Editing Hokkaido (section)

==Names==
[[File:Former government office, Hokkaido.JPG|thumb|[[Former Hokkaidō Government Office]] in [[Chūō-ku, Sapporo]]]]
When establishing the [[Hokkaidō Development Commission|Development Commission]], the Meiji government decided to change the name of Ezochi. [[Matsuura Takeshirō]] submitted six proposals, including names such as {{Nihongo3||海北道|Kaihokudō}} and {{Nihongo3||北加伊道|Hokkaidō}}, to the government. The government eventually decided to use the name Hokkaidō, but decided to write it as {{nihongo2|北海道}}, as a compromise between {{nihongo2|海北道}} and {{nihongo2|北加伊道}} because of the similarity with names such as {{Nihongo|[[Tōkaidō (region)|Tōkaidō]]|東海道}}. According to Matsuura, the name was thought up because the Ainu called the region ''Kai''. The ''kai'' element also strongly resembles the [[Kanji homograph|On'yomi]], or [[Sino-Japanese vocabulary|Sino-Japanese]], reading of the characters {{nihongo2|蝦夷}} (''on'yomi'' as [{{IPA|ka.i}}, カイ], ''[[kun'yomi]]'' as [{{IPA|e.mi.ɕi}}, えみし]) which have been used for over a thousand years in China and Japan as the standard orthographic form to be used when referring to Ainu and related peoples; it is possible that Matsuura's ''kai'' was actually an alteration, influenced by the Sino-Japanese reading of {{nihongo2|蝦夷}} ''Ka-i'', of the [[Nivkh languages|Nivkh]] [[Endonym and exonym|exonym]] for the Ainu, namely ''Qoy'' or {{IPA|niv|kʰuɣɪ}}.<ref>"Chapter 3: Nivkh as an Aspiration Language," p. 53 [http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/2006/h.shiraishi/03_c3.pdf RUG.nl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928112148/http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/2006/h.shiraishi/03_c3.pdf |date=2011-09-28 }}</ref>

In 1947, Hokkaidō became a full-fledged prefecture. The historical suffix [[Circuit (administrative division)|道 (''-dō'')]] translates to "prefecture" in English, ambiguously the same as [[Fu (administrative division)|府 (''-fu'')]] for [[Osaka Prefecture|Osaka]] and [[Kyoto Prefecture|Kyoto]], and 県 (''-ken'') for the rest of the "prefectures". ''Dō'', as shorthand, can be used to uniquely identify Hokkaido, for example as in 道道 (''dōdō'', "Hokkaido road")<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%81%93%E9%81%93-638548 |title=道道 |publisher=kotobank.com |access-date=2022-01-12 |archive-date=2021-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803082810/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%81%93%E9%81%93-638548 |url-status=live }}</ref> or 道議会 (''Dōgikai'', "[[Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly|Hokkaido Assembly]]"),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%81%93%E8%AD%B0%E4%BC%9A-579846 |title=道議会 |publisher=kotobank.com |access-date=2024-09-01  }}</ref> the same way 都 (''-to'') is used for [[Tokyo]]. The prefecture's government calls itself the "Hokkaidō Government" rather than the "Hokkaidō Prefectural Government".

With the rise of indigenous rights movements, there emerged a notion that Hokkaido should have an [[Ainu language]] name. If a decision to change the name is made, however, whichever Ainu phrase is chosen, its original referent is critically different from the large geographical entity. The phrase ''{{lang|ain|aynumosir}}'' ({{lang|ain|アイヌモシㇼ}}) has been a preferred choice among Japanese activists.<ref name="kojima2009">{{cite book
 |author=Kojima Kyōko 児島恭子
 |title=Emishi Eo kara Ainu e |script-title=ja:エミシ・エゾからアイヌへ
 |publisher=Yoshikawa Kobunkan
 |language=ja
 |year=2009
}}</ref> Its primary meaning is the "land of humans", as opposed to the "land of gods" (''{{lang|ain|kamuymosir}}''). When contrasted with ''{{lang|ain|sisammosir}}'' (the land of the neighbors, often pointing to [[Honshu]] or Japanese settlements on the southern tip of Hokkaido), it means the land of the Ainu people, which, depending on context, can refer to Hokkaido,<ref name="kayano1996">{{cite book
 |author=Kayano Shigeru 萱野茂
 |title=Kayano Shigeru no Ainu-go jiten |script-title=ja:萱野茂のアイヌ語辞典.
 |language=ja
 |year=1996
}}</ref> although from a modern ethnolinguistic point of view, the Ainu people have extended their domain to a large part of Sakhalin and the entire Kuril Islands. Another phrase, ''{{lang|ain|yaunmosir}}'' (ヤウンモシㇼ), has gained prominence. It literally means the "onshore land", as opposed to the "offshore land" ({{lang|ain|repunmosir}}), which, depending on context, can refer to the Kuril Islands, Honshu, or any foreign country. If the speaker is a resident of Hokkaido, ''{{lang|ain|yaunmosir}}'' can refer to Hokkaido.<ref name="tamura1996">{{cite book
 |author=Tamura Suzuko 田村すず子
 |title=Ainu-go Saru-hōgen jiten  |script-title=ja:アイヌ語沙流方言辞典
 |language=ja
 |year=1996
}}</ref> Yet another phrase, ''{{lang|ain|<nowiki>akor mosir</nowiki>}}'' (アコㇿモシㇼ) means "[[Clusivity|our (inclusive)]] land". When used by Hokkaido Ainus, it can refer to Hokkaido or Japan as a whole.<ref name="kayano1996" />