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[Gubook Janggoon]

This is what Wikipedia says about the Ainu....

Ainu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For "Ainu" in J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Arda, see Ainur.

The Ainu (a word meaning "human" in the Ainu language; Ezo, or Yezo, (蝦夷) in old Japanese; Utari now preferred by some members) are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaido, the northern part of Honshu in Northern Japan, the Kurile Islands, much of Sakhalin, and the southernmost third of the Kamchatka peninsula. There are over 150,000 Ainu today, however the exact figure is not known as many Ainu hide their origins or in many cases are not even aware of them, their parents having kept it from them so as to protect their children from racism.


Group of Ainu people, 1904 photograph.
Total Population

* 50,000 people with half or more Ainu ancestry
* 150,000 Japanese people with some Ainu ancestry
o (some estimates on the number of Japanese with some Ainu blood range as high as 1,000,000; the exact number is unknown)
* Pre-Japanese era: ~50,000, almost all pure Ainu

Significant Populations in:

* Japan
* Russian Federation

Language Ainu is the traditional language, but today somewhere between 1% and 5% of Ainu can speak it fluently, between 5% and 10% are passive speakers or partial speakers, and about 50% of Ainu have a very basic command of the language
Related ethnic groups No ethnic groups have been proven to be related to the Ainu, but they are usually grouped with the non-Tungusic peoples of Sakhalin, the Amur river valley, and the Kamchatka peninsula:

* Nivkhs
* Itelmens
* Chukchis
* Koryaks
* Aleuts (and sometimes Eskimos in general as well)




History

The origins of the Ainu are uncertain. Although their traditional homeland has been inhabited since the end of the last ice age, it is impossible to track the movements of the peoples of Northeastern Asia until well after the beginning of the historical period. At first, contact with the Japanese people was friendly and both were equals in a trade relationship. However, eventually the Japanese started to dominate the relationship, and soon established large settlements on the outskirts of Ainu territory. As the Japanese moved north and took control over their traditional lands, the Ainu often gave up without resistance, but there was occasional resistance as exemplified in wars in 1457, 1669, and 1789, all of which were lost by the Ainu. Japanese policies became increasingly aimed at reforming the Ainu in the Meiji period, outlawing their language and restricting them to farming on government-provided plots. Ainu were also used in near-slavery conditions in the Japanese fishing industry. Japan used to called the Ainu's home island "Ezo", but changed the name to "Hokkaido" during the Meiji Restoration.

The Ainu are now governed by Japanese laws and judged by Japanese tribunals, but in former times their affairs were administered by hereditary chiefs, three in each village, and for administrative purposes the country was divided into three districts, Saru, Usu and Ishikari, which were under the ultimate control of Saru, though the relations between their respective inhabitants were not close and intermarriages were avoided. The functions of judge were not entrusted to these chiefs; an indefinite number of a community's members sat in judgement upon its criminals. Capital punishment did not exist, nor was imprisonment resorted to, beating being considered a sufficient and final penalty, except in the case of murder, when the nose and ears of the culprit were cut off or the tendons of his feet severed. Intermarriages between Japanese and Ainu are not infrequent, and at Sambutsu especially, on the eastern coast, many children of such marriages may be seen.

Today, many Ainu don't like the term Ainu and prefer to identify themselves as Utari ("comrade" in the Ainu language). In official documents both names are used.
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Geography

For historical reasons (the Russo-Japanese war and World War II), nearly all Ainu live in Japan. There is, however, a small number of Ainu living on Sakhalin, most of them descendants of Sakhalin Ainu who were evicted and later returned. There is also an Ainu minority living at the southernmost area of the Kamchatka Peninsula and on the Kurile Islands. However, the only Ainu speakers remaining (besides perhaps a few partial speakers) live solely in Japan. There, they are concentrated primarily on the southern and eastern coasts of the island of Hokkaido.

