Tondenhei

The tondenhei (屯田兵, Soldiers stationed in the fields, literally "field-encampment soldiers") were military settler colonists recruited after the Meiji Restoration to develop and defend Japan's northern frontier in Hokkaidō and Karafuto against foreign states, particularly Imperial Russia. The term tonden comes from ancient China, where colonist militias were also employed to defend imperial frontiers. The first recruits in Japan were former samurai whose feudal lords had opposed the Meiji forces and whose domains were therefore abolished, leaving them without gainful employment. Later recruits included commoners as well as samurai.