The Ainu are the indigenous people of northern Japan. Genocide of the Ainu - the original inhabitants of Hokkaido and the northern islands
Initially, the Ainu lived on the islands of Japan (then called Ainumoshiri - land of the Ainu), until they were pushed north by the proto-Japanese. But the ancestral lands of the Ainu are on the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu. The Ainu came to Sakhalin in the 13th-14th centuries, “finishing” their settlement in the beginning. XIX century.
Traces of their appearance were also found in Kamchatka, Primorye and Khabarovsk Territory. Many toponymic names of the Sakhalin region have Ainu names: Sakhalin (from “SAKHAREN MOSIRI” - “wave-shaped land”); the islands of Kunashir, Simushir, Shikotan, Shiashkotan (the endings “shir” and “kotan” mean “plot of land” and “settlement”, respectively). It took the Japanese more than 2 thousand years to occupy the entire archipelago up to and including Hokkaido (then called “Ezo”) (the earliest evidence of skirmishes with the Ainu dates back to 660 BC). Subsequently, almost all of the Ainu degenerated or assimilated with the Japanese and Nivkhs.
Currently, there are only a few reservations on Hokkaido where Ainu families live. The Ainu are perhaps the most mysterious people in the Far East. The first Russian navigators who studied Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were surprised to note the Caucasoid facial features, thick hair and beards unusual for the Mongoloids. Russian decrees of 1779, 1786 and 1799 indicate that the inhabitants of the southern Kuril Islands - the Ainu - had been Russian subjects since 1768 (in 1779 they were exempt from paying tribute - yasak) to the treasury, and the southern Kuril Islands were considered Russia as its own territory. The fact of the Russian citizenship of the Kuril Ainu and the Russian ownership of the entire Kuril ridge is also confirmed by the Instruction of the Irkutsk Governor A.I. Bril to the chief commander of Kamchatka M.K. Bem in 1775, and the “yasash table” - the chronology of the collection in the 18th century. c Ainu - inhabitants of the Kuril Islands, including the southern ones (including the island of Matmai-Hokkaido), the mentioned tribute-yasaka. Iturup means “the best place”, Kunashir - Simushir means “a piece of land - a black island”, Shikotan - Shiashkotan (the ending words “shir” and “kotan” mean “a piece of land” and “settlement”, respectively).
With their good nature, honesty and modesty, the Ainu made the best impression on Krusenstern. When they were given gifts for the fish they delivered, they took them in their hands, admired them and then returned them. It was with difficulty that the Ainu managed to convince them that this was being given to them as property. In relation to the Ainu, Catherine the Second prescribed to be kind to the Ainu and not to tax them, in order to alleviate the situation of the new Russian sub-South Kuril Ainu. Decree of Catherine II to the Senate on the exemption from taxes of the Ainu - the population of the Kuril Islands who accepted Russian citizenship in 1779. Eya I.V. commands that the shaggy Kurilians - the Ainu, brought into citizenship on the distant islands - should be left free and no tax should be demanded from them, and henceforth the peoples living there should not be forced to do so, but try to continue what has already been done with them by friendly treatment and affection for the expected benefit in trades and trade acquaintance. The first cartographic description of the Kuril Islands, including their southern part, was made in 1711-1713. according to the results of the expedition of I. Kozyrevsky, who collected information about most of the Kuril Islands, including Iturup, Kunashir and even the “Twenty-Second” Kuril Island MATMAI (Matsmai), which later became known as Hokkaido. It was precisely established that the Kuril Islands were not subordinate to any foreign state. In the report of I. Kozyrevsky in 1713. it was noted that the South Kuril Ainu “live autocratically and are not subject to citizenship and trade freely.” It should be especially noted that Russian explorers, in accordance with the policy of the Russian state, discovering new lands inhabited by the Ainu, immediately announced the inclusion of these lands in Russia, began to study and economic development, carried out missionary activities, and imposed tribute (yasak) on the local population. During the 18th century, all the Kuril Islands, including their southern part, became part of Russia. This is confirmed by the statement made by the head of the Russian embassy N. Rezanov during negotiations with the commissioner of the Japanese government K. Toyama in 1805 that “north of Matsmaya (Hokkaido) all lands and waters belong to the Russian emperor and that the Japanese did not extend their possessions further." The 18th-century Japanese mathematician and astronomer Honda Toshiaki wrote that “... the Ainu look at the Russians as their own fathers,” since “true possessions are won by virtuous deeds. Countries forced to submit to force of arms remain, at heart, unconquered.”
