AINU

HISTORY Discrimination Hokkaido

The Ainu are original inhabitants of Japan with a different cultural and racial background than the Japanese. They entered Japan through Hokkaido in the Yayoi Period and migrated also into the Northern and Eastern parts of Japan's main island Honshu. Since the rulers of Yamato Japan had started to expand their territory eastwards in the middle of the first millenium, the Ainu were constantly displaced to the North or mixed with the Japanese. In the Meiji Period (1868-1912) they received the status of former aboriginals but were strongly discriminated. Unfortunatelly, discrimination towards the Ainu still remains today. At present, only a few thousand Ainu still live according to their traditions on the Northern island of Hokkaido. Like some Lapps in Northern Scandinavia, a few Ainu also produce traditional carvings and the like as touristic attractions.

AINU The Ainu Museum Much information about the history and culture of the Ainu. The Ainu of Japan Essay about the discrimination of the Ainu by Tadahiro Yamashita. The Ainu Museum Much information about the history and culture of the Ainu.