Ainu people

(Redirected from Ainu art)

The Ainu are an indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Khabarovsk Krai. They have occupied these areas, known to them as "Ainu Mosir" (Ainu: アイヌモシㇼ, lit.'the land of the Ainu'), since before the arrival of the modern Yamato and Russians.[6][7][8] These regions are often referred to as Ezochi (蝦夷地) and its inhabitants as Emishi (蝦夷) in historical Japanese texts. Along with the Yamato and Ryukyu ethnic groups, the Ainu people are one of the primary historic ethnic groups of Japan.

Ainu
アィヌ
Historical homeland and distribution of Ainu people[1]
Total population
c. 25,000
Regions with significant populations
16,786 or more[2]
109[3][4]–1,000
Languages
Ainu language family (Hokkaido in Japan; historically prominent, now critically endangered); Japanese or Russian [5]
Religion
Related ethnic groups
Ainu
PeopleAinu
LanguageAinu languages

Official estimates place the total Ainu population in Japan at 25,000. Unofficial estimates place the total population at 200,000 or higher, as the near-total assimilation of the Ainu into Japanese society has resulted in many individuals of Ainu descent having no knowledge of their ancestry.[9]

The Ainu are one of the few ethnic minorities native to the Japanese islands. They were subject to forced assimilation and colonization by the Japanese since at least the 18th century. Japanese assimilation policies in the 19th century around the Meiji Restoration included forcing Ainu peoples off their land. This, in turn, forced them to give up traditional ways of life such as subsistence hunting and fishing. Ainu people were not allowed to practice their religion and were placed into Japanese-language schools, where speaking the Ainu language was forbidden. In 1966, there were about 300 native Ainu speakers; in 2008, there were about 100.[10][11] In recent years, there have been increasing efforts to revitalize the Ainu language.[12]

Names

edit

This people's most widely known ethnonym, Ainu (Ainu: アィヌ; Japanese: アイヌ; Russian: Айны), means 'human' in the Ainu language, particularly as opposed to kamui, 'divine beings'. Ainu also identify themselves as Utari ('comrades' or 'people'). Official documents use both names.

The name first appeared as Aino in a 1591 Latin manuscript titled De yezorum insula. This document gives the native name of Hokkaido as Aino moxori, or Ainu mosir, 'land of the Ainu'. The terms Aino and Ainu did not come into common use as ethnonyms until the early 19th century. The ethnonym first appeared in an 1819 German encyclopedia article. Neither European nor Japanese sources conceived of the Ainu as a distinct ethnic group until the late 1700s.[13]

The Ainu were also called the Kuye by their neighbors. The Qing dynasty called Sakhalin Kuyedao ("island of the Ainu").[14] The island was also called Kuye Fiyaka.[15] The word Kuye used by the Qing is "most probably related to kuyi, the name given to the Sakhalin Ainu by their Nivkh and Nanai neighbors."[16] When the Ainu migrated onto the mainland, the Chinese described a "strong Kui (or Kuwei, Kuwu, Kuye, Kugi, i.e. Ainu) presence in the area otherwise dominated by the Gilemi or Jilimi (Nivkh and other Amur peoples)."[17] Related names were in widespread use in the region, for example the Kuril Ainu called themselves koushi.[16]

The Old Japanese exonym 蝦夷 (Emi1si) was coined according to the Kojiki-den from ("shrimp") + ("barbarian") as a reference to their hairiness and savagery.[18][clarification needed] The term is considered an insult by contemporary Ainu.

History

edit
 
Hokkaido Ainu clan leader, 1930

The Ainu are considered the native people of Hokkaido, southern Sakhalin, and the Kurils. Ainu toponyms support the historical view that the Ainu people lived in several places throughout northern Honshu. There is also a possibility that Ainu speakers lived throughout the Amur region as suggested by various Ainu loanwords found in the Uilta and Ulch languages.[19][failed verification] Ainu shares a number of cognates with Old Korean, that appear to be unlikely to be the result of a Japonic intermediary.[20][21]

The ancestors of the Ainu, who were referred to as Emishi, came under Japanese subjugation starting in the 9th century and were pushed to the northern islands.[22]

Ainu Culture period (Nibutani period)

edit

Following the Zoku-Jōmon period, which began in the 5th century BC, and the subsequent Satsumon period, from around the 13th century the Ainu established their own culture by absorbing the surrounding culture while engaging in transit trade between Honshu and north-east Asia. This is called the Ainu Culture period or Nibutani period.

Active contact between the Wa-jin (ethnonym for Japanese, also known as Yamato people) and the Ainu of Ezogashima (now known as Hokkaidō) began in this period.[23] The Ainu formed a society of hunter-gatherers, surviving mainly by hunting and fishing. They followed a religion that was based on natural phenomena.[24]

After the Mongols conquered the Jin dynasty (1234), Karafuto (Sakhalin)-Ainu suffered raids by the Nivkh and Udege peoples. In response, the Mongols established an administration post at Nurgan (present-day Tyr, Russia) at the junction of the Amur and Amgun rivers in 1263, and forced the submission of the two peoples.[25] In 1264, the Krafuto-Ainu invaded the land of the Nivkh people. They also started an expedition into the Amur region, which was then controlled by the Yuan dynasty, resulting in reprisals by the Mongols who invaded Sakhalin.[26][27]

From the Nivkh perspective, their surrender to the Mongols essentially established a military alliance against the Ainu who had invaded their lands.[28] According to the History of Yuan, a group of people known as the Guwei (骨嵬; Gǔwéi, the phonetic approximation of the Nivkh name for Ainu) from Sakhalin invaded and fought with the Jilimi (Nivkh people) every year. On November 30, 1264, the Mongols attacked the Ainu.[29] The Karafuto-Ainu resisted the Mongol invasions but by 1308 had been subdued. They paid tribute to the Mongol Yuan dynasty at posts in Wuliehe, Nanghar, and Boluohe.[30]

The Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644) placed Sakhalin under its "system for subjugated peoples" (ximin tizhi). From 1409 to 1411 the Ming established an outpost called the Nurgan Regional Military Commission near the ruins of Tyr on the Siberian mainland, which continued operating until the mid-1430s. There is some evidence that the Ming eunuch Admiral Yishiha reached Sakhalin in 1413 during one of his expeditions to the lower Amur, and granted Ming titles to a local chieftain.[31]

The Ming recruited headmen from Sakhalin for administrative posts such as commander (指揮使; zhǐhuīshǐ), assistant commander (指揮僉事; zhǐhuī qiānshì), and "official charged with subjugation" (衛鎮撫; wèizhènfǔ). In 1431, one such assistant commander, Alige, brought marten pelts as tribute to the Wuliehe post. In 1437, four other assistant commanders (Zhaluha, Sanchiha, Tuolingha, and Alingge) also presented tribute. According to the Ming Veritable Records, these posts, like the position of headman, were hereditary and passed down the patrilineal line. During these tributary missions, the headmen would bring their sons, who later inherited their titles. In return for tribute, the Ming awarded them with silk uniforms.[30]

Nivkh women in Sakhalin married Han Chinese Ming officials when the Ming took tribute from Sakhalin and the Amur River region.[32][33] Due to Ming rule in Manchuria, Chinese cultural and religious influence such as Chinese New Year, the "Chinese god", and motifs such as dragons, spirals, and scrolls spread among the Ainu, Nivkh, and Amur natives such as the Udeghes, Ulchis, and Nanais. These groups also adopted material goods and practices such as agriculture, husbandry, heating, iron cooking pots, silk, and cotton.[34]

 
French map from 1821 shows Sakhalin as part of Qing Empire, and the Kuril Islands are a part of Japan.

The Manchu Qing dynasty, which came to power in China in 1644, called Sakhalin "Kuyedao" (Chinese: 库页岛; pinyin: Kùyè dǎo; lit. 'island of the Ainu')[35][36][14] or "Kuye Fiyaka" (ᡴᡠᠶᡝ
ᡶᡳᠶᠠᡴᠠ
).[15] The Manchus called it "Sagaliyan ula angga hada" (Island at the Mouth of the Black River).[37] The Qing first asserted influence over Sakhalin after the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk, which defined the Stanovoy Mountains as the border between the Qing and the Russian Empires. In the following year the Qing sent forces to the Amur estuary and demanded that the residents, including the Sakhalin Ainu, pay tribute. This was followed by several further visits to the island as part of the Qing effort to map the area. To enforce its influence, the Qing sent soldiers and mandarins across Sakhalin, reaching most parts of the island except the southern tip. The Qing imposed a fur-tribute system on the region's inhabitants.[38][39][33]

The Qing dynasty ruled these regions by imposing upon them a fur tribute system, just as had the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Residents who were required to pay tributes had to register according to their hala (ᡥᠠᠯᠠ, the clan of the father's side) and gashan (ᡤᠠᡧᠠᠨ, village), and a designated chief of each unit was put in charge of district security as well as the annual collection and delivery of fur. By 1750, fifty-six hala and 2,398 households were registered as fur tribute payers, – those who paid with fur were rewarded mainly with Nishiki silk brocade, and every year the dynasty supplied the chief of each clan and village with official silk clothes (mangpao, duanpao), which were the gowns of the mandarin. Those who offered especially large fur tributes were granted the right to create a familial relationship with officials of the Manchu Eight Banners (at the time equivalent to Chinese aristocrats) by marrying an official's adopted daughter. Further, the tribute payers were allowed to engage in trade with officials and merchants at the tribute location. By these policies, the Qing dynasty brought political stability to the region and established the basis for commerce and economic development.[39]

— Shiro Sasaki

The Qing dynasty established an office in Ningguta, situated midway along the Mudan River, to handle fur from the lower Amur and Sakhalin. Tribute was supposed to be brought to regional offices, but the lower Amur and Sakhalin were considered too remote, so the Qing sent officials directly to these regions every year to collect tribute and to present awards. By the 1730s, the Qing had appointed senior figures among the indigenous communities as "clan chief" (hala-i-da) or "village chief" (gasan-da or mokun-da). In 1732, 6 hala, 18 gasban, and 148 households were registered as tribute bearers in Sakhalin. Manchu officials gave tribute missions rice, salt, other necessities, and gifts during the duration of their mission. Tribute missions occurred during the summer months. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–95), a trade post existed at Delen, upstream of Kiji (Kizi) Lake, according to Rinzo Mamiya. There were 500–600 people at the market during Mamiya's stay there.[40][33]

Local native Sakhalin chiefs had their daughters taken as wives by Manchu officials as sanctioned by the Qing dynasty when the Qing exercised jurisdiction in Sakhalin and took tribute from them.[41][33]

Japanese colonization

edit
 
Omusha ceremony involving the Hidaka Ainu, by Hirasawa Byōzan
 
The samurai and the Ainu, c. 1775

In 1635, Matsumae Kinhiro, the second daimyō of Matsumae Domain in Hokkaidō, sent Satō Kamoemon and Kakizaki Kuroudo on an expedition to Sakhalin. One of the Matsumae explorers, Kodō Shōzaemon, stayed in the island in the winter of 1636 and sailed along the east coast to Taraika (now Poronaysk) in the spring of 1637.[42] The Tokugawa bakufu (feudal government) granted the Matsumae clan exclusive rights to trade with the Ainu in the northern part of the island. Later, the Matsumae began to lease out trading rights to Japanese merchants, and contact between Japanese and Ainu became more extensive. Throughout this period, Ainu groups competed with each other to import goods from the Japanese, and epidemic diseases such as smallpox reduced the population.[43] In an early colonization attempt, a Japanese settlement was established at Ōtomari on Sakhalin's southern end in 1679.[44]

In the 1780s, the influence of the Japanese Tokugawa Shogunate on the Ainu of southern Sakhalin increased significantly. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Japanese economic zone extended midway up the east coast, to Taraika. With the exception of the Nayoro Ainu located on the west coast in close proximity to China, most Ainu stopped paying tribute to the Qing dynasty. The Matsumae clan was nominally in charge of Sakhalin, but they neither protected nor governed the Ainu there. Instead they extorted the Ainu for Chinese silk, which they sold in Honshu as Matsumae's special product. To obtain Chinese silk, the Ainu fell into debt, owing much fur to the Santan (Ulch people), who lived near the Qing office. The Ainu also sold the silk uniforms (mangpao, bufu, and chaofu) given to them by the Qing, which made up the majority of what the Japanese knew as nishiki and jittoku. As dynastic uniforms, the silk was of considerably higher quality than that traded at Nagasaki, and enhanced Matsumae prestige as exotic items.[38] Eventually the Tokugawa government, realizing that they could not depend on the Matsumae, took control of Sakhalin in 1807.[45]

