The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)

The article is devoted to the definition of the role and importance of the participation of the indigenous peoples of the Far East in the formation and development of Russian-Japanese trade during the 18th – 19th centuries. The traditional crafts of the aborigines of the Far Eastern Territory were o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shkunov V.N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association of Japanologists 2025-07-01
Series:Японские исследования
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.japanjournal.ru/jour/article/view/562/333
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849225024364347392
author Shkunov V.N.
author_facet Shkunov V.N.
author_sort Shkunov V.N.
collection DOAJ
description The article is devoted to the definition of the role and importance of the participation of the indigenous peoples of the Far East in the formation and development of Russian-Japanese trade during the 18th – 19th centuries. The traditional crafts of the aborigines of the Far Eastern Territory were of undoubted interest to Russian entrepreneurs who sought to expand trade relations with neighboring Japan. Before the conclusion of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855, Russian merchants in need of certain goods resorted to the intermediary services of the Ainu, who exchanged Japanese goods for Russian ones. The article provides concrete facts about the indirect participation of the aborigines of the Far East in Russian-Japanese trade, information about goods, prices, supply channels, etc. It notes the changes in the life of the aboriginal population under the influence of barter trade, their transition to settled life, borrowing of traditions of everyday life from Russians, and their reorientation to new occupations, influenced by the needs of foreign trade. In particular, it discusses the specific features of traditional occupations of the aborigines of the Far East: the Taz, the Negidals, the Oroks, the Nivkh, the Gilyaks, the Tungus, the Goldi, the Orochen, etc., as well as ways of their involvement in barter trade and realization of products of traditional crafts in the Japanese market. The article specifically focuses on the participation of the Ainu subjects of Japan and the Russian Empire in Russian-Japanese trade, notes the peculiarities of the attitude of Russian and Japanese authorities to the Ainu, their interaction with Russian entrepreneurs. It also notes the participation of Koreans and the Chinese residing in the Russian Far East in Russian-Japanese trade. The article emphasizes the importance of Russian entrepreneurs’ selling furs, fish, seafoods, seaweed, ginseng, marine mammals products obtained through barter trade from the Far Eastern aborigines in the Japanese market. It analyzes the bilateral international trade treaties between the Russian Empire and Japan in the studied period. The article uses rare pre-revolutionary archival documents, as well as sources in Russian, English, French, Spanish, and German.
format Article
id doaj-art-56bdeea4ec8f449fa5beb8fe50f43abe
institution Kabale University
issn 2500-2872
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Association of Japanologists
record_format Article
series Японские исследования
spelling doaj-art-56bdeea4ec8f449fa5beb8fe50f43abe2025-08-25T06:39:44ZengAssociation of JapanologistsЯпонские исследования2500-28722025-07-012536810.55105/2500-2872-2025-2-53-68The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)Shkunov V.N. 0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0311-9061Samara Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Russian FederationThe article is devoted to the definition of the role and importance of the participation of the indigenous peoples of the Far East in the formation and development of Russian-Japanese trade during the 18th – 19th centuries. The traditional crafts of the aborigines of the Far Eastern Territory were of undoubted interest to Russian entrepreneurs who sought to expand trade relations with neighboring Japan. Before the conclusion of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855, Russian merchants in need of certain goods resorted to the intermediary services of the Ainu, who exchanged Japanese goods for Russian ones. The article provides concrete facts about the indirect participation of the aborigines of the Far East in Russian-Japanese trade, information about goods, prices, supply channels, etc. It notes the changes in the life of the aboriginal population under the influence of barter trade, their transition to settled life, borrowing of traditions of everyday life from Russians, and their reorientation to new occupations, influenced by the needs of foreign trade. In particular, it discusses the specific features of traditional occupations of the aborigines of the Far East: the Taz, the Negidals, the Oroks, the Nivkh, the Gilyaks, the Tungus, the Goldi, the Orochen, etc., as well as ways of their involvement in barter trade and realization of products of traditional crafts in the Japanese market. The article specifically focuses on the participation of the Ainu subjects of Japan and the Russian Empire in Russian-Japanese trade, notes the peculiarities of the attitude of Russian and Japanese authorities to the Ainu, their interaction with Russian entrepreneurs. It also notes the participation of Koreans and the Chinese residing in the Russian Far East in Russian-Japanese trade. The article emphasizes the importance of Russian entrepreneurs’ selling furs, fish, seafoods, seaweed, ginseng, marine mammals products obtained through barter trade from the Far Eastern aborigines in the Japanese market. It analyzes the bilateral international trade treaties between the Russian Empire and Japan in the studied period. The article uses rare pre-revolutionary archival documents, as well as sources in Russian, English, French, Spanish, and German.https://www.japanjournal.ru/jour/article/view/562/333japanhokkaidorussian empireforeign tradeainugoodsexports
spellingShingle Shkunov V.N.
The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)
Японские исследования
japan
hokkaido
russian empire
foreign trade
ainu
goods
exports
title The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)
title_full The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)
title_fullStr The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)
title_full_unstemmed The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)
title_short The aboriginal population of the Far East in the Russian-Japanese trade in the 18th – 19th centuries (based on pre-revolutionary sources)
title_sort aboriginal population of the far east in the russian japanese trade in the 18th 19th centuries based on pre revolutionary sources
topic japan
hokkaido
russian empire
foreign trade
ainu
goods
exports
url https://www.japanjournal.ru/jour/article/view/562/333
work_keys_str_mv AT shkunovvn theaboriginalpopulationofthefareastintherussianjapanesetradeinthe18th19thcenturiesbasedonprerevolutionarysources
AT shkunovvn aboriginalpopulationofthefareastintherussianjapanesetradeinthe18th19thcenturiesbasedonprerevolutionarysources