Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 17, 2026

Omusha

Omusha (オムシャ), also umusa or umsa, was an Ainu greeting ritual that, like the related uimamu , became a ceremonial—of trade—full of the political symbolism of subservience, to the Matsumae Domain.

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Omusha ceremony (1876) by Hirasawa Byōzan (ja) (National Museums Scotland) source ↗

Omusha (オムシャ), also umusa1 or umsa,2 was an Ainu greeting ritual that, like the related uimamu (ウイマム), became a ceremonial—of trade—full of the political symbolism of subservience, to the Matsumae Domain.23456789

Name

The word is understood to derive from the Ainu u (ウ), referring to mutuality, and musa (ムシャ), translated and defined by John Batchelor as "to stroke the head in salutation".810

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Fitzhugh, William W.; Dubreuil, Chisato O., eds. (1999). Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People. University of Washington Press. pp. 98 ff. ISBN 0295979127.
  2. Walker, Brett L. (1996). "Reappraising the "Sakoku" Paradigm: The Ezo Trade and the Extension of Tokugawa Political Space into Hokkaidō". Journal of Asian History. 30 (2). Harrassowitz Verlag: 181 ff. JSTOR 41931039.
  3. Walker, Brett L. (2001). The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion,1590–1800. University of California Press. pp. 204–226. ISBN 978-0520248342.
  4. Howell, David L. (1994). "Ainu Ethnicity and the Boundaries of the Early Modern Japanese State". Past & Present. 142. Oxford University Press: 69–93. doi:10.1093/past/142.1.69. JSTOR 651197.
  5. Takakura Shinichirō; Harrison, John A. (1960). "The Ainu of Northern Japan: A Study in Conquest and Acculturation". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 50 (4). American Philosophical Society: 1–88, esp. 35 ff., 68 f. doi:10.2307/1005795. JSTOR 1005795.
  6. Harrison, John A. (1954). "The Saghalien Trade: A Contribution to Ainu Studies". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 10 (3). University of Chicago Press: 283 f. doi:10.1086/soutjanth.10.3.3629131. JSTOR 3629131.
  7. Godefroy, Noémi (2017). "Domination et dépendance: l'évolution du statut des chefs aïnous en Asie orientale (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle)". Extrême-Orient Extrême-Occident (in French). 41. University of Chicago Press: 226 f. JSTOR 26358426.
  8. オムシャ [Omusha]. Kokushi Daijiten (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan 吉川弘文館. 1979–1997.
  9. オムシャ [Omusha]. Encyclopedia Nipponica (in Japanese). Shōgakukan. 2001.
  10. Batchelor, John (1889). An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary. Tokyo: Church Mission Society. pp. 147, 260.