Mogami's interest in the Sakhalin trade intensified when he learned that Yaenkoroaino, the above-mentioned elder from Nayoro, possessed a memorandum written in Manchurian, which stated that the Ainu elder was an official of the Qing state. Later surveys on Sakhalin by shogunal officials such as Takahashi Jidayú and Nakamura Koichiró only confirmed earlier observations: Sakhalin and Sóya Ainu traded foreign goods at trading posts, and because of the pressure to meet quotas, they fell into debt. These goods, the officials confirmed, originated at Qing posts, where continental traders acquired them during tributary ceremonies. The information contained in these types of reports turned out to be a serious blow to the future of Matsumae's trade monopoly in Ezo.[46]

— Brett L. Walker

From 1799 to 1806, the Tokugawa shogunate took direct control of southern Hokkaido. Japan proclaimed sovereignty over Sakhalin in 1807, and in 1809 Mamiya Rinzō claimed that it was an island.[47] During this period, Ainu women were separated from their husbands and either subjected to rape or forcibly married to Japanese men. Meanwhile, Ainu men were deported to merchant subcontractors for five- and ten-year terms of service. Policies of family separation and assimilation, combined with the impact of smallpox, caused the Ainu population to drop significantly in the early 19th century.[48] In the 18th century, there were 80,000 Ainu,[49] but by 1868, there were only about 15,000 Ainu in Hokkaido, 2,000 in Sakhalin, and around 100 in the Kuril Islands.[50]

 
Ainu people, by Murase Yoshinori

Despite their growing influence in the area in the early 19th century as a result of these policies, the Tokugawa shogunate was unable to gain a monopoly on Ainu trade with those on the Asian mainland, even by the year 1853. Santan traders, a group composed mostly of the Ulchi, Nanai, and Oroch peoples of the Amur River, commonly interacted with the Ainu people independent of the Japanese government, especially in the northern part of Hokkaido.[51] In addition to their trading ventures, Santan traders sometimes kidnapped or purchased Ainu women from Rishiri to become their wives. This further escalated Japan's presence in the area, as the Tokugawa shogunate believed a monopoly on the Santan trade would better protect the Ainu people.[51][52]

Japanese annexation of Hokkaido

edit

In 1869, the imperial government established the Hokkaidō Development Commission as part of the Meiji Restoration. Researcher Katarina Sjöberg quotes Baba's 1890 account of the Japanese government's reasoning:

... The development of Japan's large northern island had several objectives: First, it was seen as a means to defend Japan from a rapidly developing and expansionist Russia. Second ... it offered a solution to the unemployment for the former samurai class ... Finally, development promised to yield the needed natural resources for a growing capitalist economy.[53]

As a result of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), the Kuril Islands—along with their Ainu inhabitants—came under Japanese administration. In 1899, the Japanese government passed an act labeling the Ainu as "former aborigines", with the idea that they would assimilate. This resulted in the Japanese government taking the land where the Ainu people lived and placing it under Japanese control.[54] Also at this time, the Ainu were granted automatic Japanese citizenship, effectively denying them the status of an indigenous group.

 
A photograph of Tatsujiro Kuzuno [ja], an Ainu individual famous for being a promoter of Ainu culture

The Ainu went from being a relatively isolated group of people to having their land, language, religion, and customs assimilated into those of the Japanese.[55] Their land was distributed to the Yamato Japanese settlers to create and maintain farms in the model of Western industrial agriculture. It was known as "colonization" (拓殖) at the time, but later by the euphemism, "opening up undeveloped land" (開拓 [jp]).[56] Additionally, factories like flour mills and beer breweries, along with mining practices, resulted in the creation of infrastructure such as roads and railway lines during a development period that lasted until 1904.[57] During this time, the Ainu were ordered to cease religious practices such as animal sacrifice and the custom of tattooing.[58] The same act applied to the native Ainu on Sakhalin after its annexation as Karafuto Prefecture.[59]

Assimilation after annexation

edit
 
Sakhalin Ainu in 1904

The Ainu have historically suffered from economic and social discrimination, as both the Japanese government and mainstream population regarded them as dirty and primitive barbarians.[60] The majority of Ainu were forced to be petty laborers during the Meiji Restoration, which saw the introduction of Hokkaido into the Japanese Empire and the privatization of traditional Ainu lands.[61] During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Japanese government denied the rights of the Ainu to their traditional cultural practices, such as hunting, gathering, and speaking their native language.[62]

The legal denial of Ainu cultural practices mostly stemmed from the 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act.[63] This law and its associated policies were designed to fully integrate the Ainu into Japanese society while erasing Ainu culture and identity. The Ainu's position as manual laborers and their forced integration into larger Japanese society have led to discriminatory practices by the Japanese government that can still be felt today.[64]

Intermarriage between Japanese and Ainu was actively promoted by the Ainu to lessen the chances of discrimination against their offspring. As a result, many Ainu today are indistinguishable from their Japanese neighbors, but some Ainu-Japanese are interested in traditional Ainu culture.[citation needed] For example, Oki, born as the child of an Ainu father and a Japanese mother, became a musician who plays the traditional Ainu instrument, the tonkori.[65] There are also many small towns in the southeastern or Hidaka region of Hokkaido where ethnic Ainu live, such as in Nibutani (Niputay).

From the early 1870s, Christian missionary work was conducted among the Ainu. The Anglican Communion missionaries included the Rt. Rev. Philip Fyson, Bishop of Hokkaido, and the Rev. John Batchelor. Batchelor wrote extensively in English about the beliefs and daily life of the Ainu in Yezo (or Ezo), and his publications are a source of photographs of the Japanese and Ainu close to the missions.[66]

Standard of living

edit

The discrimination and negative stereotypes assigned to the Ainu have manifested in lower levels of education, income, and participation in the economy as compared to their ethnically Japanese counterparts. The Ainu community in Hokkaido in 1993 received welfare payments at a 2.3 times higher rate than that of Hokkaido as a whole. They also had an 8.9% lower enrollment rate from junior high school to high school and a 15.7% lower enrollment into college from high school.[61] Due to this noticeable and growing gap, the Japanese government has been lobbied by activists to research the Ainu's standard of living nationwide. The Japanese government will provide ¥7 million (US$63,000), beginning in 2015, to conduct surveys nationwide on this matter.[67]

Ainu and ethnic homogeneity in Japan

edit

The existence of the Ainu has challenged the notion of ethnic homogeneity in post-WWII Japan. After the demise of the multi-ethnic Empire of Japan in 1945, successive governments forged a single Japanese identity by advocating monoculturalism and denying the existence of more than one ethnic group in Japan.[68]

Following the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, Hokkaido politicians pressured the government to recognize Ainu rights. Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo answered a parliamentary question on May 20, 2008, by stating,[69]

It is a historical fact that the Ainu are the earlier arrivers of the northern Japanese archipelago, in particular Hokkaido. The Japanese government acknowledges the Ainu to be an ethnic minority as it has maintained a unique cultural identity and has a unique language and religion. However, as there is no established international definition of "indigenous people", the government is not in a position to conclude whether the Ainu should be referred as "indigenous people"...

On June 6, 2008, the National Diet of Japan passed a non-binding, bipartisan resolution calling upon the government to recognize the Ainu as indigenous people.[70][71]

In 2019, eleven years after this resolution, the Diet finally passed an act recognizing the Ainu as an indigenous people of Japan.[72][73] Despite this recognition of the Ainu as an ethnically distinct group, political figures in Japan continue to define ethnic homogeneity as key to the overall Japanese national identity. For example, then Deputy Prime Minister Tarō Asō notably claimed in 2020, "No other country but this one has lasted for as long as 2,000 years with one language, one ethnic group, and one dynasty."[68]

Origins

edit
 
A picture of Imekanu, right, with her niece Yukie Chiri, a famous Ainu Japanese transcriber and translator of Ainu epic tales. (1922)

The Ainu are regarded as having descended from the indigenous Japanese hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan during the Jōmon period (c. 14,000 to 300 BCE).[74]

The exact origins of the early Ainu remain unclear, but it is generally agreed to be linked to the Satsumon culture of the Epi-Jōmon period, with later influences from the nearby Okhotsk culture.[75] The Ainu culture may be better described as an "Ainu cultural complex", taking into account the regional variable subgroups of Ainu peoples. While the Ainu can be considered a continuation of the indigenous Jomon culture, they also display links to surrounding cultures, pointing to a larger cultural complex flourishing around the Sea of Okhotsk. Some authors have also described the development of the Ainu culture as the "resistance" of a Jomon society to the emerging Japanese state.[76][77][78]

One of their Yukar Upopo, or legends, tells that "[T]he Ainu lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came."[53]

The historical Ainu economy was based on farming as well as hunting, fishing, and gathering.[79]

The general consensus among historians is to associate the Ainu with the Satsumon culture, which was located in an area stretching from northern Honshu to Hokkaido.[80] Linguists such as Juha Janhunen and Alexander Vovin argue for a Satsumon origin of Ainu dialects, with deeper links to cultures centered in Central or Northern Honshu.[81][76] This is in part supported by Ainu-derived loanwords observed in Eastern Old Japanese and the probable distant link between the Ainu and the Emishi.[82]

 
Ainu people of Hokkaido, 1904
 
A high-status Ainu man

It has also been noted that the Okhotsk culture played a role in the formation of the later Ainu culture.[83][84] The origin of the Okhotsk culture itself is subject to research. While Okhotsk remains display affinity to the modern Nivkh people of northern Sakhalin, both also display affinities to the Jōmon peoples of Japan, pointing to a possible heterogeneous makeup of Okhotsk society. Satsumon pottery has been found among Okhotsk sites, pointing to a complex network of contacts in the wider area around the Sea of Okhotsk.[85][86]

The emergence of the Ainu culture is henceforth primarily attributed to the Satsumon culture, which later received some contributions from the Okhotsk culture via cultural contacts in northern Hokkaido after the Satsumon culture expanded northwards and into Sakhalin.[87] This view has been corroborated by later analyses.[86]

Archaeologists have considered that bear worship, which is a religious practice widely observed among the northern Eurasian ethnic groups (including the Ainu, Finns, Nivkh, and Sami), was also shared by the Okhotsk people. On the other hand, no traces of such a religious practice have ever been discovered from archaeological sites of the Jomon and Epi-Jomon periods, which were anterior to the Ainu cultural period. This implies that the Okhotsk culture contributed to the formation of the Ainu culture.[86]

Relationship with the historical Emishi

edit

While the view that the ancient Emishi were identical to the Ainu has been largely disproven by current research, the exact relationship between them is still under dispute.[88] It is agreed that at least some Emishi spoke Ainu languages and were ethnically related to the Ainu.[89] The Emishi may, however, have also included non-Ainu groups, which can either be associated with groups distantly related to the Ainu (Ainu-like groups) but forming their own ethnicity, or early Japonic-speakers outside the influence of the Yamato court.[89] The Emishi display clear material culture links to the Ainu of Hokkaido. Based on Ainu-like toponyms throughout Tohoku, it is argued that the Emishi, like the Ainu, descended from the Epi-Jōmon tribes and initially spoke Ainu-related languages.[89]

The term "Emishi" in the Nara period (710–794) referred to people who lived in the Tohoku region and whose lifestyle and culture differed markedly from that of the Yamato people; it was originally a highly cultural and political concept with no racial distinction.[90]

From the mid-Heian period onward, Emishi who did not fall under the governance of the Yamato Kingship were singled out as northern Emishi. They began to be referred to as "Ezo" (Emishi).

