What is "ezo"

is a Japanese name which historically referred to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido which changed its name from Ezo to Hokkaido in 1869, and sometimes included Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The word "Ezo" can also refer to the peoples that the Japanese encountered in these lands, referred to in modern times as the Ainu people.

was a Japanese heavy metal band originally formed as Flatbacker in the spring of 1982 in Sapporo, Japan out of the remnants of two high school bands, Power-Station and Scrap. Ezo has been named a "seminal influence by such artists as Steve McDonald of Redd Kross and Michael Steele of The Bangles."

EZO is the American self-titled debut album from the Japanese metal band Ezo. It was released in 1987 on Geffen Records and co-produced by Gene Simmons of KISS fame. Songwriters from the Kiss’ entourage -- Adam Mitchell and Jaime St. James -- contributed heavily to the songs of the album. Jody Gray, co-writer of Destroyer, co-wrote and co-produced the 2nd album, Fire Fire (Geffen).

Ezo can refer to:

• is a Japanese name which historically referred to the lands to the north of the island nation

• The major northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō (until 1869).
• The short-lived Republic of Ezo on Hokkaidō.
• The lands around the Sea of Okhotsk (historical usage).
• The Ainu people, and more vaguely, any peoples with whom the Japanese came into contact to their north.
• The Red Ezo, a name historically used by the Japanese for the Russians of the Far East, normally Siberian Cossacks, on account of their supposedly red hair. Once the Japanese had clearly identified these people as Russians (in Japanese: Oroshiya), of whom they were already aware through Dutch traders, the term Red Ezo fell into disuse.

This term can also refer to:

• The band Ezo
• The French writer Ezo, who wrote two children books: Avril and My Son-in-Law the Hippopotamus
• Ezo (alga), a genus of red algae in the subfamily Lithophylloideae
• Ezo, a town in South Sudan