The Ainu people are the earliest inhabitants of the Kuril Islands, although there are few records that pre-date the seventeenth century.

The Japanese administration had first taken nominal control of the islands during the Edo period, in the form of claims by the Matsumae clan.

On "Shōhō Onkuko Ezu", a map of Japan made by the Tokugawa shogunate, in 1644, there are thirrty-nine large and small islands shown northeast of the Shiretoko peninsula and Cape Nosappu.