Due to intermarriage with the Japanese and ongoing absorption into the predominant culture, few living Ainu settlements exist. Many "authentic Ainu villages" advertised in Hokkaido are simply tourist attractions.
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Culture

Traditional Ainu culture is quite different from Japanese culture. 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, but trim it semicircularly behind. The women tattoo their mouths, arms, clitorides, and sometimes their foreheads, starting at the onset of puberty. The soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of birch bark is used for colour. Their traditional dress is a robe spun from the bark of the elm tree. It has long sleeves, reaches nearly to the feet, is folded round the body, and is tied with a girdle of the same material. Women also wear an undergarment of Japanese cloth. In winter the skins of animals are worn, with leggings of deerskin and boots made from the skin of dogs or salmon. Both sexes are fond of earrings, which are said to have been made of grapevine in former times, as also are bead necklaces called tamasay, which the women prize highly. Their cuisine consists of the flesh of the bear, the fox, the wolf, the badger, the ox or the horse, as well as fish, fowl, millet, vegetables, herbs, and roots. They never eat raw fish or flesh, but always either boil or roast it. Their habitations are reed-thatched huts, the largest 20 ft. square, without partitions and having a fireplace in the centre. There is no chimney, but only a hole at the angle of the roof; there is one window on the eastern side and there are two doors. The house of the village head is used as a public meeting place when one is needed. Instead of using furniture, they sit on the floor, which is covered with two layers of mats, one of rush, the other of flag; and for beds they spread planks, hanging mats around them on poles, and employing skins for coverlets. The men use chopsticks and moustache-lifters when eating; the women have wooden spoons.
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Religion

The Ainu believe in animism, or that everything in nature has a "kamui" (spirit or god) on the inside. There is a hierarchy of the kamui. The most important is grandmother hearth (fire), then kamui of the mountain (animals), then kamui of the sea (sea animals), lastly everything else. They have no priests by profession. The village chief performs whatever religious ceremonies are necessary; ceremonies are confined to making libations of wine, uttering prayers, and offering willow sticks with wooden shavings attached to them. These sticks are called Inau (singular) and nusa (plural). They are placed on an altar used to sacrifice the heads of killed animals. The Ainu people give thanks to the gods before eating and pray to the deity of fire ("Huchi") in time of sickness. They believe their spirits are immortal, and that their spirits will be rewarded hereafter by ascending to kamui mosir (Land of the Gods) or punished in hell.

Some Ainus in the north are members of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Institutions

There are many different organizations of Ainu trying to further their cause in many different ways. There is an umbrella group of which most Hokkaido Ainu and some other Ainu are members, called the Hokkaido Utari Association, originally controlled by the government with the intention of speeding Ainu assimilation and integration into the Japanese nation-state but which now operates independent of the government and is run exclusively by Ainu.

[Karakhan]

I read a bit about the Ainu and have access to an Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary at a near by library.

Despite claims of being caucasian or even a lost tribe of Israel, the Ainu are NOT white. Maybe they look more caucasian in comparison to other Asian races, but that is about it

It is believed that the Ainu and their ancestors, the Jomon were from South East Asia, possibly Micronesian. They settled in the Ryukyu islands (Okinawa), the main Japanese island, and the northern areas, Hokkaido, Sakhalin and Kuriles.

Sometime in history there was an invasion either through Korean peninsula, or from the Amur, across to Sakhalin then down to the main Japanese islands. The identity of this invaders is not clear, but most likely either a Tungus race or Korean (or both) and then mixed with most of those early settlers.

There was some DNA testing done and it seemed that those inhabitting Honshu had the least percentage of jomon blood, while the Okinawans had a greater number and the Ainu having the most.

If you ever see an Okinawan (plenty in Hawaii), they look significantly different than the Japanese. the Okinawans tend to have a squarer jaw line, stockier build, shorter height, and alot of body hair. Many have tan complexions with some passing as Filipinos (some not all). the Ainu is also known to be short, stocky and especially hairy. Chinese sources often mention their body hair.

