Ainu
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 (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, ethnically homogeneous Ainu
Regions with significant populations
Japan  Russia
Languages
Ainu is the traditional language. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Ainu language (Ainu ain アイヌ イタク aynu itak; Japanese: ja アイヌ語 ainu-go) is spoken by the Ainu According to research by Alexander Vovin, in 1996 only 15 fluent speakers remained, and the last speaker of the Sakhalin dialect had died in 1994. Alexander Vovin is currently an interim chair and professor at the Ruhr University Bochum and a professor of East Asian Languages at the University of Most Ainu today are native speakers of the Japanese or Russian. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *Gordon, Raymond G. , Jr. (ed. ) (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X.
Religions
Animism, Russian Orthodox, Buddhism

Ainu (アイヌ, Ainu^?) IPA: [ʔáinu] (also called Ezo in historical texts) are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The term Indigenous Peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any Ethnic group who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest historical WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan 's The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia Sakhalin (Сахали́н səxʌˈlʲin Japanese:nihongo|樺太|karafuto or; Chinese: 庫頁 Kùyè also Saghalien, is a large elongated There are most likely over 150,000 Ainu today; however the exact figure is not known as many Ainu hide their origin due to racial issues in Japan. In 2005 a United Nations special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia expressed concerns about "deep and profound" racism in Japan and insufficient government recognition In many cases, surviving Ainu may not be even aware of their ancestry, as their parents and grandparents kept their descent private in order to protect their children from social problems.

Their most widely known ethnonym is derived from the word aynu, which means "human" (particularly as opposed to kamuy, divine beings) in the Hokkaidō dialects of the Ainu language; Emishi, Ezo or Yezo (蝦夷) are Japanese terms, which are believed to derive from the ancestral form of the modern Sakhalin Ainu word enciw or enju, also meaning "human". An ethnonym ( Gk έθνος ethnos, 'tribe' + όνομα onoma, 'name' is the name applied to a given Ethnic group. The Ainu language (Ainu ain アイヌ イタク aynu itak; Japanese: ja アイヌ語 ainu-go) is spoken by the Ainu For the statesman at the Yamato imperial court see Soga no Emishi. EZO is the American self-titled debut album from the Japanese Metal band Ezo. EZO is the American self-titled debut album from the Japanese Metal band Ezo. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities The term Utari (ウタリ, Utari^?) (meaning "comrade" in Ainu) is now preferred by some members of this minority.

Origins

The origins of the Ainu have not been fully determined. They have often been considered Jōmon-jin, natives to Japan from the Jōmon period. The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14000 BC to 400 BC. Recent DNA research says that they are descended from the ancient Jomon people of Japan. ^[1] "The Ainu lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came" is told in one of their Yukar Upopo (Ainu legends). The are the dominant Ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent of these approximately 127 million are residents of Japan ^[2]

Ainu culture dates from around 1200 AD^[3] and recent research suggests that it originated in a merger of the Okhotsk and Satsumon cultures. ^[4] Their economy was based on farming as well as hunting, fishing and gathering. ^[5]

Ainu men generally have dense hair development. Many early investigators proposed a Caucasian ancestry, although recent DNA tests have found no traces of Caucasian ancestry. Genetic testing of the Ainu people has shown them to belong mainly to Y-haplogroup D. In Human genetics, Haplogroup D (M174 is a Y-chromosome Haplogroup. ^[6] The only places outside of Japan in which Y-haplogroup D is common are Tibet and the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European The Andaman Islands are a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, and are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India. ^[7] In a study by Tajima et al. (2004), two out of a sample of sixteen (or 12. 5%) Ainu men were found to belong to Haplogroup C3, which is the most common Y-chromosome haplogroup among the indigenous populations of the Russian Far East and Mongolia;^[6] Hammer et al. In Human genetics, Haplogroup C3 (M217 P44 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup mainly found in indigenous Mongolians. Russian Far East (Да́льний Восто́к Росси́и ˈdalʲnʲɪj vʌˈstok rʌˈsʲiɪ is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i Mongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East (2006) tested another sample of four Ainu men and found that one of them belonged to haplogroup C3. ^[8] Some researchers have speculated that this minority of Haplogroup C3 carriers among the Ainu may reflect a certain degree of unidirectional genetic influence from the Nivkhs, with whom the Ainu have long-standing cultural interactions. The Nivkhs (also Nivkh, Nivkhi, or Gilyak; ethnonym Nivxi language нивхгу - Nivxgu are an indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the ^[6] According to Tanaka et al. (2004), their mtDNA lineages mainly consist of haplogroup Y (21. In Human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup Y is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA haplogroup. 6%) and haplogroup M7a (15. 7%). ^[9] A recent reevaluation of cranial traits suggests that the Ainu resemble the Okhotsk more than they do the Jōmon. ^[10] This agrees with the reference to the Ainu culture being a merger of Okhotsk and Satsumon cultures referenced above.