The first written reference to "Ezo", which is thought to be Ainu, can be found in Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, which was written in 1356. Indeed, Ainu have lived in Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido, and the northern Tohoku region since the 13th century.[91]

Genetics

edit

Paternal lineages

edit
 
Three Ainu from Hokkaidō in traditional dress

An analysis of 16 Ainu male individuals found that the majority (14/16) belong to Y-DNA Haplogroup D-M55, while a minority (2/16) belongs to Haplogroup C-M217. D-M55 is found throughout the Japanese archipelago, with very high frequencies among the Ainu of Hokkaido. C-M217 is found more commonly among populations from Northeast Asia and Central Asia.[92] Another analysis found that one out of four Ainu men belonged to haplogroup C-M217, while the remaining three belonged to haplogroup D-M55.[93]

Maternal lineages

edit

An analysis of 51 Ainu individuals found that around 51% of their mtDNA subclades are unique to the Ainu, while the remaining haplogroups are shared with other Asian populations, especially with the Nivkhs in northern Sakhalin and the Koryaks on the Kamchatka Peninsula.[92]

Of the 51 Ainu individuals, around 27% (14/51) belong to N9 (of which 10 were assigned to subclade Y and four to unclassifed N9 clades), around 24% (12/51) to D, around 20% (10/51) to M7, and around 20% (10/51) to G; the minor haplogroups are A (2/51), B (1/51), F (1/51), and an unclassified subclade of M not belonging to M7, M8, CZ, D, or G.[94]

Autosomal DNA

edit

The Ainu appear genetically most closely related to the Jōmon period peoples of Japan. Previous genetic analyses of Jomon remains found them to represent a deeply diverged East Asian lineage. The Jomon lineage is inferred to have diverged from Ancient East Asians before the divergence between Ancient Northern East Asians and Ancient Southern East Asians, but after the divergence of the basal Tianyuan man and/or Hoabinhians. Beyond their broad affinity with Eastern Asian lineages, the Jomon also display a weak affinity for Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), which may be associated with the introduction of microblade technology to Northeast Asia and northern East Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum via the ANE or Ancient Paleo-Siberians.[95][96]

The genetic makeup of the Ainu represents a "deep branch of East Asian diversity". Compared to contemporary East Asian populations, the Ainu share "a closer genetic relationship with northeast Siberians". The Ainu also display a relative closer genetic affinity with "lowland East Asians" than "highland East Asians" and may have contributed some ancestry to surrounding populations around the Sea of Okhotsk. Differences in the frequency of the derived EDAR gene variant between the Ainu and contemporary East Asians suggest that the ancestors of the Ainu may not have shared the selective pressures with other Ancestral East Asian populations. The Ainu, however, share two variants in the ADH gene cluster with other East Asians at high frequency, unlike Tibetans and Sherpa, "raising the possibility that selective pressure on these variants was different in the high-altitude environments."[97]

The closest modern ethnic groups to the Ainu are the Ryukyuans in southern Japan, followed by contemporary Japanese people. Compared with other East Asian populations, the Ainu are an outgroup, pointing to long-lasting isolation after their divergence. By analyzing the SNP loci of Ainu individuals, it was found that they carry genes associated with facial structure found among Europeans and hair and tooth morphology found among East Asians.[98] Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, B, and DRB1 gene frequencies placed the Ainu in an intermediate position between indigenous peoples of the Americas and contemporary Northeast Asians.[99][100]

 
Admixture graph based on the genomic data of Okhotsk (NAT002), Jomon (F23), and modern populations

Studies on modern-day Ainu estimate that they derive between 66% and 79.3% of their ancestry from the Jōmon lineage.[100][101] Another study on modern Ainu individuals found that they derive c. 49% of their ancestry directly from the Jōmon people, c. 22% from the Okhotsk people (who themselves could be modeled as 54% Ancient Northeast Asian, 22% Ancient Paleo-Siberian, and 24% Jōmon), and ~29% from the Yamato Japanese (who carried around 11% Jōmon and 89% Yayoi ancestry), corresponding with historical events.[86]

Military service

edit

Russo-Japanese War

edit

Ainu men were first recruited into the Japanese military in 1898.[102] Sixty-four Ainu served in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), eight of whom died in battle or from illness contracted during military service. Two received the Order of the Golden Kite, granted for bravery, leadership, or command in battle.

Culture

edit
 
Woman playing a tonkori.

Traditional Ainu culture is quite different from Japanese culture. According to Tanaka Sakurako from the University of British Columbia, the Ainu culture can be included into a wider "northern circumpacific region", referring to various indigenous cultures of Northeast Asia and "beyond the Bering Strait" in North America.[103] The Ainu culture developed from the 13th century (late Kamakura period) to the present day. While most Ainu in Japan now live outwardly similar lives to the Wajin (ethnic Japanese) due to assimilation policies, many still maintain their Ainu identity and respect for traditional Ainu ways, known as "Ainu puri". The distinctive Ainu patterns (Ainu mon'yō) and oral literature (Yukar) have been designated as Hokkaido Heritage.[104]

Language

edit
 
Map of the pre-1945 distribution of Ainu languages and dialects

In 2008, the news block World Watch gave an estimate of fewer than 100 remaining speakers of the Ainu language.[11] In 1993, linguist Alexander Vovin placed the number at fewer than 15 speakers, characterizing the language as "almost extinct".[105] Because so few present-day speakers are left, study of the Ainu language is limited and is based largely on historical research. Historically, the status of the Ainu language was rather high and was used by early Russian and Japanese administrative officials to communicate with each other and with the Ainu people.

 
Place names in the Ainu language

Despite the small number of native speakers of Ainu, there is an active movement to revitalize the language, mainly in Hokkaido but also elsewhere, such as in Kanto.[106] Ainu oral literature has been documented both in hopes of safeguarding it for future generations and for use as a teaching tool for language learners.[107] As of 2011, there were an increasing number of second-language learners, especially in Hokkaido.

The resurgence of Ainu culture and language is in large part due to the pioneering efforts of the late Ainu folklorist, activist, and former Diet member Shigeru Kayano, himself a native speaker. He first opened an Ainu language school in 1987, funded by Ainu Kyokai.[108]

Although some researchers have attempted to show that the Ainu and Japanese languages are related, modern scholars have rejected the idea that the relationship goes beyond contact, such as the mutual borrowing of words. No attempt to show a relationship with Ainu to any other language has gained wide acceptance, and linguists currently classify Ainu as a language isolate.[109] Most Ainu people speak either Japanese or Russian.

The Ainu language has no indigenous system of writing and has historically been transliterated using Japanese kana or Russian Cyrillic. As of 2019, it was typically written either in katakana or in the Latin alphabet.

Many of the Ainu dialects, especially those from different extremities of Hokkaido, are not mutually intelligible. However, all Ainu speakers understand the classic Ainu language of the Yukar, a form of Ainu epic. Without a writing system, the Ainu were masters of narration, with the Yukar and other forms of narration such as Uepeker (Uwepeker) tales being committed to memory and related at gatherings that often lasted many hours or even days.[110] Concepts expressed with prepositions in English, such as 'to', 'from', 'by', 'in', and 'at', appear as postpositional forms in Ainu. Whereas prepositions come before the word they modify, postpositions come after it. A single sentence in Ainu can comprise many added or agglutinated sounds or affixes that represent nouns or ideas.[citation needed]

Social structure

edit
 
Ainu wedding in Hokkaido, Japan

Ainu society was traditionally organized into small villages called kotan, typically located in river basins or along seashores where food was readily available, particularly in rivers where salmon traveled upstream. In early modern times, Ainu were forced to relocate their kotan near Japanese fishing grounds to provide labor. As a result, traditional kotan disappeared, and large villages of several dozen families were formed around fishing grounds.[111] The Ainu social structure included chiefs, but judicial functions were not entrusted to them. Instead, an indefinite number of community members sat in judgment upon criminals. Capital punishment did not exist, nor did the community resort to imprisonment. Beating was considered a sufficient and final penalty. However, in the case of murder, the nose and ears of the culprit were cut off, or the tendons of their feet were severed.[112]

Appearance and dress

edit
 
Ainu ceremonial dress, British Museum

Never shaving after a certain age, the men have full beards and moustaches. Men and women alike cut their hair level with the shoulders at the sides of the head, trimmed semi-circularly behind. The women tattoo (anchi-piri) their mouths and sometimes their forearms. The mouth tattoos start at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing in size. The soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of birch bark is used for color. Traditional Ainu dress consists of a robe spun from the inner bark of the elm tree, called attusi or attush. The various styles consist generally of a simple short robe with straight sleeves, folded around the body, and tied with a band around the waist. The sleeves end at the wrist or forearm, and the length generally is to the calves. Women also wear an undergarment of Japanese cloth.[112] In winter, the skins of animals are worn, with leggings of deerskin and, in Sakhalin, boots made from the skin of dogs or salmon.[113] Ainu culture regards earrings, traditionally made from grapevines, as gender-neutral. Women also wear a beaded necklace called a tamasay.[112] Modern craftswomen weave and embroider traditional garments that command very high prices.[citation needed]

Dwellings

edit
 
Ainu woman with mouth tattoos and a live bear

Their traditional habitations are reed-thatched huts, the largest about 20 ft (6 m) square, without partitions and having a fireplace in the center. There is no chimney; there is only a hole at the angle of the roof. One window sits on the eastern side, along with two doors. The house of the village head is used as a public meeting-place when one is needed.[112] Another kind of traditional Ainu house is called chise.[53] The chise is typically oriented east to west or parallel to a river, with the entrance on the west side also serving as a storeroom. It has three windows, including the sacred rorun-puyar on the east side, through which gods enter and leave and ceremonial tools are taken in and out. The Ainu regard this window as sacred and are told never to look in through it. A chise has a fireplace near the entrance. A husband and wife would traditionally sit on the fireplace's left side (called shiso). Children and guests would sit facing them on the fireplace's right side (called harkiso). The chise has a platform for valuables called iyoykir behind the shiso. The Ainu place sintoko (hokai) and ikayop (quivers) there.

Cuisine

edit

Traditional Ainu cuisine consists of the meat of bears, foxes, wolves, badgers, oxen, and horses, as well as fish, fowl, millet, vegetables, herbs, and roots. The Ainu traditionally never eat raw fish or meat, always boiling or roasting it.[112] They also cultivated crops such as millet (piyapa), foxtail millet (munchiro), and barnyard millet (menkur), which were used to make a type of sake called "tonoto" for ceremonial purposes. Salmon was particularly important, referred to as kamuy chep (god's fish) or shipe (true food). In autumn, large quantities of salmon were caught and processed into dried fish for preservation. This served not only as a staple food but also as a major trade item with the Japanese. The Ainu also made extensive use of the bulbs of the Cardiocrinum cordatum (turep), from which they extracted and preserved starch. This tradition of starch usage made it easy for them to adopt potatoes when they were introduced. Ainu cuisine is not commonly eaten outside Ainu communities. Only a few restaurants in Japan – mainly in Tokyo and Hokkaido – serve traditional Ainu dishes.[114][115]

Hunting

edit
 
Bear hunting, 19th century

The Ainu traditionally hunt from late autumn to early summer,[116] in part because in late autumn, plant gathering, salmon fishing, and other activities of securing food come to an end, and hunters readily find game in fields and mountains in which plants have withered. A village typically possesses a hunting-ground of its own, or several villages use a joint hunting territory, called an iwor.[117] Heavy penalties were imposed on any outsiders trespassing on such hunting grounds or on joint hunting territory. The Ainu traditionally hunt Ussuri brown bears, Asian black bears, Ezo deer (a subspecies of sika deer), hares, red foxes, Japanese raccoon dogs, and other animals.[118] Ezo deer are a particularly important food resource for the Ainu, as are salmon.[119] The Ainu also hunt sea eagles, such as white-tailed sea eagles, along with ravens and other birds.[120] The Ainu hunted eagles for their tail feathers, which they used in trade with the Japanese.[121] Historically, the Ainu hunted sea-otters[122] and traded their pelts in the Japanese market.[123]

 
Ainu people, c. 1840

The Ainu hunted with arrows and spears with poison-coated points.[124] They obtained the poison, called surku, from the roots and stalks of aconites.[125] The recipe for this poison was a household secret that differed from family to family. They enhanced the poison with mixtures of roots and stalks of dog's bane, boiled juice of Mekuragumo (a type of harvestman), Matsumomushi (Notonecta triguttata, a species of backswimmer), tobacco, and other ingredients. They also used stingray stingers or skin-covering stingers.[126] They traditionally hunt in groups with dogs.[127] Before hunting, particularly for bears and similar animals, they may pray to the Kamuy-huci, the house guardian goddess, to convey their wishes for a large catch and to the god of mountains for safe hunting.[128] The Ainu traditionally hunt bears during the spring thaw. At that time, bears are weak because they haven't eaten during their long hibernation. Ainu hunters catch hibernating bears or bears that have just left hibernation dens.[129] When they hunt bears in summer, they use a spring trap loaded with an arrow, called an amappo.[129] The Ainu usually use arrows to hunt deer.[130] Also, they drive deer into a river or sea and shoot them with arrows. For a large catch, a whole village would drive a herd of deer off a cliff and club them to death.[131]

Fishing

edit

Fishing is important to Ainu culture. They largely catch trout in summer and salmon in autumn, as well as ito (Japanese huchen), dace, and other fish. Spears called marek were often used. Other methods were tesh fishing, uray fishing, and rawomap fishing. Many villages were built near rivers or along the coast. Each village or individual had a definite river fishing territory. Outsiders could not freely fish there and needed to ask the owner.[132]

Japanese lacquerware

edit
 
Lacquer stored in cise (Hokkaido Museum)

Japanese lacquerware[133] was used in everyday life as tableware and often used in ceremonies (ritual utensils), such as the cups used to offer alcohol when praying to the kamui. Lacquerware was often treated as treasure, and it was also used as containers for storing other treasures.

