Lecture #2: Ainu

Ainu are the only indigenous ethnic minority of Japan recognized by the Japanese
government (as of 1997; see below). A very small minority. Official population figure is
about 25,000, and has been remarkably constant over the last 200 years (see stats
below). Ainu culture found in Kuril islands and Sakhalin as well as Hokkaido.
Some Key Ainu Words
Ainu = People Moshiri/Mosir = World
Ainu Moshiri (The Quiet Land Where Humans Live) = The Ainu land, Hokkaido.
Utari = Comrade, fellow
Kamuy / Kamui = Gods
Chise = An Ainu house
Kotan = A hamlet of 4 or more chise
Ekashi = Headman, senior male of kotan
Kotankorokur = Bigger headman, for group of kotan
Ukocaranke Lit. "To let words fall mutually." = Ainu practice of settling disputes by
arguing extensively. (Kayano 1994 p. 25). Cf. Quaker tradition.
Aysirosi = Ainu coat of arms (Japanese: kamon ). "An inscription carved at the end
of a poisoned trap arrow used for hunting bear and deer.

Aysirosi of Shigeru Kayanos ancestors (Kayano 1994: 24)

Iyomante = Ainu bear-killing ritual
Ainu view of nature: If you take anything from nature, you must return the spirit to the
gods (kamuy). Hence in the Iyomante, the spirit of the dead bear is sent back to the
gods. Not just animals trees, fruit etc. have spirits (similar to Shinto belief: pantheistic
).
*Sekuma-Pause-Kamuy Bear gods
*Kamuy Ni Tree gods

*Kamuy Nonno Flower gods

*Failure to return the spirit will be punished by bad luck, disease etc. (Sjoberg 1993:
59). Traditional beliefs and respect for nature have prevented Ainu from taking too
much Ainu society reckoned to be ecologically sound.
* Gender practices
Women generally viewed as inferior.
* Separate toilets for men and women behind the chise.
* Womens labor valued lower than mens (less dangerous, not done in groups)
In our society we men take care of important tasks. It is our belief that women, because
of their awful smell, which comes from menstruating women, will chase the Kamuy
away from us. We cannot afford this. It is too risky to let women handle important tasks.
Clearly, you must see that. (Ainu Ekashi [headman] interviewed in Hidaka by Katarina
Sjoberg in 1988 (Sjoberg 1993: 60).
Japanese as seen by Ainu
Shisam / Shisham / Shinsham = Fellow traders
Shamo = impolite form of Shisam, people you cant trust.
Wajin = Mainland/Yamato Japanese. People of Wa. Yamato people. (Japanese
term often used by Ainu
Folkcrafts
Nowadays Ainu designs are very popular with Japanese and other non-Ainu people,
especially wood-carving and fabrics. Perhaps the most famous item is the tunic, woven
from bark fiber (attush) or cotton (chikarkarpe, kaparamip, ruunpe). For some beautiful
examples, use these words as internet search terms or check out the Ainu Museum site:
http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/
* Ainu-Wajin History
Ainu used to be called Emishi, and Hokkaido Ezo (sometimes Romanized as
Yezo).
Their men and women live together promiscuously, there is no distinction of father and
child. In winter they dwell in holes, in summer they live in nests. Their clothing consists

of furs, and they drink blood Account of Emishi in the Nihonshoki (historical
records composed c.720 a.d., claiming to describe Emishi several hundred years earlier),
in Siddle 1996: 27.
No agreement among archaeologists on the origins of the Ainu, but probably at
least two ethnic groups populated Ezo in prehistoric times. By the 9th century there
were 2 distinct cultures: Satsumon and Okhotsk. Todays Ainu are thought to be
descended from the latter.
13th Century. Emergence of todays Ainu culture on Hokkaido, the Kuril islands and
Southern Sakhalin. First records of trading with clans living in North-eastern Honshu.
15th century. Wajin trading settlements dotted around southern Hokkaido. Wajin hunters,
blacksmiths and traders active.
1456 Wajin blacksmith kills an Ainu in a quarrel over a blunt knife. Major diplomatic
incident.
1457 Ainu led by Koshamain destroy all but 2 settlements. Wajin almost expelled from
Ezo. A century of intermittent warfare follows.
1551 Leading Japanese clan in northeast, the Kakizakis, reaches peace and trade
agreement with local Ainu. Trading profits to be split 50-50.
Kakzakis take possession of small stretch of land on southern tip of Ezo first
incorporation of Ainu land into mainland Japan.
1599 Kakizaki family takes clan name Matsumae
1604 Recognized by Tokugawa shogunate, a big step towards becoming part of Japan.
Gets trade monopoly with Ezo, gradually starts to dominate trade with Ainu.
1653 Shakushain (legendary Ainu warrior-hero) becomes leader of Menashunkur Ainu,
engaged in bitter territorial dispute with Shumunkur Ainu (both in Hidaka region,
Southern Hokkaido.)
1655 Both groups accept Matsumae clan offers to mediate, but incidents continue.
1668 Shakushains men ambush and kill Onibishi, while he is conferring with leader of
local Wajin miners.
1669 Shakushain succeeds in uniting Ainu in uprising against Matsumae clan. 200 to
400 Wajin killed. Matsumae clan sends army with firearms; rebellion suppressed.
Shakushain invited to peace negotiations and treacherously assassinated.
1789 Last major Ainu uprising. 71 Wajin killed in Kunashiri and Nemuro.
Uprising put down by Matsumae aided by local Ainu leader; 37 Ainu executed.
1821 Matsumae Clan given full control of southern Ezo by Bakufu (Shogunate).
Ainu forbidden to speak Japanese or practice Japanese customs.