Some have speculated that the Ainu may be descendants of a prehistoric race that also produced indigenous Australian peoples. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. In Steve Olson's book Mapping Human History, page 133, he describes the discovery of fossils dating back 10,000 years, representing the remains of the Jōmon, a group whose facial features more closely resemble those of the indigenous peoples of New Guinea and Australia. After a new wave of immigration, probably from the Korean Peninsula, some 2,300 years ago, of the Yayoi people, the Jōmon were pushed into northern Japan. The is an era in the history of Japan from about 500 BC to 300 AD. Genetic data suggest that modern Japanese are descended from both the Yayoi and the Jōmon. The are the dominant Ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent of these approximately 127 million are residents of Japan

History

Ainu ceremonial dress. British Museum. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London.

After initial contact with the immigrants, large settlements of the Japanese newcomers gradually spread into Ainu territory. The is an era in the history of Japan from about 500 BC to 300 AD. As the Japanese moved north and took control over Ainu lands, the Ainu often gave up without resistance, with some occasional wars in 1457, 1669, and 1789, where the Ainu were defeated. Notable Ainu revolts include Shakushain's Revolt and the Menashi-Kunashir Battle. Shakushain's Revolt ( Shakushain no ran シャクシャインの乱 was an Ainu rebellion against Japanese authority on Hokkaidō between 1669 The Menashi-Kunashir Battle also called Menashi-Kunashir Revolt or War (クナシリ・メナシの戦い Kunashiri Menashi no tatakai) was a battle in Japanese policies became increasingly aimed at assimilating the Ainu in the Meiji period starting in 1868, outlawing their language, forcing them to use Japanese names, redistributing their land to Japanese farmers^[11] and restricting them to farming on government-provided plots and as labor in the Japanese fishing industry. The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July As the Japanese government encouraged immigration of ethnic Japanese to populate Hokkaido, the Ainu became increasingly marginalised in their own land. The population was greatly reduced due to hardship and diseases introduced by the immigrant Japanese. The island of Hokkaido was called Ezo or Ezo-chi during the Edo period. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 Its name was changed to Hokkaido during the Meiji Restoration as part of the program to "unify" the Japanese national character under the aegis of the Emperor, thus reducing the local identity and autonomy of the different regions of Japan. The, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan 's political and social structure

In 1899 the Japanese government passed an act labelling the Ainu as former Aborigines, with the idea they would assimilate. The act was replaced in 1997—until then the government had stated there were no ethnic minority groups. ^[11] It was not until June 6, 2008 that Japan would formally recognise the Ainu as an indigenous group. ^[11] As Japanese citizens, the Ainu are now governed by Japanese laws and judged by Japanese tribunals, but in the past, 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. is a district located in Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan. is a city located in Ishikari Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan. The functions of judge were not entrusted to these chiefs; an indefinite number of a community's members sat in judgment upon its 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 his feet severed. Intermarriages between Japanese and Ainu were actively promoted by the Ainu to lessen the chances of discrimination against their offspring. As a result, many Ainu are indistinguishable from their Japanese neighbors. There are many small towns in the southeastern or Hidaka region where full-blooded Ainu may still be seen such as in Nibutani. The Nibutani (二風谷 Niputay (ニプタイ in Ainu, district is part of the town of Biratori in Hokkaidō, Japan, a particularly In Sambutsu especially, on the eastern coast, many children of such marriages may be seen.

Ainu bear sacrifice. Japanese scroll painting, circa 1870.

The 400,000 Japanese citizen inhabitants of Sakhalin (including all indigenous Ainu) were deported following the conquest of the southern portion of the island by the Soviet Union in 1945 at the end of World War II. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Today, many Ainu dislike the term Ainu because once it had been used with derogatory nuance and prefer to identify themselves as Utari (comrade in the Ainu language). In official documents both names are used.

