History of the Ainu Culture in Japan

1316 Words3 Pages

Hypothesis

The Ainu moved from Hokkaido and northern part of Honshu to farther north, because of war that happened in Japan long time ago.

Ainu Culture & Biography

Ainu means human in the Ainu language. The Ainu’s history was known from the Jomon period, which is about 1200 CE. There are very few full-blooded Ainu these days. That is because the Ainu had intermarriages with the Japanese people. You can tell that a person is Ainu by their appearance. The Ainu have skin that is lighter than the Japanese, and the Ainu generally have more hair on their bodies. They also have big noses and eyes. Unfortunately, the Ainu are becoming more extinct, just like their language, where there are less than 100 people who can speak the Ainu language. In the 15th century, there were many Mongolians from Korea, China, etc who came to live in Japan. Some of them moved to Hokkaido and northern parts of Honshu, where most of the Ainu were living. When the new Japanese settlers wanted the Ainu’s land, the Ainu were forced to leave. The Japanese settlers started to push the Ainu farther to the very north of Hokkaido, and also to the islands in the north, such as the Kurile Islands and southern Sakhalin Island. Also, the Ainu’s population dropped, because of infectious diseases that the Japanese settlers brought. There weren’t many Ainu left when they moved to north, because of population decrease, and some of the Ainu moved to other countries such as Korea, China, Russia, etc. The Japanese didn’t treat the Ainu right at all, and there was racism against the Ainu. For example, the Japanese ignored the Ainu’s opinion when the Japanese discussed about how to make improvements in Hokkaido. Even today, some people are still racists against the Ainu. Som...

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Rice, R. (n.d.). Ainu submergence and emergence: Human rights discourse and the expression of ethnicity in modern Japan. Retrieved from http://www.uky.edu////Seras//.doc

Tanaka, Y. (1994). Organizing to promote Ainu understanding and culture. In Ainu people today-7 years after the culture promotion law (par. 3). Retrieved from http://www.hurights.or.jp/pacific/_36/.htm

Uzawa, K. (n.d.). Political and social situation. In The Ainu of Japan: Political situation and rights issues. Retrieved from http://www.npolar.no////.html

Wikipedia. (2009, September 23). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org//_people

Yahoo Korea image [Ainu behind Japan’s history] [Picture]. (2008, June 11). Retrieved from http://kr.img.search.yahoo.com//?p=%EC%95%84%EC%9D%B4%EB%88%84&b=26&imgseq=29&oid=1_02true1171998_3&subtype=Image_DB&target=detail&top=frame

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