Workers sent from Honshu to develop Ezo bring new diseases. Ainu population reduced
sharply. Ainu Population in Western Ezo declined from 9,068 in 1798 to 4,384 in 1854
1855 Bakufu commences assimilation policy. Ainu are to be Japanized. Now they
MUST learn Japanese and practice Japanese customs.
1869 Northern island (Ainu Moshiri in Ainu language) renamed from Ezo (sometimes
romanized as Yezo to Hokkaido (, lit. North Sea Land).
1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Law ()passed: in
force until 1997. Key point: Ainu encouraged to abandon traditional hunting & fishing
lifestyle and settle down to become farmers. Land allocated to those who agree to do so.
20th century Hokkaido development Japanese government starts building railways, coal
and metal mines, fishing ports etc. in Hokkaido. Natural resources needed for hunting,
fishing, gathering are impounded or destroyed. Ainu used as part of the labor force to
develop the island, alongside convicts and indentured laborers.
Summary of Japans vacillating policies toward Ainu
Japanese side
Shogunate
pre-1821

Ainu Policy

Objective

( Turn Ainu into civilized Japanese

Assimilation

Matsumae clan (Forbid Ainu from

post 1821
language, customs

using

Japanese Separation

Meiji govt
1869-1899

Preserve culture of dying Ainu race

Meiji govt 1899

Grant Japanese citizenship, teach Japanese Assimilation

Separation
extinction

Rise of Ainu ethnic movement

1930 Launch of Ainu Association , a moderate group that favors
assimilation with Japanese.
1945 Loss of momentum as Japans pure-blooded ideology strengthens (Nihonjinron)
1961 Ainu Kyokai renamed Utari Kyokai, using Ainu word for Our People
1963 Membership is just 770.
1968-1973: Expansion
1968 Japanese govt celebrates 100 years of developing Hokkaido, angering Ainu.
1970s Movement grows, helped by mounting international support for indigenous
peoples.

1973 1st Utari welfare measures: 12 billion of national and local govt funding,
administered by Utari Association.
1976 Utari Membership 8,540 (2,103 households; nearly half Ainu population)
Utari Associations nature: Made up mainly of wealthy farmers and businessmen; close
links to LDP; 3 main campaigning issues: education, housing, livelihood. As Japan
gradually becomes aware of responsibilities to Ainu, government money starts to
become available for Ainu culture preservation projects etc., Utari Assoc increasingly
cooperates with Govt. Young radical Ainu suspect co-option and leave Utari
Association.
1980 Japanese government denies Ainu exist in statement to UN.
1986 Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasones famous statement that there are no ethnic
minorities in Japan.
1992 Ainu representatives invited to testify before UN Committee on Indigenous
Rights.
1994 Shigeru Kayano elected to the upper house of the Diet for the Japan Socialist Party.
First Ainu ever elected to national parliament. Makes inaugural speech partly in Ainu.
1997 Govt finally recognizes Ainu status as independent ethnic group: The Ainu, who
lived in Hokkaido before the arrival of Wajin at least at the end of medieval times, have
been recognized as a race that has original traditions and that developed a unique culture
including the Ainu language, which is based on a different linguistic system from the
Japanese language, as well as original manners and customs. (Prime Minister's Office
Announcement No. 25; September 18, 1997)
July 1997 Ainu Rights Law passed
Replaces 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigine Protection Law; recognizes the Ainu as the
indigenous people of Hokkaido; requires municipal governments to protect and promote
Ainu culture but no mention of land rights.
Who is Ainu?
1997 law defines an Ainu person as: (1) A person who considers himself or herself to be
Ainu, OR (2) a person of Ainu ancestry, OR (3) a person who has become Ainu by
marriage or adoption. There is an opt-out clause: you can choose not to be Ainu.
Is everything OK now?
Not necessarily. Announcing a 2000 report on effects of the new law, Kazuyuki
Yamamaru, 51, chairman of the Ainu Museum in Shiraoicho, Hokkaido, said that even

