Background
The Ainu people stayed at Hokkaido of Japan, Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. In the modern days such as now, those who recognise themselves as Ainu still live in these islands. However, the number of Ainu people are unknown due to the dilution of their culture, mixed heritages and those hiding their backgrounds. This is especially so in Japan due to intermarriages in Japan over the years.
Language
The Ainu people speak the Ainu language which has long extinct except for the Hokkaido language. However, the Ainu people living in Japan right now only speak Japanese and no longer the Ainu language.
History of the Ainu People
The Ainu people were a society of hunter-gatherers, who lived mainly by hunting and fishing. These people followed a religion based on the phenomena of nature. During the 1600s to 1868, the Ainu people were given the opportunity to trade with the Japanese people in the Southern part of Japan. They thus became reliant on the importing of goods by the Japanese.
During the Meiji era, the Ainu people were starting to lose their culture unwillingly. They went from being an isolated group to having their land, language, religion and culture assimilated by the Japanese. They were forced to learn Japanese language, adopt Japanese names, cease animal sacrifices as a religion and adopt tattooing customs.
Intermarriages were conducted between the Ainu people and Japanese to stop discrimination against their offsprings.
Typical Characteristics of an Ainu
They are generally lighter skinned than the Japanese.
They have more body hair compared to the Japanese.
How a typical Ainu looks like.
Life of an Ainu
The Ainus lived in Kotans located near river basins and seashores where food was readily available. The average number of people in a family were from 5-7, rarely reaching more than 10.
Ainu people get married at the age ranging from 15-18 years old and they had to be tattooed. There were several types of marriages, during the proposal, the man would visit the woman's house and eat half a bowl of rice given by the woman. After eating half the bowl, he has to pass it to the woman to finish it, if the woman finishes the bowl of rice, it means that she has accepted his proposal, and if she does not, it means that she does not accept his proposal.
During the marriage, the man and his father would bring betrothal gifts to the house of the woman. The gifts included a sword, a sword guard and a woven basket.
Recognition of the Ainu
Japan has recognised the Ainu people as their indigenous group only in the year 2008. The government has been requested to help the Ainu people since then, especially economically as they were the poorest people in Japan.
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