The area they traditionally inhabit can be shown here, this is the maximum estimate.




some pure blooded Ainu, old picture.



Maybe 25-50 years ago you can find some Pure blooded Ainu, but most now are mixed Japanese are mostly Japanese, as you can see from these pictures





There used to be Ainu on Sakhalin, Kuriles and even on the Russian Asian mainland, but they were all kicked out during WWII. There are some mixtures remaining, I'm sure you can find an Ainu-Nanai or Ainu-Nivkh in Russia because I knew one who was Ainu-Nanai.

Population of Ainu is all guestimates, this is because in Japan, many Ainu claim Japanese descent as Ainu are still look down upon, infact only couple years ago they finally recognize the Ainu as a national minority! it is still hard for the Ainu to advance up the social and professional ladder in Japan. It is believed there is anywhere between 20-80,000 Ainu in Japan.

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As for History

Historically the Hokkaido Ainu, Sakhalin Ainu and Kurile Ainu tend to fight with each other, usually in low scale combat (they had a small population).

On Sakhalin Island there was three races, the Ainu in the south, the Oroks/Uilta in the central areas.. (they were reindeer breeders who descended from the Jurchen and are distantly related to the Manchu), and the Nivkh in the north (known to wear fish skin and an Asian race not related to any other race). They would often trade and war between each other.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Nivkhs and Ainu fought a long 40 year war according to Russian sources.. with the Mongols finally winning, but eventually withdrawing shortly after.

[Kulong]

Ainu's appearance reminds me of Eskimos.

[TMPikachu]

I've heard of them described as short and dark skinned, I've heard of them as tall and light skinned. A white-supremacy site even claimed them to be white, and founders of the Samurai class

[Gubook Janggoon]

Thanks for the info Karakhan!

[caocao74]

A white-supremacy site even claimed them to be white, and founders of the Samurai class

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've read of that theory too, and although it comes from a racist site, it shouldn't necessarily be discounted (although the Caucasian claims are very dubious to say the least).
In the 8th and early 9th Century, the government in Heiankyo (Kyoto) were forcing the northern boundary of their authority northwards, against the Emishi (predominantly Jomon-descended people, the ancestors of the modern Ainu). By the 810s, the campaigns had effectively ended, with most of the Emishi either defeated or integrated. Many of these tribes then served on the frontier as military servants of the provincial governors (the people of central Japan looked down upon the provinces) in the North and made the military path their route to a livelihood under the yoke of the southern invader.
It is noticeable that the leading samurai of the 12th-16th Centuries nearly always emerged from the East and North (the Hojo, Minamoto, Date, Matsudaira (later Tokugawa), Oda, Uesugi, Takeda, &c), while the samurai of the Sengokujidai were clearly more endowed with facial hair than the rest of the population. It's just a theory, but without any white-supremacist BS attached.

[TMPikachu]

True, Japanese can grow some powerful beards (Toshiro Mifune, what a mane).
It'd be something interesting to look into, why they come from these regions where the Ainu were. Perhaps it'd have to do with more conflict in the region in the first place. As far as I know, the original mainland colonists into Japan were already pretty aggressive and warlike.

[caocao74]

True, Japanese can grow some powerful beards (Toshiro Mifune, what a mane).
It'd be something interesting to look into, why they come from these regions where the Ainu were. Perhaps it'd have to do with more conflict in the region in the first place. As far as I know, the original mainland colonists into Japan were already pretty aggressive and warlike.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Initially, there was conflict throughout the Japanese archipelago. Whether you follow the mythological tales presented in the Kojiki or Nihonshoki / Nihongi, or the theories regarding arrivals from the Asian mainland (who probably introduced the Yayoi-culture which displaced the Jomon-culture), from Kyushu the leading Uji (clans) moved northward to the region of Asuka (south of present-day Nara), but they (ie, Wi, later Wa) were then (according the the Wajinden compiled by visitors from the Jin Dynasty in the 3rd Century) just one leading clan amongst many.