after the enactment of the law, many Ainu people still did not want to reveal their
identity for fear of discrimination. The concept of cultural pride was not widespread.
* Asked if they had recently faced discrimination, such as being rejected by potential
marriage partners, 12.4 percent said yes -- up 5.1% points from the previous survey held
in 1993, before the enactment of the new law. 15.7 percent of the pollees, a rise of 5.6
points, said that they had heard of other Ainu people suffering discrimination (as
reported in Yomiuri Shinbun).
Shigeru Kayano
Sometimes called Mister Ainu. The single most influential figure campaigning for
Ainu rights in the last 30 years. Check out his autobiography: Our Land Was a Forest
(Kayano 1994), translated from the Japanese Ainu no Ishibumi (,
1990
A few extracts from Our Land Was a Forest:
On the environment in his hometown of Nibutani: The azure horizon spreads in all
directions, without a cloud in sight. The pine grove on the opposite shore of the Saru
River is dark, but everything else in the vast landscape is pure white, covered by snow.
The first time southerners see this Hokkaido winter scene, they are likely to feel it
would somehow be wrong to step into it. I myself felt such reluctance when I first went
south and faced the grass that everywhere made the earth green. (Kayano 1)
On the history of Ainu forced labor (paraphrased): In 1858, shisam came to Kayano's
family village of Nibutani and forced each household to supply laborers to work as
fishermen at Atsukeshi, over 350 kilometers away... they went on foot through snow.
Out of 116 villagers, 43 men, women and children were pressed into labor. Kayano's
grandfather Totkaram, then 11 years old, was one of them. He hated the work so much
that he deliberately cut off a finger in hopes he'd be sent home. The boss was
unimpressed, but Totkaram finally did get himself sent home by coating his body with
poisonous blowfish bile until his skin turned yellow. The pay: "As little as a sparrow's
tear." One of Kayano's ancestors allegedly worked for a year at Atsukeshi and was paid
with a single lacquer wine cup. (p36)
Kayanos grandmothers response to Shamo poaching laws after his father was arrested

for salmon poaching: "My son caught salmon, offered some to the gods, and at the same
time fed his children. Why is he punished for this? The wicked sisam are not punished
for their catch -- I cannot understand this The shamo law banning salmon fishing was
as good as telling the Ainu, who had always lived on salmon, to die." (pp. 58-59)
On the Japanese taking of Hokkaido: The Japanese invaded Ainu Mosir: "If the
'Japanese people' borrowed rather than invaded the land of the Ainu, there ought to be a
certificate of lease; if they bought it, there ought to be a certificate of purchaseYet I
have never seen such a certificate in simple terms we have no recollection of selling
or lending Ainu Mosir to the Japanese state." (p. 60)
On Japanese anthropologists who study Ainu: In those days I despised scholars of Ainu
culture from the bottom of my heartThey dug up our sacred tombs and carried away
our ancestral bones. Under the pretext of research, they took blood from villagers, and
in order to examine how hairy we were, rolled up our sleeves, then lowered out collars
to check out backs, and so on People not only were photographed from the front, the
side, and an assortment of angles but induced to wear large number plates such as
criminals wear in mug shots." (98-99)
Such experiences prompted Kayano to start building up his own collection of Ainu
artifacts, and record Ainu songs and poetry, in an epic preservation project. Kayano has
his critics who accuse him of practicing salvage archaeology, ironically encouraging
people to look on Ainu as a primitive, dying out race. The debate continues.
Ainu population in Hokkaido
Top row: Year. Bottom row: population.
1807

1822

26,256 23,563

1854

1873

1903

1931

1972

1979

1986

1993

2006

17,810

16,272

17,783

15,969

18,298

24,160

24,381

23,380

23,782

Bibliography
William Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People
(University of Washington Press, 2001)
Shigeru Kayano, Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir (Westview Press, 1994).
Takako Yamada, The World View of the Ainu: Nature and Cosmos Reading from
Language (Columbia University Press, 2002)

Richard Siddle, Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan (Routledge, 1996)
Richard Siddle: Ainu: Japans Indigenous People in Japans Minorities: The Illusion of
Homogenity, ed. Michael Weiner (Routledge, 1997)
Katarina V. Sjoberg, The Return of the Ainu: Cultural Mobilization and the Practice of
Ethnicity in Japan (Harwood 1993).
Brett L. Walker, The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese
Expansion, 1590-1800 (University of California Press, 2001)
A few works in Japanese:
2001
Uemura Hideaki, The Modern History of Indigenous Peoples (Heibonsha: 2001).

1998
Oguma Eiji, The Boundaries of the Japanese Okinawa, Ainu, Taiwan, Korea, from
Colonial Domination to Reversion Movements (Shinyosha, 1998).
1990
Kayano Shigeru, An Ainu Monument (Asahi Bunki, 1990; first pub. 1980)
( 2001 )
Chikapp Mieko, The Wind Over the Ainu Land (NHK Books, 2001)