Kumaso

The Kumaso (熊襲) were a peoples of ancient Japan, believed to have lived in the south of Kyushu until at least the Nara period. They are believed to known as Kumaso (Bear people) because of their hairiness. Their ethnic origin is unknown but there have been suggestion that they could be Proto-Ainu or Proto Malay. As Yamato people pushed southward, the Kumaso people have been assimulated or exterminated. The last "King" of Kumaso has been assasinated by Prince Yamatotakeru of Yamato and the Kumaso kingdom came to the end. The name of the prefecture Kumamoto came from Kumaso.