Culture and traditions of Ainu people

There are six principal minority groups in Japan: Ainu, Burakumin, Chinese, Koreans, Nikkeijin and Okinawans. (Weiner, 1997)

The name of Mt. Fuji originates from the Ainu language.

Ainu is the oldest indigenous group of people with original culture and language of northern Japan, Hokkaido.

As you walk around Hokkaido, you get to see a mixture of Western and Japanese culture.

Ainu refers to “human” while Japanese are called shisam or shimo.

They were once hunters and fishermen but now they are a minority group in Hokkaido fighting for their cultural survival. They also do not have control over natural resources and majority of them face unemployment and poverty issues.

Their customs, language and way of life were heavily impacted as a result of colonization and development through the era.

While Ainu leaders have achieved real material and political gains, and Ainu culture is more vibrant than at any time since the early decades of the century, the health of the Ainu nation remains fragile. (Siddle, 1996)

Traditional ways of life of the Ainu people survived until the resources of land, fish and game upon which this lifestyle depended were destroyed by the development of Hokkaido. By the early twentieth century, most Ainu were barely managing to survive. (Siddle, 1996)

Some interesting cultures of the Ainu people…

They have strong faith in God and believe that He exists in every creation: trees, hills, lakes and animals.

In Ainu cuisines, you rarely get to see raw meats like sashimi as they prefer to boil or roast their meat.

Their men also had full beards and moustaches as they do not shave after a certain age.

Ainu women tattoo their mouths or forearms before reaching the age of marriage. However, in 1871 this was banned by the government.

With reference to a blog entry of a tourist who visited the Yukara village, he mentioned experiencing several traditions, ritual ceremonies and speaking to one of the natives of Ainu about the history of this tribe. He also mentions seeing a wide variety of items crave out of wood.

Here are a few videos showing the various music and dance of the Ainu:

Many of the Ainu people also got married with Japanese hoping to forsake their original culture once and for all. They do not want their next generation to be a pure Ainu as the child could face the same form of discriminations they did.  

In a Taiwan news article, it is reported that an estimated 60 percent of Ainu people said they had lost touch with their cultural roots and reported no knowledge of traditional Ainu story-telling, songs or dances.

Cultural identity of the Ainu is shown in museums, rituals, and annual events in hope of sustaining ethnic survival. The Shiraoi Ainu Museum is one of the better ones showing an outdoor reproduction of a small Ainu village.

Nothing beats a first- hand experience and below shows a compilation of photos taken from his blog: