The constituted a group of people who lived in northeastern Honshu in the Tohoku region which was referred to as in contemporary sources. The origin of the Emishi is unknown, but they are believed to have descended from the Jomon people. The first mention of them in literature dates to AD 400, in which they are mentioned as "the hairy people" from the Chinese records. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of the Japanese Emperors during the late Nara and early Heian periods (7th–10th centuries AD). Scholars believe that they were natives of northern Honshu and were descendants of those who developed the Jomon culture in that region. They are thought to have been related to the Ainu.

The constituted a group of people who lived in northeastern Honshu in the Tohoku region which was referred to as in contemporary sources. The origin of the Emishi is unknown, but they are believed to have descended from the Jomon people. The first mention of them in literature dates to AD 400, in which they are mentioned as "the hairy people" from the Chinese records. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of the Japanese Emperors during the late Nara and early Heian periods (7th–10th centuries AD). Scholars believe that they were natives of northern Honshu and were descendants of those who developed the Jomon culture in that region. They are thought to have been related to the Ainu.