On 6 June 2008, a bi-partisan, non-binding resolution was approved by the Japanese parliament calling upon the government to recognize the Ainu people as indigenous to Japan and urge an end to discrimination against the group. Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common This recognised the Ainu people as "an indigenous people with a distinct language, religion and culture" and rescinds the law passed in 1899. ^[11] Though the movement is historical and important, Hideaki Uemura, professor at Keisen University in Tokyo and a specialist in indigenous peoples' rights, states the notion is "weak in the sense of recognizing historical facts" as Ainu were "forced" to become Japanese in the first place. ^[12]

Geography

The Ainu were distributed through the islands of Japan. From Sakhalin island in the north to the Kurile islands and the island of Hokkaidō and Northern Honshū, although some investigators place their former range as throughout Honshū and as far north as the southern tip of Kamchatka. The island of Hokkaido was known to the Ainu as Ainu Moshir, and was formally annexed by the Japanese at the late date of 1868, partly as a means of preventing the intrusion of the Russians, and partly for imperialist reasons.

According to Russian Empire Census of 1897, 1446 persons in Russian Empire reported Ainu language as their mother tongue, 1434 of them in Sakhalin Island. The Russian Empire Census of 1897 was the first and the only Census carried out in the Russian Empire. ^[13] For historical reasons nearly all Ainu live in Japan now. The southern half of Sakhalin was acquired by Japan as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, but at the end of World War II in 1945, the Soviets declared war on Japan and took possession of the Kurile islands and southern Sakhalin. The Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 Romaji: Nichi-Ro Sensō Русско-японская война Russko-Yaponskaya Voyna;, 10 February 1904 – 5 September World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Ainu population, as previously Japanese subjects, were "repatriated" to Japan.

There are, 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 Hokkaidō.

Due to intermarriage with the Japanese and ongoing absorption into the predominant culture, there are no truly Ainu settlements existing today. The town of Nibutani in Hidaka area (Hokkaido prefecture) has a number of Ainu households and a visit to some of the Ainu owned craft shops close to the Ainu museums (there are two of them in Nibutani) is an opportunity to interact with the Ainu people. Many "authentic Ainu villages" advertised in Hokkaido such as Akan and Shiraoi are tourist attractions and provide an opportunity to see and meet Ainu people.

Language

Main article: Ainu language

The Ainu language is significantly different from the Japanese language in its syntax, phonology, morphology, and vocabulary. The Ainu language (Ainu ain アイヌ イタク aynu itak; Japanese: ja アイヌ語 ainu-go) is spoken by the Ainu In Linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek grc συν- syn-, "together" and grc τάξις táxis, "arrangement" is the Phonology ( Greek φωνή (phōnē voice sound + λόγος (lógos word speech subject of discussion is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words Although there have been attempts to show that they are related, the vast majority of modern scholars reject that the relationship goes beyond contact, such as the mutual borrowing of words between Japanese and Ainu. In fact, no attempt to show a relationship with Ainu to any other language has gained wide acceptance, and Ainu is currently considered to be a language isolate. A language isolate, in the absolute sense is a Natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic" relationship with other living languages that is The Ainu language is polysynthetic, and attempts have been made to relate Japanese, Korean and Ainu via an early proto-Ainu language. Words used as prepositions in English such as: to, from, by, in, and at are postpositional in Ainu and come after the word that they modify. A single sentence in Ainu can be made up of many added or agglutinated sounds or morphemes which represent nouns or ideas. The Ainu language has had no system of writing, and has historically been transliterated by the Japanese kana or the Russian Cyrillic and now Latin alphabets by investigators. Kana is a general term for the syllabic Japanese scripts Hiragana (ひらがな and Katakana (カタカナ as well as the old system The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by The unwieldy nature of the Japanese kana with its inability to accurately represent terminal consonants has contributed to the degradation of the original Ainu, with such words as "Kor" (meaning to hold), being pronounced now with a terminal vowel sound, "Koro", in many Japanese Ainu dialects, as distinct from the Kurile or Sakhalin Ainu. Many of the Ainu dialects even from one end of Hokkaido to the other were not mutually intelligible; however, the classic Ainu language of the Yukar, or Ainu epic stories, was understood by all. Without a writing system, the Ainu were masters of narration, with the Yukar and other forms of narration such as the Uepeker (Uwepeker) tales, being committed to memory and related at gatherings often lasting many hours or even days.