By the end of the 80s. In the 18th century, enough evidence of Russian activity in the Kuril Islands was accumulated so that, in accordance with the norms of international law of that time, the entire archipelago, including its southern islands, belonged to Russia, which was recorded in Russian state documents. First of all, we should mention the imperial decrees (recall that at that time the imperial or royal decree had the force of law) of 1779, 1786 and 1799, which confirmed the Russian citizenship of the South Kuril Ainu (then called the “shaggy Kurilians”), and the islands themselves were declared possession Russia. In 1945, the Japanese evicted all the Ainu from occupied Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to Hokkaido, while for some reason they left on Sakhalin a labor army of Koreans brought by the Japanese and the USSR had to accept them as stateless persons, then the Koreans moved to Central Asia. A little later, ethnographers wondered for a long time where in these harsh lands the people wearing the open (southern) type of clothing came from, and linguists discovered Latin, Slavic, Anglo-Germanic and even Indo-Aryan roots in the Ainu language. The Ainu were classified as Indo-Aryans, Australoids, and even Caucasians. In a word, the riddles became more and more, and the answers brought more and more new problems. The Ainu population consisted of socially stratified groups (“utar”), headed by families of leaders by the right of inheritance of power (it should be noted that the Ainu clan went through the female line, although the man was naturally considered the head of the family). "Uthar" was built on the basis of fictitious kinship and had a military organization. The ruling families, who called themselves “utarpa” (head of the Utar) or “nishpa” (leader), represented a layer of the military elite. Men of “high birth” were destined for military service from birth; high-born women spent their time doing embroidery and shamanic rituals (“tusu”).
The chief's family had a dwelling within a fortification ("chasi"), surrounded by an earthen mound (also called a "chasi"), usually under the cover of a mountain or rock jutting out over a terrace. The number of embankments often reached five or six, which alternated with ditches. Together with the leader's family, there were usually servants and slaves (“ushu”) inside the fortification. The Ainu did not have any centralized power. The Ainu preferred the bow as a weapon. No wonder they were called “people with arrows sticking out of their hair” because they carried quivers (and swords, by the way, too) on their backs. The bow was made from elm, beech or euonymus (a tall shrub, up to 2.5 m high with very strong wood) with whalebone guards. The bowstring was made from nettle fibers. The plumage of the arrows consisted of three eagle feathers. A few words about combat tips. Both "regular" armor-piercing and spiked arrowheads were used in combat (possibly to better cut through armor or to get an arrow stuck in a wound). There were also tips of an unusual, Z-shaped cross-section, which were most likely borrowed from the Manchus or Jurgens (information has been preserved that in the Middle Ages the Sakhalin Ainu fought back a large army that came from the mainland). Arrowheads were made of metal (early ones were made of obsidian and bone) and then coated with aconite poison “suruku”. The root of aconite was crushed, soaked and placed in a warm place to ferment. A stick with poison was applied to the spider's leg; if the leg fell off, the poison was ready. Due to the fact that this poison decomposed quickly, it was widely used in hunting large animals. The arrow shaft was made of larch.
The Ainu swords were short, 45-50 cm long, slightly curved, with one-sided sharpening and a one-and-a-half-handed handle. The Ainu warrior - dzhangin - fought with two swords, not recognizing shields. The guards of all swords were removable and were often used as decoration. There is evidence that some guards were specially polished to a mirror shine to repel evil spirits. In addition to swords, the Ainu carried two long knives (“cheyki-makiri” and “sa-makiri”), which were worn on the right hip. Cheiki-makiri was a ritual knife for making sacred shavings "inau" and performing the ritual "pere" or "erytokpa" - ritual suicide, which was later adopted by the Japanese, calling it "harakiri" or "seppuku" (as, by the way, the cult of the sword, special shelves for sword, spear, bow). Ainu swords were put on public display only during the Bear Festival. An old legend says: Long ago, after this country was created by God, there lived an old Japanese man and an old Ain. The Ainu grandfather was ordered to make a sword, and the Japanese grandfather: money (it is further explained why the Ainu had a cult of swords, and the Japanese had a thirst for money. The Ainu condemned their neighbors for money-grubbing). They treated spears rather coolly, although they exchanged them with the Japanese.
