Editing Aomori Prefecture (section)

===Edo period===
[[File:Hirosaki-castle Aomori JAPAN.jpg|thumb|right|[[Hirosaki Castle]], the [[Edo period]] seat of the [[Tsugaru clan]].]]
After the establishment of the [[Tokugawa Shogunate]], the Nanbu ruled the Shimokita Peninsula and the districts immediately to the south of it. The area to the west of the Nanbu's holdings and to the north of the lands held by the Akita clan were all controlled by the Tsugaru clan, from their capital at [[Hirosaki]]. Work on [[Hirosaki Castle]] was completed in 1611, replacing Horikoshi Castle as the Tsugaru clan's fortress.<ref name="Tsugaru castle"/> By 1631, the Tsugaru clan had solidified their control over their gains made during the Sengoku period.<ref>{{cite web |title=弘前公園の歴史 |trans-title=History of Hirosaki Park |url=https://www.hirosakipark.jp/history.html |work=Hirosaki Park |date=3 April 2012 |language=ja |access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref> Mutsu Province was struck by the [[Tenmei famine]] between 1781 and 1789, due to lower than usual temperatures that were exacerbated by volcanic eruptions at [[Mount Iwaki]], near the Tsugaru clan's capital, Hirosaki, between November 1782 and June 1783.<ref>{{cite web |title=「命を救った食べ物～飢饉の歴史と生きるための食物～」 |trans-title=Food that saves life, the history of food production during famines |url=http://www2.pref.iwate.jp/~hp2088/park/kikaku/49th_inochi_tabemono.html |access-date=9 July 2020 |publisher=Iwate Prefecture Government |language=ja |archive-date=10 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710100809/http://www2.pref.iwate.jp/~hp2088/park/kikaku/49th_inochi_tabemono.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the beginning of the Edo period, the last pockets of Ainu people in Honshu still lived in the mountainous areas on the peninsulas of the prefecture. They interacted with the ruling clans to some extent, but they primarily lived off of fishing the waters of [[Mutsu Bay]] and the [[Tsugaru Strait]]. However, the Tsugaru clan made two big pushes to assimilate the Ainu, the first came in 1756 and the second came in 1809. Records show that the clan was successful in wiping out the Ainu culture in their holdings, though some geographic names in Aomori Prefecture still retain their original Ainu names.<ref>{{cite news |title=アイヌ語と津軽半島 |trans-title=Ainu language and the Tsugaru Peninsula |url=http://www.mutusinpou.co.jp/%E6%B4%A5%E8%BB%BD%E3%81%AE%E8%A1%97%E3%81%A8%E9%A2%A8%E6%99%AF/2014/11/34027.html |language=ja |date=24 November 2014 |access-date=2 July 2020}}</ref>