Culture

Flag of the Ainu people, designed by Bikki Sunazawa in 1973. Cerulean blue stands for sky and sea, white for snow and red for arrow which is running in the snow beneath Hokkaido's sky. Cerulean may be applied to a range of colors from deep Blue, sky-blue bright blue or azure color through greenish blue colors [1].

Traditional Ainu culture was quite different from Japanese culture. Never shaving after a certain age, the men had full beards and moustaches. For the Swedish heavy metal band see Mustasch. A moustache (or mustache) is Facial hair grown on the upper Lip. Men and women alike cut their hair level with the shoulders at the sides of the head, trimmed semicircularly behind. Hair is a keratinised protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the Dermis. The women tattooed their mouths, and sometimes the forearms. A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of Skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons The mouth, buccal cavity, or oral cavity is the first portion of the Alimentary canal that receives food and begins digestion by mechanically breaking up The forearm is the structure on the Upper limb, between the elbow and the Wrist. The mouth tattoos were started at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing with size. The soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of birch bark was used for color. Their traditional dress was a robe spun from the inner bark of the elm tree, called attusi or attush. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather Various styles of clothing were made, and consisted generally of a simple short robe with straight sleeves, which was folded around the body, and tied with a band about the waist. The sleeves ended at the wrist or forearm and the length generally was to the calves. Women also wore an undergarment of Japanese cloth. Modern craftswomen weave and embroider traditional garments which command very high prices. In winter the skins of animals were worn, with leggings of deerskin and in Sakhalin, boots were made from the skin of dogs or salmon. Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. 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 prized highly. For the Tokyo University supercomputer see Gravity Pipe. GRAPE, or GRA phics P rogramming E nvironment is A tamasay (or tamasai) is a Bead Necklace worn by Ainu women for special occasions Their traditional cuisine consists of the flesh of bear, fox, wolf, badger, ox or horse, as well as fish, fowl, millet, vegetables, herbs, and roots. A fox is an Animal belonging to any one of about 27 Species (of which only 12 actually belong to the Vulpes genus or 'true foxes' of small The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora Badger is the Common name for any animal of three subfamilies which belong to the family Mustelidae: the same Mammal family as the Oxen (singular ox) are Cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult castrated males The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two Most or all Birds collectively referred to as fowl belong to one of two orders namely the gamefowl or landfowl ( Galliformes) and the waterfowl The millets are a group of small- Seeded Species of Cereal crops or grains widely grown around the world for Food and Fodder The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however A(n herb (ˈhɝb or /ˈɝb/ see pronunciation differences) is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties flavor scent or the like ROOT is an object-oriented program and library developed by CERN. They never ate raw fish or flesh; it was always boiled or roasted. Their traditional habitations were reed-thatched huts, the largest 20 ft. (6 m) square, without partitions and having a fireplace in the center. There was no chimney, only a hole at the angle of the roof; there was one window on the eastern side and there were two doors. The house of the village head was used as a public meeting place when one was needed. Instead of using furniture, they sat on the floor, which was 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 used chopsticks when eating; the women had wooden spoons. A spoon is a Utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl at the end of a handle used primarily for serving and eating Liquid, or semi-liquid foods and solid foods Ainu cuisine is not commonly eaten outside Ainu communities; there are only a few Ainu-run restaurants in Japan, all located in Tokyo or Hokkaidō, serving primarily Japanese fare. Ainu cuisine is the Cuisine of the ethnic Ainu in Japan. The cuisine differs markedly from that of the ''Wajin'', or ethnic Japanese officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū.

Religion

For more information see Ainu creation myth. A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-[[religion religious]] story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, Earth, life, and

The Ainu are traditionally animists, believing that everything in nature has a kamuy (spirit or god) on the inside. Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals Kamui or Kamuy is the Ainu word for a spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology There is a hierarchy of the kamuy. The most important is grandmother earth (fire), then kamuy of the mountain (animals), then kamuy of the sea (sea animals), lastly everything else. Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak This article is about the body of water For other uses see SEA and Seas. Marine biology is the scientific study of living Organisms in the Ocean or other marine or Brackish bodies of water They have no priests by profession. A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities The village chief performs whatever religious ceremonies are necessary; ceremonies are confined to making libations of rice beer, uttering prayers, and offering willow sticks with wooden shavings attached to them. Prayer is the act of attempting to communicate with a Deity or spirit Willows, sallows and osiers form the Genus Salix, around 400 species of Deciduous Trees and Shrubs found primarily These sticks are called inau (singular) and nusa (plural). Inău may refer to Inău, a village in the town of Târgu Lăpuş, Maramureş County Inău, a village in Inău may refer to Inău, a village in the town of Târgu Lăpuş, Maramureş County Inău, a village in They are placed on an altar used to "send back" the spirits of killed animals. The Ainu people give thanks to the gods before eating and pray to the deity of fire in time of sickness. They believe their spirits are immortal, and that their spirits will be rewarded hereafter by ascending to kamuy mosir (Land of the Gods). Immortality (or eternal life) is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an Infinite length of Time.

