na ostrove Iturup v 1803– 1804 gg. (po materialam “Rasskazov o severnykh varvarakh”) [The First Wintering of the Japanese on the Island of Iturup in 1803–1804 (Based on the “Tales of the Northern Barbarians”)]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Chetyre veka ekspeditsii v zemli ainov [Four Centuries of Expeditions to the Lands of the Ainu] (pp. 151–169). Saint Petersburg: Art-Express. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2024). Medvezhii prazdnik i mir inau na Khokkaido v opisanii Matsuda Dendzyuro 1799 – 1800 gg. (po materialam “Rasskazov o severnykh varvarakh”) [Bear Festival and the World of Inau in Hokkaido as Described by Matsuda Denjuro 1799–1800 (Based on the Materials of the “Tales of the Northern Barbarians”)]. Yaponskie issledovaniya [Japanese Studies in Russia], 1, 74–97. (In Russian).Klimov, A. V. (2024). Medvezhii prazdnik i mir inau na Khokkaido v opisanii Matsuda Dendzyuro 1799 – 1800 gg. (po materialam “Rasskazov o severnykh varvarakh”) [Bear Festival and the World of Inau in Hokkaido as Described by Matsuda Denjuro 1799–1800 (Based on the Materials of the “Tales of the Northern Barbarians”)]. Yaponskie issledovaniya [Japanese Studies in Russia], 1, 74–97. (In Russian).Klimov, V. Yu. (2021). “Zapisi o Svetonosnom pravlenii [zemlyami varvarov] dobrodetel’nogo Gosudarya” (“Kyu:mei ko:ki”). Pervaya i vtoraya tetradi [“Records of the Luminous Rule [of the Barbarian Lands] of the Virtuous Sovereign” (“Kyūmei kōki”). First and Second Manuscripts]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Novye istochniki po istorii i kul’ture ainov [New Sources on the History and Culture of the Ainu] (pp. 168–276). Saint Petersburg: Lema. (In Russian).Klimov, V. Yu. (2021). “Zapisi o Svetonosnom pravlenii [zemlyami varvarov] dobrodetel’nogo Gosudarya” (“Kyu:mei ko:ki”). Pervaya i vtoraya tetradi [“Records of the Luminous Rule [of the Barbarian Lands] of the Virtuous Sovereign” (“Kyūmei kōki”). First and Second Manuscripts]. In V. V. Shchepkin (ed.), Novye istochniki po istorii i kul’ture ainov [New Sources on the History and Culture of the Ainu] (pp. 168–276). Saint Petersburg: Lema. (In Russian).Matsuda, Denjūrō. (1969). Hokuidan [Tales of the Nothern Barbarians]. In Nihon shomin seikatsu shiryō shūsei [Collection of Historical Materials About the Life of Common People of Japan], in 10 volumes, Vol. 4 (pp. 77–175). Tokyo. (In Japanese).Matsuda, Denjūrō. (1969). Hokuidan [Tales of the Nothern Barbarians]. In Nihon shomin seikatsu shiryō shūsei [Collection of Historical Materials About the Life of Common People of Japan], in 10 volumes, Vol. 4 (pp. 77–175). Tokyo. (In Japanese).Pilsudskii, B. O. (1914). Na medvezh’em prazdnike ainov o. Sakhalina [At the Bear Festival of the Ainu of the Sakhalin Island]. In Zhivaya starina. Osnovana V. I. Lamanskim. Periodicheskoe izdanie. Otdelenie etnografii Imperatorskogo Russkogo geograficheskogo Obschestva. God XXIII. Vyp. 1–2. Petrograd: Tipografiya V. L. Smirnova [Living Antiquity. Founded by V. I. Lamansky. Periodical. Department of Ethnography of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Year XXIII. Issue 1–2. Petrograd: V. L. Smirnov publishing house] (pp. 69–162). (In Russian).Pilsudskii, B. O. (1914). Na medvezh’em prazdnike ainov o. Sakhalina [At the Bear Festival of the Ainu of the Sakhalin Island]. In Zhivaya starina. Osnovana V. I. Lamanskim. Periodicheskoe izdanie. Otdelenie etnografii Imperatorskogo Russkogo geograficheskogo Obschestva. God XXIII. Vyp. 1–2. Petrograd: Tipografiya V. L. Smirnova [Living Antiquity. Founded by V. I. Lamansky. Periodical. Department of Ethnography of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Year XXIII. Issue 1–2. Petrograd: V. L. Smirnov publishing house] (pp. 69–162). (In Russian).Shchepkin, V. V. (2017). Severnyi veter: Rossiya i ainy v Yaponii XVIII veka [Northern Wind: Russia and the Ainu in 18th Century Japan]. Moscow: Krug. (In Russian).Shchepkin, V. V. (2017). Severnyi veter: Rossiya i ainy v Yaponii XVIII veka [Northern Wind: Russia and the Ainu in 18th Century Japan]. Moscow: Krug. (In Russian).Sokolov, A. V. (2014). Ainy: ot istokov do sovremennosti. Materialy k istorii stanovleniya ainskogo etnosa [Ainu: From the Origins to the Present. Materials on the History of the Formation of the Ainu Ethnos]. Saint Petersburg: МАE of RAS. (In Russian).Sokolov, A. V. (2014). Ainy: ot istokov do sovremennosti. Materialy k istorii stanovleniya ainskogo etnosa [Ainu: From the Origins to the Present. Materials on the History of the Formation of the Ainu Ethnos]. Saint Petersburg: МАE of RAS. (In Russian).Taksami, Ch. M., Kosarev, V. D. (1990). Kto vy, ainy? Ocherk istorii i kul’tury [Who Are You, Ainu? Outline of History and Culture]. Moscow: Mysl’. (In Russian).Taksami, Ch. M., Kosarev, V. D. (1990). Kto vy, ainy? Ocherk istorii i kul’tury [Who Are You, Ainu? Outline of History and Culture]. Moscow: Mysl’. (In Russian).

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.