Ezo

Ezo (蝦夷?, also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is a Japanese name which historically referred to the lands to the north of Japan. It was used in various senses, sometimes meaning the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and sometimes meaning lands and waters further north in the Sea of Okhotsk, like Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The word Ezo could also refer to the peoples that the Japanese encountered in these lands, referred to in modern times as the Ainu people.