The Ainu are an ethnic group who reside in northern Japan, including Hokkaido and Northeast Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Khabarovsk Krai; they have occupied these areas known to them as "Ainu Mosir", since before the arrival of the modern Yamato and Russians. These regions are often referred to as Ezochi (蝦夷地) and its inhabitants as Emishi (蝦夷) in historical Japanese texts.
Hokkaido is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
Ishikari Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, located in the western part of the island. The subprefecture covers 3,539.86 square kilometres (1,366.75 sq mi) and on July 31, 2023 had a population of 2,379,802. The subprefecture takes its name from the Ishikari River, the third longest in Japan, which flows through western Hokkaido and empties into the Sea of Japan in the city of Ishikari. There are 6 cities, three towns, and one village under its jurisdiction. Sapporo is both the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture and Ishikari Subprefecture. Shikotsu-Toya National Park is located in the southern part of the subprefecture, and Shokanbetsu-Teuri-Yagishiri Quasi-National Park in the north.
The Hokkaido Utari Association is an umbrella group of which most Hokkaidō Ainu and some other Ainu are members. Originally controlled by the government with the intention of speeding Ainu assimilation and integration into the Japanese nation state, it now operates independently of the government and is run exclusively by Ainu. The group has been influential in raising public awareness of Ainu issues.
Oki Kano, known professionally as OKI, is a Japanese musician of mixed Japanese Ainu ancestry.
The mukkuri is a traditional Japanese plucked idiophone indigenous to the Ainu. It is made from bamboo and is 10 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Sound is made by pulling the string and, similar to a Jew's harp, vibrating the reed as it is placed in the performer's mouth.
This is a bibliography of works on the Ainu people of modern Japan and the Russian Far East.
Among the several native ethnic groups of Japan, the predominant group are the Yamato Japanese, who trace their origins back to the Yayoi period and have held political dominance since the Asuka period. Other historical ethnic groups have included the Ainu, the Ryukyuan people, the Emishi, and the Hayato; some of whom were dispersed or absorbed by other groups. Ethnic groups that inhabited the Japanese islands during prehistory include the Jomon people and lesser-known Paleolithic groups. In more recent history, a number of immigrants from other countries have made their home in Japan. According to census statistics in 2018, 97.8% of the population of Japan are Japanese, with the remainder being foreign nationals residing in Japan. The number of foreign workers has been increasing dramatically in recent years, due to the aging population and the lack of labor force. A news article in 2018 states that approximately 1 out of 10 young people residing in Tokyo are foreign nationals.
Hokkaido Museum opened in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan in 2015. Located within Nopporo Shinrin Kōen Prefectural Natural Park, the permanent exhibition is dedicated to the nature, history, and culture of Hokkaido. Also known as Mori-no-Charenga (森のちゃれんが), the museum integrates and replaces the Historical Museum of Hokkaido (北海道開拓記念館), which opened in 1971, and the Hokkaido Ainu Culture Research Centre (北海道立アイヌ民族文化研究センター), which opened in 1994.
Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples first opened as the Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples and Ishikawa Takuboku (函館市北方民族・石川啄木資料館) in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1989. Located in the former Bank of Japan Hakodate Branch building of 1926, after the transfer out of materials relating to the poet to the Hakodate City Museum of Literature, the museum reopened in its current guise in April 1993. It displays objects that were formerly part of the collection of the Hakodate City Museum, including materials relating to the Orok as well as 750 items used in the daily life of the Ainu that have been jointly designated an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property.
Bikki Sunazawa (砂澤ビッキ) was a Japanese self-taught woodcarver, painter, artist and sculptor of Ainu origin. Sunazawa is respected for helping make the Ainu culture known to the world through his works performed in the Ainu manner. Sunazawa is also known for designing the Ainu flag in 1971. His son Oki, an Ainu Japanese musician, applies the same approach to music.
The National Ainu Museum is a museum located in Shiraoi, Hokkaidō, Japan. The museum's mission is "to promote a proper understanding and awareness of Ainu history and culture in Japan and elsewhere out of respect for the dignity of the indigenous Ainu people, while contributing to the creation and development of new aspects of Ainu culture".
The Ainu Museum, also known as Porotokotan, is a former museum in Shiraoi, Hokkaidō, Japan. The facility began its existence in 1976 as the Shiraoi Foundation for the Preservation of Ainu Culture. In 1984 this was extended to include the Ainu Folk Museum. In 1990 it reopened under the auspices of The Ainu Museum Foundation. The collection included some five thousand folk materials relating to the Ainu and a further approximately two hundred objects relating to minority groups of the north, including the Nivkh, Uilta, Sami, and Inuit. The institution was also involved in the recording and transmission of Ainu-related intangible cultural heritage. The museum closed to make way for the new National Ainu Museum on 31 March 2018.
The mintuci is a water sprite or an aquatic supernatural creature, a half-man-half-beast, told in stories of Ainu mythology and folklore. It is also considered a variant of the kappa and therefore a type of yōkai.
Teshikaga Town Kussharo Kotan Ainu Museum is a museum of the local Ainu and their culture in Teshikaga, Hokkaido, Japan. It opened in 1982 on the shore of Lake Kussharo and has some 450 items on display, including materials relating to yukar and kotan.
The Sapporo Ainu Culture Promotion Center, also known as Sapporo Pirka Kotan (サッポロピㇼカコタン) or "Beautiful Village", opened in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, in 2003. Dedicated to the Ainu people, their history, culture, and way of life, the museum has some three hundred artefacts on display and there is also a traditional-style cise (dwelling).
An amappo was a traditional bear and deer hunters' trap of the Ainu people of the northern Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. Amappo-based traps were also used by ethnic Japanese matagi hunters.
Ethnic nationalism in Japan or minzoku nationalism means nationalism that emerges from Japan's dominant Yamato people or ethnic minorities.
Mieko Chikappu, born Mieko Iga, was an Ainu embroiderer, artist, poet, essayist, and Indigenous activist. She was born in the city of Kushiro on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. "Chikappu" is a rendering of the Ainu language word "cikap" (チカㇷ゚) meaning "bird."