Another detail of the Ainu warrior’s weapons were battle mallets - small rollers with a handle and a hole at the end, made of hard wood. The sides of the beaters were equipped with metal, obsidian or stone spikes. The beaters were used both as a flail and as a sling - a leather belt was threaded through the hole. A well-aimed blow from such a mallet killed immediately, or at best (for the victim, of course) disfigured him forever. The Ainu did not wear helmets. They had natural long thick hair that was matted together, forming something like a natural helmet. Now let's move on to the armor. Sundress-type armor was made from bearded seal leather (“sea hare” - a type of large seal). In appearance, such armor (see photo) may seem bulky, but in reality it practically does not restrict movement, allowing you to bend and squat freely. Thanks to numerous segments, four layers of skin were obtained, which with equal success repelled the blows of swords and arrows. The red circles on the chest of the armor symbolize the three worlds (upper, middle and lower worlds), as well as shamanic “toli” disks, which scare away evil spirits and generally have magical significance. Similar circles are also depicted on the back. Such armor is fastened at the front using numerous ties. There was also short armor, like sweatshirts with planks or metal plates sewn on them. Very little is currently known about the martial art of the Ainu. It is known that the proto-Japanese adopted almost everything from them. Why not assume that some elements of martial arts were also not adopted?
Only such a duel has survived to this day. The opponents, holding each other by the left hand, struck with clubs (the Ainu specially trained their backs to pass this test of endurance). Sometimes these clubs were replaced with knives, and sometimes they fought simply with their hands until the opponents lost their breath. Despite the cruelty of the fight, no cases of injury were observed. In fact, the Ainu fought not only with the Japanese. Sakhalin, for example, they conquered from the “Tonzi” - a short people, truly the indigenous population of Sakhalin. From “tonzi”, Ainu women adopted the habit of tattooing their lips and the skin around their lips (the result was a kind of half-smile - half-mustache), as well as the names of some (very good quality) swords - “toncini”. It is curious that the Ainu warriors - Dzhangins - were noted as very warlike; they were incapable of lying. Information about the signs of ownership of the Ainu is also interesting - they put special signs on arrows, weapons, and dishes, passed down from generation to generation, so as not to confuse, for example, whose arrow hit the beast, or who owns this or that thing. There are more than one hundred and fifty such signs, and their meanings have not yet been deciphered. Rock inscriptions were discovered near Otaru (Hokkaido) and on the island of Urup.
It remains to add that the Japanese were afraid of open battle with the Ainu and conquered them by cunning. An ancient Japanese song said that one “emishi” (barbarian, ain) is worth a hundred people. There was a belief that they could create fog. Over the years, the Ainu repeatedly rebelled against the Japanese (in Ainu “chizhem”), but lost each time. The Japanese invited the leaders to their place to conclude a truce. Piously honoring the customs of hospitality, the Ainu, trusting like children, did not think anything bad. They were killed during the feast. As a rule, the Japanese were unsuccessful in other ways to suppress the uprising.
“The Ainu are a meek, modest, good-natured, trusting, sociable, polite people who respect property; brave on the hunt
and... even intelligent.” (A.P. Chekhov - Sakhalin Island)
From the 8th century The Japanese did not stop slaughtering the Ainu, who fled from extermination to the north - to Hokkaido - Matmai, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. Unlike the Japanese, the Russian Cossacks did not kill them. After several skirmishes, normal friendly relations were established between the similar-looking blue-eyed and bearded aliens on both sides. And although the Ainu flatly refused to pay the yasak tax, no one killed them for it, unlike the Japanese. However, 1945 became a turning point for the fate of this people. Today only 12 of its representatives live in Russia, but there are many “mestizo” from mixed marriages. The destruction of the “bearded people” - the Ainu in Japan stopped only after the fall of militarism in 1945. However, cultural genocide continues to this day.