One of the characteristics of Ainu lacquerware is that it is almost entirely imported from the south of Honshu. Some pieces may have been lacquered in Matsumae in southern Hokkaido, but since the technique of lacquering is from Honshu, lacquerware can be considered an introduced item among Ainu folk implements.

There are examples of spatulas and other objects used by the Ainu people for ceremonial purposes that remain in clusters of the same size, and some are specifically produced for trading with the Ainu.

Ornaments

edit
 
Ainu leader wearing a matanpushi in 1904

Traditionally, Ainu men wear a crown called a sapanpe for important ceremonies. Sapanpe are made from wood fiber with bundles of partially shaved wood. The crown has wooden figures of animal gods and other ornaments in its center.[134] Men carry an emush (ceremonial sword)[135] secured by an emush-at strap to their shoulders.[136]

 
An Ainu woman from Hokkaido, c. 1930

Ainu women traditionally wear matanpushi, embroidered headbands, and ninkari, metal earrings with balls. Matanpushi and ninkari were originally also worn by men. Furthermore, aprons called maidari are now part of women's formal clothes. However, some old documents state that men wore maidari.[citation needed] Women sometimes wear a bracelet called a tekunkani.[137]

Women may wear a necklace called a rektunpe, a long, narrow strip of cloth with metal plaques.[134] They may also wear a necklace that reaches the breast, called a tamasay or shitoki, usually made from glass balls. Some glass balls came from trade with the Asian continent. The Ainu also obtained glass balls secretly made by the Matsumae clan.[138]

Housing

edit
 
Ainu house in Hokkaido

A village is called a kotan in the Ainu language. Kotan were traditionally located in river basins and along seashores where food was readily available, particularly in the basins of rivers through which salmon traveled upstream. In early modern times, the Ainu people were forced to labor at Japanese fishing grounds. Ainu kotan were also forced to relocate to near fishing grounds so that the Japanese could secure a labor force. When the Japanese moved to other fishing grounds, Ainu kotan were forced to accompany them. As a result, the traditional kotan disappeared, and large villages of several dozen families were formed around the fishing grounds.[111]

 
Ainu traditional house. Ainu: cise

Cise or cisey (houses) in a kotan are made of cogon grass, bamboo grass, bark, etc. The length lays east to west or parallel to a river. A cise is about seven by five meters, with an entrance at the west end that also serves as a storeroom. A cise has three windows, including the rorun-puyar, a window located on the side facing the entrance (i.e., on the east side), through which gods enter and leave and ceremonial tools are taken in and out. The Ainu regard this window as sacred and are told never to look in through it. A cise has a fireplace near the entrance. A husband and wife would traditionally sit on the fireplace's left side (called shiso). Children and guests would sit facing them on the fireplace's right side (called harkiso). The cise has a platform for valuables called iyoykir behind the shiso. The Ainu place sintoko (hokai) and ikayop (quivers) there.[citation needed]

Traditions

edit
 
Chishima Ainu working

The Ainu people have various types of marriage. A child is traditionally promised in marriage by arrangement between their parents and the parents of their betrothed, or by a go-between. When the betrothed reach a marriageable age, they are told who their spouse is to be. There are also traditional marriages based on the mutual consent of both sexes.[139] In some areas, when a daughter reaches a marriageable age, her parents allow her to live in a small room called a tunpu, annexed to the southern wall of the house.[140] The parents choose her husband from the men who visit her.

The age of marriage is 17 to 18 years of age for men and 15 to 16 years of age for women,[134] who are traditionally tattooed. At these ages, both sexes are regarded as adults.[141]

 
An Ainu man smoking

When a man proposes to a woman in traditional fashion, he visits her house, and she hands him a full bowl of rice. He then eats half of the rice and returns the rest to her. If the woman eats the remaining rice, she accepts his proposal. If she does not and instead puts it beside her, she rejects his proposal.[134] When a man and woman become engaged or learn that their engagement has been arranged, they exchange gifts. The man sends her a small engraved knife, a workbox, a spool, and other gifts. She sends him embroidered clothes, coverings for the back of the hand, leggings, and other handmade clothes.[142]

The worn-out fabric of old clothing is used for baby clothes because soft cloth is good for their skin. Additionally, worn-out material was thought to protect babies from the gods of illness and demons, due to these entities' abhorrence of dirty things. Before a baby is breast-fed, they are given a decoction of the endodermis of an alder and the roots of butterburs to discharge impurities.[143] Children are raised almost naked until about the ages of four to five. Even when they wear clothes, they do not wear belts and leave the front of their clothes open. Subsequently, they wear bark clothes without patterns, such as attush, until they come of age.

Ainu babies traditionally are not given permanent names when they are born. Rather, they are called by various temporary names until the age of two or three. Newborn babies are named ayay ("a baby's crying"), shipo, poyshi ("small excrement"), and shion ("old excrement").[144] Their tentative names have a portion meaning "excrement" or "old things" to ward off the demon of ill-health. Some children are named based on their behavior or habits; others are named after notable events or after their parents' wishes for their future. When children are named, they are never given the same names as others.[145]

Men traditionally wear loincloths and have their hair dressed properly for the first time at age 15 to 16. Women are also considered adults at the age of 15 to 16. They traditionally wear underclothes called mour[146] and have their hair dressed properly, with wound waistcloths called raunkut and ponkut around their bodies.[147] When women reached the age of 12 or 13, the lips, hands, and arms were traditionally tattooed. When they reached the age of 15 or 16, their tattoos would be completed, indicating their qualification for marriage.[141]

Religion

edit
 
Painting of the Ainu iyomante, or bear spirit sending ceremony, in Hokkaido (1875)

The Ainu are traditionally animists, believing that everything in nature has a kamuy (spirit or god) on the inside. The most important include:

 
Ainu traditional ceremony, c. 1930

Ainu craftsmen, and the Ainu as a whole, traditionally believed that "anything made with deep sincerity was imbued with spirit and also became a [kamuy]". They also held the belief that ancestors and the power of the family could be invoked through certain patterns in art to protect them from malignant influences.[150]

The Ainu religion has no priests by profession. Instead, the village chief performs whatever religious ceremonies are necessary. Ceremonies are confined to making libations of sake, saying prayers, and offering willow sticks with wooden shavings attached to them.[112] These sticks are called inaw (singular) and nusa (plural).

They are placed on an altar used to "send back" the spirits of killed animals. Ainu ceremonies for sending back bears are called Iyomante. The Ainu people give thanks to the gods before eating and pray to the deity of fire in times of sickness. Traditional Ainu belief holds that their spirits are immortal and that their spirits will be rewarded hereafter by ascending to kamuy mosir (Land of the Gods).[112]

The Ainu are part of a larger collective of indigenous people who practice "arctolatry", or bear worship.[7] The Ainu believe that the bear holds particular importance as Kim-un Kamuy's chosen method of delivering the gift of the bear's hide and meat to humans.[151]

John Batchelor reported that the Ainu view the world as being a spherical ocean on which many islands float, a view based on the fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. He wrote that they believe the world rests on the back of a large fish, which, when it moves, causes earthquakes.[152]

Ainu assimilated into mainstream Japanese society have adopted Buddhism and Shintō; some northern Ainu were converted as members of the Russian Orthodox Church. Regarding Ainu communities in Shikotan and other areas that fall within the Russian sphere of cultural influence, there have been a few churches constructed, and some Ainu are reported to have accepted the Christian faith.[153] There have also been reports that the Russian Orthodox Church has performed some missionary projects in the Sakhalin Ainu community. However, there are only reports of a few conversions to Christianity. Converts have been scorned as "Nutsa Ainu" (Russian Ainu) by other members of the Ainu community. Reports indicate that many Ainu have kept their faith in their traditional deities.[154]

According to a 2012 survey conducted by Hokkaidō University, a high percentage of Ainu are members of their household family religion, which is Buddhism (especially Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism). However, it is noted that, similar to the Japanese religious consciousness, there is not a strong feeling of identification with a particular religion, with Buddhist and traditional beliefs both being part of their daily lives.[154]

Rituals

edit

The Ainu religion consists of a pantheistic animist structure in which the world is founded on interactions between humans and kamuy. Within all living beings, natural forces, and objects, there is a ramat (sacred life force) that is an extension of a greater kamuy. Kamuy are gods or spirits that choose to visit the human world in temporary physical forms, both animate and inanimate, within the human world. Once the physical vessel dies or breaks, the ramat returns to the kamuy and leaves its physical form behind as a gift to humans. If the humans treated the vessel and kamuy with respect and gratitude, then the kamuy would return out of delight for the human world. Due to this interaction, the Ainu lived with deep reverence for nature and all objects and phenomena in the hopes that the kamuy would return. The Ainu believed that the kamuy granted humans objects, skills, and knowledge to use tools, and thus deserve respect and worship. Daily practices included the moderation of hunting, gathering, and harvesting to not disturb the kamuy. Often, the Ainu would make offerings of an inau (sacred shaved stick), which usually consisted of whittled willow tree wood with decorative shavings still attached, and wine to the kamuy. They also built sacred altars called nusa (a fence-like row of taller Inau decorated with bear skulls), separated from the main house and raised storehouses and often observed outdoor rituals.[155]

The Ainu observed a ritual that would return kamuy, a divine or spiritual being in Ainu mythology, to the spiritual realm. This kamuy sending ritual was called Omante. A bear cub would be captured alive during hibernation and raised in the village as a child. Women would care for the cubs as if they were their children, sometimes even nursing them if needed. Once the bears reached maturity, they would hold another ritual every 5 to 10 years called Iomante (sometimes Iyomante). People from neighboring villages were invited to help celebrate this ritual, in which members of the village would send the bear back to the realm of spirits by gathering around it in a central area and using special ceremonial arrows to shoot it. Afterwards, they would eat the meat. However, in 1955, this ritual was outlawed as animal cruelty. In 2007, it became exempt due to its cultural significance to the Ainu. The ritual has since been modified; it is now an annual festival. The festival begins at sundown with a torch parade. A play is then performed, and this is followed by music and dancing.[155][156][157]

Other rituals were performed for things such as food and illness. The Ainu had a ritual to welcome the salmon, praying for a big catch, and another to thank the salmon at the end of the season. There was also a ritual for warding off kamuy that would bring epidemics, using strong-smelling herbs placed in doorways, windows, and gardens to turn away epidemic kamuy. Similarly to many religions, the Ainu also gave prayers and offerings to their ancestors in the spirit world or afterlife. They would also pray to the fire kamuy to deliver their offerings of broken snacks and fruit, as well as tobacco.[155]

Dancing in rituals
edit

Traditional dances are performed at ceremonies and banquets. Dancing is a part of the newly organized cultural festivals, and it is even done privately in daily life. Ainu traditional dances often involve large circles of dancers, and sometimes there are onlookers that sing without musical instruments. In rituals, these dances are intimate; they involve the calls and movements of animals and/or insects. Some, like the sword and bow dances, are rituals that were used to worship and give thanks for nature. This was to thank deities that they believed were in their surroundings. There was also a dance in Iomante that mimicked the movements of a living bear. However, some dances are improvised and meant just for entertainment. Overall, Ainu traditional dancing reinforced their connection to nature and the religious world and provided a link to other Arctic cultures.[158]

Funerals
edit

Funerals included prayers and offerings to the fire kamuy, as well as verse laments expressing wishes for a smooth journey to the next world. The items that were to be buried with the dead were first broken or cracked to allow spirits to be released and travel to the afterlife together. Sometimes a burial would be followed by burning the residence of the dead. In the event of an unnatural death, there would be a speech raging against the gods.

In the afterlife, recognized ancestral spirits moved through and influenced the world, though neglected spirits would return to the living world and cause misfortune. Prosperity of family in the afterlife would depend on prayers and offerings left by living descendants; this often led to Ainu parents teaching their children to look after them in the afterlife.[156]

Institutions

edit
 
National Ainu Museum interior

Most Hokkaidō Ainu, and some other Ainu, are members of an umbrella group called the Hokkaido Ainu Association. The organization changed its name to Hokkaidō Utari Association in 1961 due to the fact that the word Ainu was often used in a derogatory manner by the non-Ainu ethnic Japanese. It was changed back to the Hokkaido Ainu Association in 2009 after the passing of the new law regarding the Ainu. The organization was originally controlled by the government to speed Ainu assimilation and integration into the Japanese nation-state. It is now run exclusively by Ainu and operates mostly independently of the government.

 
Ainu cultural promotion center and museum in Sapporo (Sapporo Pirka Kotan)

Other key institutions include The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture (FRPAC), established by the Japanese government after the enactment of the Ainu Culture Law in 1997; the Hokkaidō University Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies,[159] established in 2007; and various museums and cultural centers. The Ainu people living in Tokyo have also developed a vibrant political and cultural community.[160][161]

Since late 2011, the Ainu have developed cultural exchange and cooperation with the Sámi people of northern Europe. Both the Sámi and the Ainu participate in the organization for Arctic indigenous peoples and the Sámi research office in Lapland (Finland).[162]

Currently, there are several Ainu museums and cultural parks. Some of them are:[163]

Ethnic rights

edit
 
The Oki Dub Ainu Band, led by the Ainu Japanese musician Oki, in Germany in 2007.
edit
 
Ainu people in front of a traditional building in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.

On March 27, 1997, the Sapporo District Court decided a landmark case that, for the first time in Japanese history, recognized the right of the Ainu people to enjoy their distinct culture and traditions. The case arose because of a 1978 government plan to build two dams in the Saru River watershed in southern Hokkaidō. The dams were part of a series of development projects under the Second National Development Plan that were intended to industrialize the north of Japan.[164] The planned location for one of the dams was across the valley floor near Nibutani village,[165] the home of a large community of Ainu people and an important center of Ainu culture and history.[166] When the government commenced construction on the Nibutani Dam in the early 1980s, two Ainu landowners refused to agree to the expropriation of their property. These landowners were Tadashi Kaizawa and Shigeru Kayano—well-known and important leaders in the Ainu community.[167] After Kaizawa and Kayano declined to sell their land, the Hokkaidō Development Bureau applied for and was subsequently granted a Project Authorization, which required the men to vacate their land. When their appeal of the Authorization was denied, Kayano and Kaizawa's son Koichi (Kaizawa died in 1992) filed suit against the Hokkaidō Development Bureau.

The final decision denied the relief sought by the plaintiffs for pragmatic reasons (the dam was already in place), but the decision was nonetheless heralded as a landmark victory for the Ainu people. Nearly all of the plaintiffs' claims were recognized. Moreover, the decision marked the first time Japanese case law acknowledged the Ainu as an indigenous people and contemplated the responsibility of the Japanese nation to the indigenous people within its borders.[168] The decision included broad fact-finding that underscored the long history of the oppression of the Ainu people by Japan's majority, referred to as wajin in the case, and discussions about the case.[165][169] The decision was issued on March 27, 1997. Because of the broad implications for Ainu rights, the plaintiffs decided not to appeal the decision, which became final two weeks later. After the decision was issued, on May 8, 1997, the Diet passed the Ainu Culture Law and repealed the Ainu Protection Act—the 1899 law that had been the vehicle of Ainu oppression for almost one hundred years.[170][171] While the Ainu Culture Law has been widely criticized for its shortcomings, the shift that it represents in Japan's view of the Ainu people is a testament to the importance of the Nibutani decision. In 2007, the "Cultural Landscape along the Sarugawa River resulting from Ainu Tradition and Modern Settlement" was designated an Important Cultural Landscape of Japan.[172] A later action seeking the restoration of Ainu assets held in trust by the Japanese government was dismissed in 2008.[173]

Governmental bodies on Ainu affairs

edit

There is no single government body to coordinate Ainu affairs. Rather, various advisory boards are set up by the Hokkaido government to advise on specific matters. One such committee operated in the late 1990s,[174] and its work resulted in the 1997 Ainu Culture Law [ja].[170] This panel was criticized for including no Ainu members.[174]

In 2006, another panel was established, which notably included an Ainu member for the first time. It completed its work in 2008, issuing a major report that included an extensive historical record and called for substantial government policy changes towards the Ainu.[175]

Formation of Ainu political party

edit

On January 21, 2012, the Ainu Party (アイヌ民族党, Ainu minzoku tō) was founded[176] after a group of Ainu activists in Hokkaidō announced the formation of a political party for the Ainu on October 30, 2011. The Ainu Association of Hokkaidō reported that Kayano Shiro, the son of the former Ainu leader Kayano Shigeru, would head the party. Their aim is to contribute to the realization of a society where the Ainu and Japanese can coexist and possess equal rights in Japan.[177][178]

Official promotion

edit

The "2019 Ainu act" simplified procedures for obtaining various permissions from authorities in regards to the traditional lifestyle of the Ainu and nurtured the identity and cultures of the Ainu without defining the ethnic group by blood lineage.[179]

On July 12, 2020, the National Ainu Museum was opened. It had originally been scheduled to open on April 24, 2020, prior to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games scheduled in the same year in Shiraoi, Hokkaidō. The park was planned to be a base for the protection and promotion of Ainu people, culture, and language.[180] The museum promotes the culture and habits of the Ainu people, who are the original inhabitants of Hokkaidō. Upopoy in the Ainu language means "singing in a large group". The National Ainu Museum building has images and videos exhibiting the history and daily life of the Ainu.[181] The Ainu cultural contribution is also recognized by a UNESCO listing,[182] in consequence of a UNESCO decision to list non-physical cultural assets, including songs and dancing.

In July 2023, it was reported that a group of Ainu from Hokkaido was suing the government to reclaim the right of salmon river fishing. This has been outlawed for a century, except for the exemption of a limited number of salmon for ceremonial purposes. The group claimed the Japanese government did not abide by the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which it had signed.[183]

Geography

edit
 
Historical extent of the Ainu

The traditional locations of the Ainu are Hokkaido, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, and the northern Tōhoku region. Many of the place names that remain in Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands have a phonetic equivalent of the Ainu place names.[7][citation needed]

In 1756 CE, a kanjō-bugyō (a high-ranking Edo period official responsible for finance) implemented an assimilation policy for Ainu engaged in fishing in the Tsugaru Peninsula. From that point on, Ainu culture rapidly disappeared from Honshu.[citation needed]

After the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), most of the Ainu from the Kuril islands were moved to the island of Shikotan by providing the pioneers with essential life supplies and for defense purposes (Kurishima Cruise Diary).[citation needed]

In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded Japan and occupied Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Ainu who lived there were repatriated to their home country, Japan, except for those who indicated their willingness to remain.[184]

Russia

edit

As a result of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), the Kuril Islands, along with their Ainu inhabitants, came under Japanese administration. A total of 83 North Kuril Ainu arrived in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on September 18, 1877, after they decided to remain under Russian rule. They refused the offer by Russian officials to move to new reservations in the Commander Islands. An agreement was reached in 1881, and the Ainu decided to settle in the village of Yavin. In March 1881, the group left Petropavlovsk and started the journey towards Yavin on foot. Four months later, they arrived at their new homes. Another village, Golygino, was founded later. Under Soviet rule, both villages were forced to disband, and residents were moved to the Russian-dominated Zaporozhye rural settlement in Ust-Bolsheretsky Raion.[185] As a result of intermarriage, the three ethnic groups assimilated to form the Kamchadal community. In 1953, K. Omelchenko, the minister for the protection of military and state secrets in the USSR, banned the press from publishing any more information on the Ainu living in the USSR. This order was revoked after two decades.[186]

As of 2015, the North Kuril Ainu of Zaporozhye form the largest Ainu subgroup in Russia. The Nakamura clan (South Kuril Ainu on their paternal side), the smallest group, numbers just six people residing in Petropavlovsk. On Sakhalin Island, a few dozen people identify themselves as Sakhalin Ainu, but many more with partial Ainu ancestry do not acknowledge it. Most of the 888 Japanese people living in Russia (2010 Census) are of mixed Japanese–Ainu ancestry, although they do not acknowledge it (full Japanese ancestry gives them the right of visa-free entry to Japan[187]). Similarly, no one identifies themselves as Amur Valley Ainu, although people of partial descent live in Khabarovsk. There is no evidence of living descendants of the Kamchatka Ainu.[citation needed]

In the 2010 Census of Russia, nearly 100 people tried to register themselves as ethnic Ainu in the village, but the governing council of Kamchatka Krai rejected their claim and enrolled them as ethnic Kamchadal.[186][188] In 2011, the leader of the Ainu community in Kamchatka, Alexei Vladimirovich Nakamura, requested that Vladimir Ilyukhin (Governor of Kamchatka) and Boris Nevzorov (Chairman of the State Duma) include the Ainu in the central list of the Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. This request was also denied.[189]

Ethnic Ainu living in Sakhalin Oblast and Khabarovsk Krai are not organized politically. According to Alexei Nakamura, as of 2012, only 205 Ainu live in Russia (up from just 12 people who self-identified as Ainu in 2008). They, along with the Kurile Kamchadals (Itelmen of the Kuril Islands), are fighting for official recognition.[190][191] Since the Ainu are not recognized in the official list of the peoples living in Russia, they are counted as people without nationality, as ethnic Russians, or as Kamchadals.[192]

The Ainu have emphasized that they were the natives of the Kuril Islands, and that the Japanese and Russians were both invaders.[193] In 2004, the small Ainu community living in Russia in Kamchatka Krai wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin, urging him to reconsider any move to award the Southern Kuril Islands to Japan. In the letter, they blamed the Japanese, the Tsarist Russians, and the Soviets for crimes against the Ainu, such as killings and assimilation; they also urged him to recognize the Japanese genocide against the Ainu people. This proposal was rejected.[194]

 
Karafuto (Sakhalin) Ainu family behind their house in 1912.

As of 2012, both the Kuril Ainu and Kuril Kamchadal ethnic groups lack the fishing and hunting rights that the Russian government grants to the indigenous tribal communities of the far north.[195][196]

In March 2017, Alexei Nakamura revealed that plans for an Ainu village to be created in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and plans for an Ainu dictionary are underway.[197]

Population

edit

The population of the Ainu during the Edo period was a maximum of 26,800; it has since declined, due in part to the spread of infectious diseases. It was traditionally regarded as a Tenryō territory.

According to the 1897 Russian census, 1,446 Ainu native speakers lived in Russian territory.[198]

Currently, there is no Ainu category in the Japanese national census, and no fact-finding has been conducted by national institutions. Therefore, the exact number of Ainu people is unknown. However, multiple surveys have been conducted that provide an indication of the total population.

According to a 2006 Hokkaido Agency survey, there were 23,782 Ainu people in Hokkaido.[199][200] When viewed by the branch office (currently the Promotion Bureau), there are many in the Iburi / Hidaka branch office. The definition of "Ainu" by the Hokkaido Agency in this survey is "a person who seems to have inherited the blood of Ainu" or "the same livelihood as those with marriage or adoption." Additionally, if the other person is declared not to be "Ainu", then it is not subject to investigation.

A 1971 survey determined an Ainu population of 77,000. Another survey yielded a total of 200,000 Ainu living in Japan.[9] However, there are no other surveys that support this high estimate.

Many Ainu live outside of Hokkaido. A 1988 survey estimated that the population of Ainu living in Tokyo was 2,700.[199] According to a 1989 survey report on Utari living in Tokyo, it is estimated that the Ainu population of the Tokyo area alone exceeds 10% of Ainu living in Hokkaido; there are more than 10,000 Ainu living in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

In addition to Japan and Russia, it was reported in 1992 that there was a descendant of Kuril Ainu in Poland, but there are also indications that they are a descendant of the Aleut.[201] [202][203] On the other hand, the descendant of the children born in Poland by the Polish anthropologist Bronisław Piłsudski, who was a leading Ainu researcher and left a vast amount of research material, such as photographs and wax tubes, was born in Japan.

According to a 2017 survey, the Ainu population in Hokkaido is about 13,000. This is a sharp drop from 24,000 in 2006. However, this is partially due to a decrease in membership in the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, which is cooperating with the survey. Additionally, interest in protecting personal information has increased. It is thought that the number of individuals who cooperate is declining and that it does not match the actual population of Ainu people.[204]

Subgroups

edit

These are unofficial subgroups of the Ainu people, with location and population estimates.

Subgroup Location Description Population Year
Hokkaido Ainu Hokkaido Hokkaidō Ainu (the predominant community of Ainu in the world today): A Japanese census in 1916 returned 13,557 pure-blooded Ainu in addition to 4,550 multiracial individuals.[205] A 2017 survey says the Ainu population in Hokkaido is about 13,000. It decreased sharply from 24,000 in 2006.[204] 13,000 2017
Tokyo Ainu Tokyo Tokyo Ainu (a modern-age migration of Hokkaidō Ainu highlighted in a documentary film released in 2010[160]): According to a 1989 survey, more than 10,000 Ainu live in the Tokyo metropolitan area. 10,000 1989
Tohoku Ainu Tohoku Tohoku Ainu (from Honshū; no officially acknowledged population exists): Forty-three Ainu households scattered throughout the Tohoku region were reported during the 17th century.[206] There are people who consider themselves descendants of Shimokita Ainu on the Shimokita Peninsula, while the people on the Tsugaru Peninsula are generally considered Yamato but may be descendants of Tsugaru Ainu after cultural assimilation.[207] Extinct 17th century
Sakhalin Ainu Sakhalin Sakhalin Ainu: Pure-blooded individuals may be surviving in Hokkaidō. From both Northern and Southern Sakhalin, a total of 841 Ainu were relocated to Hokkaidō in 1875 by Japan. Only a few in remote interior areas remained when the island was turned over to Russia. Even when Japan was granted Southern Sakhalin in 1905, only a handful returned. The Japanese census of 1905 counted only 120 Sakhalin Ainu (down from 841 in 1875, 93 in Karafuto, and 27 in Hokkaidō). The Soviet census of 1926 counted 5 Ainu, while several of their multiracial children were recorded as ethnic Nivkh, Slav, or Uilta.
  • North Sakhalin: Only five pure-blooded individuals were recorded during the 1926 Soviet Census in Northern Sakhalin. Most of the Sakhalin Ainu (mainly from coastal areas) were relocated to Hokkaidō in 1875 by Japan. The few that remained (mainly in the remote interior) were mostly married to Russians, as can be seen from the works of Bronisław Piłsudski.[208]
  • Southern Sakhalin (Karafuto): Japanese rule until 1945. Japan evacuated almost all the Ainu to Hokkaidō after World War II. Isolated individuals might have remained on Sakhalin.[209] In 1949, there were about 100 Ainu living on Soviet Sakhalin.[210]
100 1949
Northern Kuril Ainu Northern Kuril islands Northern Kuril Ainu (no known living population in Japan; existence is not recognized by the Russian government in Kamchatka Krai): Also known as Kurile in Russian records. They were under Russian rule until 1875; they first came under Japanese rule after the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875). The majority of the population was located on the island of Shumshu, with a few others on islands like Paramushir. Together, they numbered 221 in 1860. These individuals had Russian names, spoke Russian fluently, and were Russian Orthodox in religion. As the islands were given to the Japanese, more than a hundred Ainu fled to Kamchatka along with their Russian employers (where they were assimilated into the Kamchadal population).[210][211] Only about half remained under Japanese rule. To derussify the Kurile, the entire population of 97 individuals was relocated to Shikotan in 1884, given Japanese names, and the children were enrolled in Japanese schools. Unlike the other Ainu groups, the Kurile failed to adjust to their new surroundings; by 1933, only 10 individuals survived (plus another 34 multiracial individuals). The last group of 20 individuals (including a few pure-blooded Ainu) was evacuated to Hokkaidō in 1941, where they soon vanished as a separate ethnic group.[208] Extinct 20th century
Southern Kuril Ainu Southern Kuril islands Southern Kuril Ainu (no known living population): This group numbered almost 2,000 people (mainly in Kunashir, Iturup, and Urup) during the 18th century. In 1884, their population had decreased to 500. Around 50 individuals (mostly multiracial) who remained in 1941 were evacuated to Hokkaidō by the Japanese soon after World War II.[210] The last full-blooded Southern Kuril Ainu was Suyama Nisaku, who died in 1956.[212] The last of the tribe (partial ancestry), Tanaka Kinu, died on Hokkaidō in 1973.[212] Extinct 1973
Kamchatka Ainu Kamchatka Kamchatka Ainu (no known living population): Known as Kamchatka Kurile in Russian records. They ceased to exist as a separate ethnic group after their defeat in 1706 by the Russians. Individuals were assimilated into the Kurile and Kamchadal ethnic groups. They were last recorded in the 18th century by Russian explorers.[109] Extinct 18th century
Amur Valley Ainu Amur River

(Eastern Russia)

Amur Valley Ainu (probably none remain): A few individuals married to ethnic Russians and ethnic Ulchi were reported by Bronisław Piłsudski in the early 20th century.[213] Only 26 pure-blooded individuals were recorded during the 1926 Russian Census in Nikolaevski Okrug (present-day Nikolayevsky District, Khabarovsk Krai).[214] They were probably assimilated into the Slavic rural population. Although no one identifies as Ainu today in Khabarovsk Krai, there are a large number of ethnic Ulch with partial Ainu ancestry.[215][216] Extinct 20th century
edit
  • The characters Nakoruru, Rimururu, and Rera from the SNK game series Samurai Shodown are Ainu.
  • In the 2006 video game Ōkami, the Oina people, who inhabit the northern land of Kamui, are heavily inspired by the Ainu.
  • The manga and anime series Golden Kamuy has an Ainu girl, Asirpa, as one of the protagonists and features many aspects of Ainu culture.[217]
  • The character Fredzilla from Big Hero 6 is of Ainu descent.
  • The character Okuru from the anime series Samurai Champloo is the sole survivor of an Ainu village wiped out by disease.
  • Usui Horokeu, also known as Horohoro in the manga series Shaman King, is a member of an Ainu tribe.
  • "Ainu" is a playable nation in the game Europa Universalis IV.
  • The history of the island of Hokkaidō and of the Ainu people are part of the plot of a chapter in the manga Silver Spoon.[218]
  • A coming-of-age film, Ainu Mosir, was released in Japan on October 17, 2020. The film portrays Kanto, a sensitive 14-year-old Ainu boy who struggles to come to terms with his father's death and his identity. The film also focuses on the dilemma of the controversial bear sacrifice ritual under the shadow of modern Japanese society and the Ainu's heavy reliance on tourists for their livelihood. Along with other restless teenagers, Kanto is under pressure to retain his Ainu identity and participate in the cultural rituals.[219][220]
  • In the James Bond novel and film You Only Live Twice and film, Bond's character spends some time living in an Ainu village and (in the film) is supposedly disguised as one of the local people, "marrying" a local pearl fisher (ama) as part of his cover.
  • In the 2013 samurai film Unforgiven, starring Ken Watanabe and which is a remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood Western film of the same name, the character of Goro Sawada (Yuya Yagira) is half-Ainu.

See also

edit

References

edit

Citations

edit
  1. ^ Vovin (2008).
  2. ^ "Ainu seikatsu jittai chōsa" アイヌ生活実態調査 [Survey on the actual living conditions of the Ainu] (in Japanese). 北海道. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2010 in relation to the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of individual nationalities". Federal State Statistics Service (in Russian). March 2019. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  4. ^ "2010 Census: Population by ethnicity". Federal State Statistics (in Russian). Archived from the original on April 24, 2012.
  5. ^ Gordon, Raymond G. Jr., ed. (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (15th ed.). Dallas: SIL International. ISBN 978-1-55671-159-6. OCLC 224749653.
  6. ^ Isabella, Jude (October 25, 2017). "The Untold Story of Japan's First People". SAPIENS. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Cobb, Ellie (May 20, 2020). "Japan's forgotten indigenous people". BBC. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Shibatani (1990), p. 3.
  9. ^ a b Poisson (2002), p. 5.
  10. ^ Honna, Nobuyuki; Tajima, Hiroko Tina; Minamoto, Kunihiko (2000). "Japan". In Kam, Ho Wah; Wong, Ruth Y. L. (eds.). Language Policies and Language Education: The Impact in East Asian Countries in the Next Decade. Singapore: Times Academic Press. ISBN 978-9-81210-149-5.
  11. ^ a b Hohmann (2008).
  12. ^ "Linguistic Revival: How Japan Restored the Native Ainu Language with "AI Pirika"". stanfordrewired.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  13. ^ Hudson (1999b), p. 208.
  14. ^ a b Nakayama (2015), p. 20.
  15. ^ a b Schlesinger (2017), p. 135.
  16. ^ a b Hudson (1999b), p. 226.
  17. ^ Zgusta (2015), p. 64.
  18. ^ "Emishi [Ezo]" えみし 【蝦夷】 [Emishi [Ezo]]. Nihon Kokugo Daijiten 日本国語大辞典 [The Japanese Language Dictionary] (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). Tōkyō: Shogakukan. 2000. ISBN 4-09-521001-X.
  19. ^ de Graaf, Tjeerd; Shiraishi, Hidetoshi (2013). Documentation and Revitalisation of two Endangered Languages in Eastern Asia: Nivkh and Ainu (PDF). Verlag Kulturstiftung Sibirien. pp. 49–64. ISBN 978-3-942883-12-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022.
  20. ^ Martin, Samuel E. (1996). Consonant lenition in Korean and the Macro-Altaic question. Monograph (in English and Korean). Honolulu, Hawaiʻi: Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaiʻi : Distributed by University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1809-8.
  21. ^ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A history of the Japanese language. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6. OCLC 468978601.
  22. ^ Leeming, David (2001). The Dictionary of Asian Mythology. Oxford University Press. p. 10.
  23. ^ Weiner, M., ed. (1997). Japan's Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-41515-218-1.
  24. ^ "Island of the Spirits – Origins of the Ainu". NOVA Online. PBS. Archived from the original on April 29, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  25. ^ Nakamura 2010, p. 415; Stephan 1971, p. 21.
  26. ^ "Dai 59-kai kōeki no min Ainu VII-moto to notatakai" 第59回 交易の民アイヌ VII 元との戦い [No. 59 The Ainu, a trading people VII The battle with the Yuan] (in Japanese). Asahikawa City. June 2, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  27. ^ "Kōeki shadanhōjin Hokkaidō Ainu kyōkai" 公益社団法人 北海道アイヌ協会 [Hokkaido Ainu Association]. 公益社団法人北海道アイヌ協会 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  28. ^ Zgusta (2015), p. 96.
  29. ^ Nakamura (2010), p. 415.
  30. ^ a b Walker (2006), p. 133.
  31. ^ Tsai, Shih-Shan Henry (2002) [2001]. Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle. Seattle, Wash: University of Washington Press. pp. 158–161. ISBN 0-295-98124-5. Retrieved June 16, 2010. Link is to partial text.
  32. ^ Sei, Wada (1938). Shina no kisai ni arawaretaru Kokuryuko karyuiki no dojin 支那の記載に現はれたる黒龍江下流域の土人 [The Natives of the Lower Reaches of the Amur River as Represented in Chinese Records]. Memoirs of the Research Department of Toyo Bunko. Tōyō Bunko.
  33. ^ a b c d Morris-Suzuki, Tessa (November 15, 2020). "Indigenous Diplomacy: Sakhalin Ainu (Enchiw) in the Shaping of Modern East Asia (Part 1: Traders and Travellers)". Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal. 18 (22).
  34. ^ Forsyth, James (1994). A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony 1581-1990 (illustrated, reprint, revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 214. ISBN 0521477719.
  35. ^ Smith (2017), p. 83.
  36. ^ Kim (2019), p. 81.
  37. ^ Narangoa (2014), p. 295.
  38. ^ a b Walker (2006), pp. 134–135.
  39. ^ a b Sasaki (1999), pp. 87–89.
  40. ^ Sasaki (1999), p. 87.
  41. ^ (Shiro Sasaki, ‘A History of the Far East Indigenous Peoples’ Transborder Activities Between the Russian and Chinese Empires’, Senri Ethnological Studies, vol. 92, 2016, pp. 161‒193.) Sasaki, ‘A History of the Far East Indigenous Peoples’ Transborder Activities’, p. 173.
  42. ^ Toshiyuki, Akizuki (1994). Nich-Ro kankei to Saharintō : Bakumatsu Meiji shonen no ryōdo mondai 日露関係とサハリン島:幕末明治初年の領土問題 [Japanese–Russian Relations and Sakhalin Island: Territorial Dispute in the Bakumatsu and First Meiji Years]. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo Publishers Ltd. p. 34. ISBN 4480856684.
  43. ^ Walker (2001), p. 49–56, 61–71, 172–176.
  44. ^ "Time Table of Sakhalin Island". Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  45. ^ Sasaki (1999), p. 88.
  46. ^ Walker (2006), pp. 149–150.
  47. ^ Lower, Arthur (1978). Ocean of Destiny: A concise History of the North Pacific, 1500–1978. UBC. p. 75. ISBN 9780774843522.
  48. ^ Lewallen (2016). The fabric of indigeneity : Ainu identity, gender, and settler colonialism in Japan. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 131–142. ISBN 978-0-8263-5736-6.
  49. ^ Shelton, Dinah (2005). Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Vol. 2. Macmillan Reference.
  50. ^ Howell (1997), p. 614.
  51. ^ a b Morris-Suzuki, Tessa (November 15, 2020). "Indigenous Diplomacy: Sakhalin Ainu (Enchiw) in the Shaping of Modern East Asia (Part 1: Traders and Travellers)". Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal. 18 (22): 2.
  52. ^ (Mamiya Rinzō (trans. and ed. John Harrison), 'Kita Ezo Zutsetsu or a Description of the Island of North Ezo by Mamiya Rinzō', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 99, no. 2, 1955, pp. 93‒117) Mamiya, 'Kita Ezo Zutsetsu', 107. The name 'Yaepikarainu' is my approximation based the Manchu version of his name, which was given as 'Yabirinu', and the Japanese version which was given as 'Yaepikaran', and the Ainu honorific naming convention of adding '-ainu' to the end of the names of elders.
  53. ^ a b c Sjöberg (1993).
  54. ^ Loos, Noel; Osani, Takeshi, eds. (1993). Indigenous Minorities and Education: Australian and Japanese Perspectives on their Indigenous Peoples, the Ainu, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Tokyo: Sanyusha Publishing Co., Ltd. ISBN 978-4-88322-597-2.[page needed]
  55. ^ Fogarty, Philippa (June 6, 2008). "Recognition at last for Japan's Ainu". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  56. ^ Siddle (1996), p. 51.
  57. ^ Sjöberg (1993), p. 117.
  58. ^ Levinson, David (2002). Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Vol. 1. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-684-80617-4.
  59. ^ Yamada, Yoshiko (2010). "A Preliminary Study of Language Contact around Uilta in Sakhalin". Journal of the Center for Northern Humanities. 3: 59–75. hdl:2115/42939.
  60. ^ Walker (2001), p. 233.
  61. ^ a b Siddle (1996), p. 45.
  62. ^ Shim, Karen (May 31, 2004). "Will the Ainu language die?". TalkingITGlobal. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  63. ^ Cheung, S. C. H. (November 1, 2003). "Ainu culture in transition". Futures. Futures of indigenous cultures. 35 (9): 951–959. doi:10.1016/S0016-3287(03)00051-X. ISSN 0016-3287.
  64. ^ Yokoyama, Yuzuru (n.d.). "Human Right Issues on the Ainu People in Japan". China.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  65. ^ "アイヌ⇔ダブ越境!異彩を放つOKIの新作". HMV Japan (in Japanese). May 23, 2006. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  66. ^ In particular, Sea-girt Yezo : glimpses of missionary work in North Japan by Batchelor, John (Church Missionary Society 1902) digitised by Google and uploaded to the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/seagirtyezoglim00socigoog
  67. ^ "First nationwide survey on Ainu discrimination to be carried out". Japan Times. August 29, 2014. ISSN 0447-5763. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  68. ^ a b Oguma, Eiji (February 5, 2020). "「麻生発言」で考えた…なぜ「日本は単一民族の国」と思いたがるのか?". Mainichi Shimbun. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021.
  69. ^ Fukuda, Yasuo (May 20, 2008). "衆議院議員鈴木宗男君提出先住民族の定義及びアイヌ民族の先住民族としての権利確立に向けた政府の取り組みに関する第三回質問に対する答弁書". Japanese Diet. アイヌの人々が「先住民族」かどうか結論を下せる状況にはないが、アイヌの人々は、いわゆる和人との関係において、日本列島北部周辺、取り分け北海道に先住していたことは歴史的事実であり、また、独自の言語及び宗教を有し、文化の独自性を保持していること等から、少数民族であると認識している。国際的に「先住民族」の定義が確立していない状況の下で、アイヌの人々が御指摘の「先住民族」と一致するものであるか結論を下せる状況にはなく、一致することを前提としてどのような問題が生じるかについて、現時点において予断することは適当とは考えていない。
  70. ^ "アイヌ民族を先住民族とすることを求める決議". Japanese Upper House. June 6, 2008.
  71. ^ Ito, M. (June 7, 2008). "Diet officially declares Ainu indigenous". Japan Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  72. ^ Emiko Jozuka (April 20, 2019). "Japan's Ainu will finally be recognized as indigenous people". CNN. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  73. ^ Komai, Eléonore (2021). "The Ainu and Indigenous politics in Japan: negotiating agency, institutional stability, and change". Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 7: 141–164. doi:10.1017/rep.2021.16. ISSN 2056-6085. S2CID 237755856.
  74. ^ Denoon, Donald; McCormack, Gavan (2001). Multicultural Japan: Palaeolithic to Postmodern. Cambridge University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-0-521-00362-9.
  75. ^ "公益財団法人 アイヌ民族文化財団". www.ff-ainu.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  76. ^ a b Janhunen, Juha A. (October 24, 2022), "2 Ainu ethnic origins", Handbook of the Ainu Language, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 57–78, doi:10.1515/9781501502859-003, ISBN 978-1-5015-0285-9, retrieved November 18, 2023
  77. ^ Fukuzawa, Hosanna (2022). "Ainu Ethnogenesis and State Evasion (12th-17th Centuries)". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  78. ^ Hudson (2022).
  79. ^ "NOVA Online – of the Spirits – Origins of the Ainu". PBS. Archived from the original on April 29, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  80. ^ Sato et al. (2009), "...the Satsumon people (a direct ancestoral lineage of the Ainu people)...".
  81. ^ Ainu ethnogenesis アイヌ民族起源 – Tokyo, August 2018 Juha Janhunen
  82. ^ Janhunen, Juha (October 1, 2022). "Old Japanese in a panchronic perspective". Linguistic Typology. 26 (3): 683–691. doi:10.1515/lingty-2022-0017. ISSN 1613-415X. S2CID 249679997.
  83. ^ Lee & Hasegawa (2013), "In this paper, we reconstructed spatiotemporal evolution of 19 Ainu language varieties, and the results are in strong agreement with the hypothesis that a recent population expansion of the Okhotsk people played a critical role in shaping the Ainu people and their culture. Together with the recent archaeological, biological and cultural evidence, our phylogeographic reconstruction of the Ainu language strongly suggests that the conventional dual-structure model must be refined to explain these new bodies of evidence. The case of the Ainu language origin we report here also contributes additional detail to the global pattern of language evolution, and our language phylogeny might also provide a basis for making further inferences about the cultural dynamics of the Ainu speakers [44,45].".
  84. ^ Matsumoto, Hideo (February 2009). "The origin of the Japanese race based on genetic markers of immunoglobulin G". Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Series B, Physical and Biological Sciences. 85 (2): 69–82. Bibcode:2009PJAB...85...69M. doi:10.2183/pjab.85.69. PMC 3524296. PMID 19212099.
  85. ^ Matsumura, Hirofumi; Hudson, Mark J; Koshida, Kenichiro; Minakawa, Yoichi (2006). "Embodying Okhotsk Ethnicity: Human Skeletal Remains from the Aonae Dune Site, Okushiri Island, Hokkaido". Asian Perspectives. 45 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1353/asi.2006.0010. hdl:10125/17243. ISSN 1535-8283. S2CID 53332214.
  86. ^ a b c d Sato et al. (2021).
  87. ^ Smale, Joran (June 2014) End of Okhotsk? A Peer Polity Interaction approach to the interaction, exchange and decline of a Northeast-Asian maritime culture on Hokkaido, Japan. Master thesis. Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden. Quote: "Evidence that mainly Satsumon culture is ancestral to Ainu culture still stands. However, it is clear that there is some continuity between Okhotsk and Ainu culture in the veneration of the bear in Hokkaido."
  88. ^ 工藤, 雅樹 (1994). "考古学から見た古代蝦夷". 日本考古学. 1 (1): 139–154 – via J-STAGE.
  89. ^ a b c Boer, Elisabeth de; Yang, Melinda A.; Kawagoe, Aileen; Barnes, Gina L. (January 2020). "Japan considered from the hypothesis of farmer/language spread". Evolutionary Human Sciences. 2: e13. doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.7. ISSN 2513-843X. PMC 10427481. PMID 37588377.
  90. ^ "古代の蝦夷(えみし)とアイヌはどのような関係にあるのですか。アイヌの祖先は蝦夷なのですか。|株式会社帝国書院". 株式会社帝国書院 (in Japanese). Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  91. ^ "シントコ(行器) 文化遺産オンライン". bunka.nii.ac.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  92. ^ a b Tajima et al. (2004).
  93. ^ Hammer et al. (2006).
  94. ^ Sato et al. (2009).
  95. ^ Osada & Kawai (2021).
  96. ^ Cooke et al. (2021).
  97. ^ Jeong, Nakagome & Di Rienzo (2016).
  98. ^ Jinam et al. (2015).
  99. ^ Tokunaga et al. (2001).
  100. ^ a b Kanzawa-Kiriyama et al. (2019).
  101. ^ Gakuhari et al. (2020).
  102. ^ Yoshiaki, Yoshimi (2015) [1987]. Grassroots Fascism: The War Experience of the Japanese People. Weatherhead Books on Asia. Translated by Ethan Mark. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-231-53859-6. OCLC 1047893815.
  103. ^ Tanaka (2000).
  104. ^ "北海道ウタリ協会". 北海道ウタリ協会. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014.
  105. ^ Vovin (1993), p. 1, "The Ainu language, almost extinct nowadays, is located on Hokkaidô, the northernmost island of the Japanese Archepelago. Several thousands of Ainu still live there, but there are no more than ten or twenty native speakers of this language among them.".
  106. ^ Martin (2011).
  107. ^ Miyaoka, Sakiyama & Krauss (2007).
  108. ^ Teeter & Okazaki (2011).
  109. ^ a b Shibatani (1990), pp. 3–5.