Some Ainu in the north are members of the Russian Orthodox Church. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure

Institutions

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

In March 1997, the Ainu were recognized by a Japanese court as an indigenous and minority people. is the fifth-largest city in Japan by population It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an Ainu issues did not matter in the sphere of public policy until then. There was a limited outcry when the Saru River was dammed and the upriver town of Nibutani, one of the largest traditional Ainu villages, was flooded and the land expropriated from its Ainu owners. The Saru River (沙流川 Sarugawa) of Hokkaidō, Japan, rises in the Hidaka Mountains and empties into the Pacific. The reservoir was designed to service an industrial development project on the coast of Hokkaido, and despite the industrial project's cancellation, the government persisted in building the dam. Two Ainu residents, Kaizawa Tadashi and Kayano Shigeru, refused to sell their land, and in 1993 filed lawsuit against the expropriation. The expropriation was upheld, and for the first time, a Japanese Court recognised that the Ainu's indigenous rights had been violated. ^[14]

As signatories of the United Nations Treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which was signed by Japan in 1979, the Japanese had been forced to face the issue that the Ainu were indeed indigenous and minority peoples, which supported the Ainu in their pursuit of their rights to their distinct culture and language. 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, which now operates mostly independently of the government and is run exclusively by Ainu. The Hokkaido Utari Association (北海道ウタリ協会 Hokkaidō Utari Kyōkai) is an umbrella group of which most Hokkaidō Ainu and some other Ainu

Subgroups

• Tohoku Ainu (from Honshū, no known living population)
• Hokkaido Ainu
• Sakhalin Ainu
• Kuril Ainu (no known living population)
• Kamchatka Ainu (extinct since pre-historic times)
• Amur Valley Ainu (probably none remain)

See also

• Ethnic issues in Japan
  • Ryukyuan people
  • Yamato people
• Ethnocide
• Human rights in Japan
• Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• List of ethnic groups
• Yukar
• Ainu music
• Shogun
• Kennewick Man
• Iomante
• Ainu-ken
• Ryūkyū independence movement

Notes

References and further reading

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

• Batchelor, John (1901). "On the Ainu Term `Kamui", The Ainu and Their Folklore. London: Religious Tract Society.  
• Etter, Carl [1949] (2004). Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan. Whitfish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1417976977.  
• Fitzhugh, William W. ; Dubreuil, Chisato O. (1999). Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295979127.  
• Honda Katsuichi (1993). Ainu Minzoku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun Publishing. ISBN 4022565772.  
• Ichiro Hori (1968). Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and Change, Haskell lectures on History of religions 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  
• Junko Habu (2004). Ancient Jomon of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521776708.  
• Kayano, Shigeru (1994). Our Land Was A Forest: An Ainu Memoir. Westview Press. ISBN 0813318807. ISBN 9780813318806.
• Landor, A. Henry Savage (1893). Arnold Henry Savage Landor (1865– 26 December 1924) was an English painter explorer writer and anthropologist born in Florence Alone with the Hairy Ainu. Or, 3,800 miles on a Pack Saddle in Yezo and a Cruise to the Kurile Islands. London: John Murray.  
• Siddle, Richard (1996). Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415132282.  
• Starr, Frederick (1905). "The Hairy Ainu of Japan". Proceedings of the Second Yearly Meeting of the Iowa Anthopological Association. Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa.  
• Walker, Brett (2001). The Conquest Of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520227360.  
• Article on the Ainu in Japan's Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity.

External links

• The Ainu Museum at Shiraoi
• Smithsonian Institution
• Hokkaido Utari Kyokai
• Sapporo Pirka Kotan Ainu Cultural Center
• Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Ainu in Samani, Hokkaido
• Ainu-North American cultural similarities
• Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture (centers located in Sapporo and Tokyo)
• Ainu Lineage
• The Boone Collection
• Article in The Christian Science Monitor, June 9, 2008