Abe no Hirafu

was a governor of Koshi Province

Koshi Province

was an ancient province or region of Japan in the area of Echigo, Etchū and Echizen provinces. Also encompassed are Noto and Kaga provinces which were once part of Echizen. It was sometimes called ....

. He fought against the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (called, at that time, emishi

Emishi

The constituted a group of people who lived in northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region. They are referred to as in contemporary sources. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of the Japanese Emperors during the late Nara and early Heian periods...

or ebisu, which basically means 'barbarian'). This was in 658. Three years later, in 661, he led an expedition into Korea to help Baekje

Baekje

Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

, an ally on the Korean peninsula, in the Battle of Baekgang

Battle of Baekgang

The Battle of Baekgang, also known as Battle of Baekgang-gu or by the Japanese name Battle of Hakusukinoe , was a battle between Baekje restoration forces and their ally, Yamato Japan, against the allied forces of Silla and the Tang Dynasty of ancient China...

.

Abe no Hirafu might be the ancestor of one or more of the Abe clan

Abe clan

The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans ; and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period. The clan's origin is said to be one of the original clans of the Yamato people; they truly gained prominence during the Heian period , and experienced a...

s, as well as the Ando and Akita clans.

See also

• Mishihase
  Mishihase
  The , also read as Ashihase and Shukushin, were a people of ancient Japan, believed to have lived along the northern portion of the coast of the Sea of Japan...