  110. ^ "Ainu". omniglot.com. 2009. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  111. ^ a b Howell (2004).
  112. ^ a b c d e f g   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ainu". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 441–442. Citations:
    • Rev. John Batchelor, The Ainu and their Folk-lore (London, 1901)
    • Isabella Bird (Mrs Bishop), Korea and her Neighbours (1898)
    • Basil Hall Chamberlain, Language, Mythology and Geographical Nomenclature of Japan viewed in the Light of Aino Studies and Aino Fairy-tales (1895)
    • Romyn Hitchcock, The Ainos of Japan (Washington, 1892)
    • H. von Siebold, Über die Aino (Berlin, 1881)
  113. ^ "Columbia River Basin". Bureau of Land Management. February 25, 2009. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009.
  114. ^ "Check out Tokyo's only Ainu restaurant". Japan Today. March 5, 2013. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  115. ^ ""Umizora No Haru", the restaurant where you can | Hokkaido Likers". www.hokkaidolikers.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  116. ^ Nuttall, Mark (2012). Encyclopedia of the Arctic. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-136-78680-8.
  117. ^ Phillipi, Donald L. (2015). Songs of Gods, Songs of Humans: The Epic Tradition of the Ainu. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-40087-069-1. JSTOR j.ctt13x0q8v.
  118. ^ Ishikida, Miki Y. (2005). Living Together: Minority People and Disadvantaged Groups in Japan. iUniverse. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-59535-032-2.[self-published source]
  119. ^ West, Barbara A. (2010). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-43811-913-7.
  120. ^ Pollard, Nick; Sakellariou, Dikaios (2012). Politics of Occupation-Centred Practice: Reflections on Occupational Engagement Across Cultures. John Wiley & Sons. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-11829-098-9.
  121. ^ Sjöberg (1993), p. 54.
  122. ^ Takahashi (2006), "The Ainu hunted sea-otters on Ulup Island where the animals lived, or obtained them by trading with the people of the northern islands.".
  123. ^ Takahashi (2006), "[...] there is not much written about the Japanese fur trade, though some writers mention it as part of the trade between the Japanese and the Ainu.".
  124. ^ Landor (2012), p. 24.
  125. ^ Barceloux, Donald G. (2012). Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances: Foods, Fungi, Medicinal Herbs, Plants, and Venomous Animals. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1785. ISBN 978-1-11838-276-9.
  126. ^ Advances in Marine Biology. Academic Press. 1984. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-08057-944-3.
  127. ^ Poisson (2002), p. 32.
  128. ^ Batchelor (1901), p. 116.
  129. ^ a b Walker (2006), p. 91.
  130. ^ Siddle (1996), p. 85.
  131. ^ Reilly, Kevin; Kaufman, Stephen; Bodino, Angela (2003). Racism: A Global Reader. M.E. Sharpe. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-76561-060-7.
  132. ^ "Ainu History and Culture". ainu-museum.or.jp. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  133. ^ "-13-第13回 アイヌの民具(その2)~漆器(しっき)~-「アイヌ文化情報発信!コラム」より-". ainu-center.hm.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  134. ^ a b c d Ancient Japan. Social Studies School Service. 2006. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-56004-256-3.
  135. ^ Fitzhugh & Dubreuil (1999), p. 107.
  136. ^ Tribal: The Magazine of Tribal Art. Primedia Inc. 2003. pp. 76 & 78.
  137. ^ "Ainu History and Culture". Ainu Museum. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  138. ^ Fitzhugh & Dubreuil (1999), p. 158, "Some glass beads were brought to the Ainu through trade with the Asian continent, but others were secretly made by the Matsumae clan at their headquarters in Hakodate.".
  139. ^ Batchelor (1901), p. 223.
  140. ^ Goodrich, J. K. (April 1889). "Ainu Family Life and Religion". Popular Science. XXXVI: 85.
  141. ^ a b Poisson (2002), p. 35.
  142. ^ Batchelor (1901), p. 226.
  143. ^ Refsing, Kirsten (2002). Early European Writings on Ainu Culture: Religion and Folklore. Psychology Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-70071-486-5.
  144. ^ Poisson (2002), p. 31.
  145. ^ Landor (2012), p. 294.
  146. ^ Fitzhugh & Dubreuil (1999), p. 320, "Ainu women's underclothes were called mour, literally "deer," a sort of one-piece dress with an open front, ...".
  147. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke (1941). Ainu Life and Legends. Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways. p. 30. One is a nettle-hemp braid named pon kut (small sash) or ra-nn kut (under sash).
  148. ^ "Ainu History and Culture". ainu-museum.or.jp. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  149. ^ Norbert Richard Adami: Religion und Schaminismus der Ainu auf Sachalin (Karafuto), Bonn 1989, p. 40-42.
  150. ^ Hauge, Victor; Hauge, Takako (1978). Folk Traditions in Japanese Art (1st ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-87011-360-4.
  151. ^ "How Japan's Bear-Worshipping Indigenous Group Fought Its Way to Cultural Relevance". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  152. ^ Batchelor (1901), pp. 51–52.
  153. ^ 北千島アイヌの改宗政策について Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine立命館大学
  154. ^ a b Potapova, Н. В. "樺太における宗教活動" [Religious activities in Sakhalin] (PDF). 日本とロシアの研究者の目から見るサハリン・樺太の歴史. Hokkaido University. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
  155. ^ a b c "Prayer to Kamuy – Religion". AKARENGA. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  156. ^ a b "Ainu Beliefs | TOTA". www.tota.world. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  157. ^ History, HWYN (April 26, 2019). "HWYN". hwyn.org. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  158. ^ "Traditional Ainu dance | Silk Roads Programme". en.unesco.org. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  159. ^ "Center for Ainu & Indigenous Studies". Hokkaido University. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  160. ^ a b "Documentary Film 'TOKYO Ainu'". 2kamuymintara.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  161. ^ "ドキュメンタリー映画 TOKYO アイヌ 首都圏アイヌ団体紹介". 2kamuymintara.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  162. ^ "Joint seminar for Sami and Ainu research". arcticcentre.org. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  163. ^ "Ainu". japan-guide.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  164. ^ Levin (2001), pp. 445–446.
  165. ^ a b Levin (1999).
  166. ^ Levin (2001), pp. 419, 447.
  167. ^ Levin (2001), p. 443.
  168. ^ Levin (1999), p. 442.
  169. ^ Levin (2008).
  170. ^ a b Yoshida Hitchingham, Masako (2000). "Act for the Promotion of Ainu Culture and Dissemination of Knowledge Regarding Ainu Traditions – A Translation of the Ainu Shinpou" (PDF). Asian–Pacific Law & Policy Journal. 1 (1). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
    The law's original Japanese text is available at Wikisource.
  171. ^ Levin (2001), p. 467.
  172. ^ "Database of Registered National Cultural Properties". Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  173. ^ Levin & Tsunemoto, Oklahoma Law Review.
  174. ^ a b Siddle (1996).
  175. ^ Umeda, Sayuri (September 5, 2008). "Japan: Official Recognition of Ainu as Indigenous People". Global Legal Monitor. Library of Congress. Library of Congress. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  176. ^ "Ainu Party". ainu-org.jp. Archived from the original on July 10, 2013.
  177. ^ "Ainu plan group for Upper House run". Japan Times. October 31, 2011. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012.
  178. ^ 参議院選挙 [House of Councillors election]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
  179. ^ Murakami, Sakura (February 25, 2019). "Japan's Ainu recognition bill: What does it mean for Hokkaido's indigenous people?". The Japan Times. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  180. ^ "UPOPOY NATIONAL AINU MUSEUM and PARK". UPOPOY NATIONAL AINU MUSEUM and PARK. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  181. ^ Deb, Soham (August 4, 2020). "Visitors can participate in traditional Ainu dance and try out indigenous cuisine". Outlook Traveller.
  182. ^ submitted by Ainu Association of Hokkaido, Japan 2008-9
  183. ^ Rich, Motoko; Hida, Hikari (July 2, 2023). "Japan's Native Ainu Fight to Restore a Last Vestige of Their Identity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  184. ^ 「昭和21年(1946年)12月19日、東京でデレヴャンコ中将と日本における連合国軍最高司令官代表ポール・J・ミューラー中将が、ソ連領とのその支配下にある地域からの日本人捕虜と民間人の本国送還問題に関する協定に署名した。協定では、日本人捕虜と民間人はソ連領とその支配下のある地域から本国送還されなければならない、と記されていた。日本市民はソ連領から自由意志の原則に基づいて帰還することが特に但し書きされていた。」(ネットワークコミュニティきたみ・市史編さんニュース №100 ヌプンケシ 平成17年1月15日発行)
  185. ^ Камчадальские айны добиваются признания [Kamchadal Ainu seek recognition] (in Russian). vostokmediaTV. March 21, 2011. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015 – via YouTube.
  186. ^ a b Айны [Ainu]. Kamchatka-Etno (in Russian). 2008. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012.
  187. ^ В России снова появились айны – самый загадочный народ Дальнего востока [In Russia, the Ainu appear again – the most mysterious people of the Far East]. 5-tv.ru (in Russian). March 22, 2011. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  188. ^ Айны – древние и таинственные [Ainu – ancient and mysterious]. russiaregionpress.ru (in Russian). March 22, 2011. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  189. ^ Айны просят включить их в Единый перечень коренных народов России [Aina ask to be included in the Unified List of Indigenous Peoples of Russia]. severdv.ru (in Russian). July 5, 2011. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016.
  190. ^ Алексей Накамура [Alexey Nakamura]. nazaccent.ru (in Russian). January 17, 2012. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  191. ^ Skvortsov, Ivan (January 29, 2012). Айны – борцы с самураями [Ainu – wrestlers with samurai]. Сегодня.ру (in Russian). Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  192. ^ Bogdanova, Svetlana (April 3, 2008). Без национальности: Представители малочисленного народа хотят узаконить свой статус [Without nationality: Representatives of a small number of people want to legitimize their status]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on November 5, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  193. ^ McCarthy, Terry (September 22, 1992). "Ainu people lay ancient claim to Kurile Islands: The hunters and fishers who lost their land to the Russians and Japanese are gaining the confidence to demand their rights". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  194. ^ Yampolsky, Vladimir. Трагедия Российского Дальнего Востока [Tragedy of the Russian Far East]. Kamchatskoye Vremya (in Russian). Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  195. ^ Представители малочисленного народа айну на Камчатке хотят узаконить свой статус [Representatives of the Ainu people in Kamchatka want to legitimize their status]. indigenous.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  196. ^ "The Ainu: one of Russia's indigenous peoples". Voice of Russia. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012.
  197. ^ Tanaka, Takayuki (March 3, 2017). "Russian Ainu leader calls for greater respect". Nikkei Asian Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  198. ^ "Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей" (in Russian). Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019., "Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей" (in Russian). Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  199. ^ a b "北海道アイヌ協会". Archived from the original on May 18, 2011.
  200. ^ Science Council of Japan Area Studies Committee Anthropology Subcommittee (日本学術会議 地域研究委員会 人類学分科会) (September 15, 2011). "Report Ainu Policy and National Understanding (PDF)" (PDF). Science Council of Japan. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  201. ^ 「しかしアキヅキトシユキは実際には1975年の樺太・千島交換条約の際に千島に住んでいた90人のアレウト族の末裔だったのではないかと推測している。そのアイヌがどこのだれのことを示しているのかということに関してそれ以上の情報はでてこなかった」
  202. ^ Howell (2005).
  203. ^ 小坂洋右 (1992). 流亡: 日露に追われた北千島アイヌ|和書|要ページ番号. 北海道新聞社. ISBN 9784893639431.
  204. ^ a b "北海道のアイヌ、10年余で4割減 実態反映せず". 日本経済新聞. August 27, 2018. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  205. ^ Siddle (1996), p. 92.
  206. ^ 本多勝一 (2000). Harukor: An Ainu Woman's Tale. University of California Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-520-21020-2.
  207. ^ "VI 〈東北〉史の意味と射程". Joetsu University of Education (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  208. ^ a b Howell (2005), p. 187.
  209. ^ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по регионам РСФСР. дальне-Восточныи: Саxалинскии округ" [All-Union Population Census of 1926. National composition of the population by regions of the RSFSR. Far East: Sakhalin District]. Central Statistical Office of the USSR. 1929. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2011 – via Демоскоп Weekly.
  210. ^ a b c Wurm, Stephen Adolphe; Mühlhäusler, Peter; Tyron, Darrell T. (1996). Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas: Maps. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1010. ISBN 978-3-11-013417-9.
  211. ^ Minichiello, Sharon (1998). Japan's Competing Modernities: Issues in Culture and Democracy, 1900–1930. University of Hawaii Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-8248-2080-0.
  212. ^ a b Harrison, Scott (2007). The Indigenous Ainu of Japan and the 'Northern Territories' Dispute (Thesis). hdl:10012/2765.
  213. ^ Piłsudski (2004), p. 816.
  214. ^ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по регионам РСФСР. дальне-Восточныи: Николаевскии округ [All-Union Population Census of 1926. National composition of the population by regions of the RSFSR. Far East: Nikolaevsky District]. Central Statistical Office of the USSR. 1929. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2011 – via Демоскоп Weekly.
  215. ^ Shaman: an international journal for Shamanistic research, Volumes 4–5, p.155.
  216. ^ Piłsudski (2004), p. 37.
  217. ^ Rogers, Krista (April 4, 2016). "Satoru Noda's Golden Kamuy manga series wins the 2016 Manga Taisho award". SoraNews24. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  218. ^ Donovan, Caitlin (October 7, 2014). "The Philosophy of Fullmetal Alchemist's Hiromu Arakawa". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  219. ^ "Ainu Mosir the Movie" (in Japanese). Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  220. ^ "Ainu Mosir". Tribeca Film. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.

Works cited

edit
Genetic studies
Language

Further reading

edit
edit
Organizations
Museums and exhibits
Articles
Video