Hot answers tagged japan
2
The people already living in the Ezo, the Ainu, were no joke militarily, and tangled regularly with the Mongolian Empire on Sakhalin, and later, the Ming in the Amur Valley. It's not clear the Japanese could have taken the island completely if they wanted to, not before they modernized in the 19th century.
This also highlights another point - the islands ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