[Chanpuru]

big news. The Diet finally recognized the Ainu as being native to Hokkaido!

http://news.google.c...thuCCLshx_7FGTw

[Chanpuru]

Population of Ainu is all guestimates, this is because in Japan, many Ainu claim Japanese descent as Ainu are still look down upon, infact only couple years ago they finally recognize the Ainu as a national minority! it is still hard for the Ainu to advance up the social and professional ladder in Japan. It is believed there is anywhere between 20-80,000 Ainu in Japan.

20,000 is the low estimate, 1 million is the high estimate. I personally suspect it may be about 100,000.
There's lots of people from Hokkaido that I've met that have more "Jomon" features, but they quickly try to deny they are Ainu.
One of my classmates from Hokkaido told me that in school, there was one Ainu girl that everyone made fun of because she was Ainu
and looked slightly different.

Like Okinawans, looks of Ainu can range. some look no different from Japanese, others look kinda mixed Japanese and white or Japanese and Polynesian.

[DaMo]

The Ainu samurai theory was proposed by one American anthropologist named C. Loring Brace. He based this conclusion off measurements done on skulls found at a Kamakura battlefield, and extrapolated these to explain what he considers to be the "atypical" features of Japanese nobility.

I really don't see the samurai as having much more Ainu ancestry than the rest of the Japanese population. While it is conceivable that the Ainu would have been recruited as mercenaries from time to time, one must consider that the samurai were the Ainu's bane, the Ainu were held by the Japanese to be inferior barbarians, and the title of Shogun itself was derived from a longer title meaning "General who subdues barbarians". It would be like the vanguard of the American continental army being predominantly composed of Cherokee.

As for the European Ainu theory, that is an idea with which even Brace does not agree. The Ainu cluster genetically with other East Asians, and exhibit dental sundadonty, placing them close to native Oceania as well. The idea that the Ainu are a lost white race exists only in the minds of white supremacists. From this, of course, ridiculous extensions have been made, including claims that the Ainu were "Celtic".

[Chanpuru]

The Ainu samurai theory was proposed by one American anthropologist named C. Loring Brace. He based this conclusion off measurements done on skulls found at a Kamakura battlefield, and extrapolated these to explain what he considers to be the "atypical" features of Japanese nobility.

I really don't see the samurai as having much more Ainu ancestry than the rest of the Japanese population. While it is conceivable that the Ainu would have been recruited as mercenaries from time to time, one must consider that the samurai were the Ainu's bane, the Ainu were held by the Japanese to be inferior barbarians, and the title of Shogun itself was derived from a longer title meaning "General who subdues barbarians". It would be like the vanguard of the American continental army being predominantly composed of Cherokee.

As for the European Ainu theory, that is an idea with which even Brace does not agree. The Ainu cluster genetically with other East Asians, and exhibit dental sundadonty, placing them close to native Oceania as well. The idea that the Ainu are a lost white race exists only in the minds of white supremacists. From this, of course, ridiculous extensions have been made, including claims that the Ainu were "Celtic".

thats the problem with people un used to relatively obscure ethnicities. They might have a certain feature that looks "non asian" and they easily get classified as something else.. like Ainus with Caucasoids. I've seen quite a few who've mistakingly classified Okinawans too simply because some Okinawans have dark skin and bigger eyes.

[Freddy1]

I believe some study show that the Ainu are related to the asiatic peoples of Siberia. Similar to the Inuit/Eskimo.

Edited by Freddy1, 08 June 2008 - 08:24 PM.

[Chanpuru]

Pics of modern day Ainu youth



This group in particular is interesting. While many may be ashamed of their Ainu ancestry (similar to Burakumin minority), this group is very vocal about their Ainu ancestry. Many of them can easily pass as Okinawan imho

[DaMo]

They have cool clothing. I like those characteristic robe patterns of theirs.