It is significant that no one knows the exact number of Ainu on the Japanese islands. The fact is that in “tolerant” Japan there is often still a rather arrogant attitude towards representatives of other nationalities. And the Ainu were no exception: their exact number is impossible to determine, since according to Japanese censuses they are not listed either as a people or as a national minority. According to scientists, the total number of Ainu and their descendants does not exceed 16 thousand people, of which no more than 300 are purebred representatives of the Ainu people, the rest are “mestizo”. In addition, the Ainu are often left with the least prestigious jobs. And the Japanese are actively pursuing a policy of assimilation and there is no talk of any “cultural autonomy” for them. People from mainland Asia came to Japan around the same time that people first reached America. The first settlers of the Japanese islands - YOMON (ancestors of the AIN) reached Japan twelve thousand years ago, and YOUI (ancestors of the Japanese) came from Korea in the last two and a half millennia.
Work has been done in Japan that gives hope that genetics can resolve the question of who the ancestors of the Japanese are. Along with the Japanese living on the central islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, anthropologists distinguish two other modern ethnic groups: the Ainu from the island of Hokkaido in the north and the Ryukyu people living mainly on the southernmost island of Kinawa. One theory is that these two groups, the Ainu and Ryukyuan, are descendants of the original Yomon settlers who once occupied all of Japan and were later driven from the central islands north to Hokkaido and south to Okinawa by the Youi newcomers from Korea. Mitochondrial DNA research conducted in Japan only partially supports this hypothesis: it showed that modern Japanese from the central islands have much in common genetically with modern Koreans, with whom they share much more of the same and similar mitochondrial types than with the Ainu and Ryukuyans. However, it is also shown that there are practically no similarities between the Ainu and Ryukyu people. Age assessments have shown that both of these ethnic groups have accumulated certain mutations over the past twelve thousand years - suggesting that they are indeed descendants of the original Yeomon people, but also proving that the two groups have not had contact with each other since then.
Few people know, but the Japanese are not the indigenous population of Japan. Before them, people lived on the islands Ainu, mysterious people, the origin of which still has many mysteries. The Ainu lived alongside the Japanese for some time until they were pushed north.
That the Ainu are the ancient masters of the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, written sources indicate and numerous names of geographical objects, the origin of which is associated with Ainu language.
Scientists still argue about the origin of the Ainu. Ainu territory was quite extensive: Japanese islands, Sakhalin, Primorye, Kuril Islands and southern Kamchatka. The fact that the Ainu are not related to other indigenous peoples of the Far East and Siberia is already a proven fact.
It is known for certain that The Ainu came to the islands of the Sea of Japan and founded the Neolithic Jomon culture there (13,000 BC - 300 BC). 
The Ainu did not engage in agriculture, they got food hunting, gathering and fishing. They lived along the rivers on the islands of the archipelago, in small settlements quite distant from each other.
Hunting weapons The Ainu consisted of a bow, a long knife and a spear. Various traps and snares were widely used. In fishing, the Ainu have long used a “marek” - a spear with a movable rotating hook that catches fish. Fish were often caught at night, attracted by the light of torches.
As the island of Hokkaido became increasingly populated by the Japanese, hunting lost its dominant role in the life of the Ainu. At the same time, the share of agriculture and livestock raising increased. The Ainu began to cultivate millet, barley, and potatoes.
Hunters and fishermen, the Ainu created an unusual and rich Jomon culture
, characteristic of peoples with a very high level of development. For example, they have wooden products with unusual spiral ornaments and carvings,
amazing in beauty and invention. 
The ancient Ainu created an extraordinary ceramics without a potter's wheel, decorating it with fancy rope patterns.
The Ainu amaze with their talented folklore heritage: songs, dances and stories. 
The legend of the origin of the Ainu.
That was a long time ago. There was a village among the hills. An ordinary village in which ordinary people lived. Among them is a very kind family. The family had a daughter, Aina, who was the kindest of all. The village lived its usual life, but one day at dawn a black cart appeared on the village road. The black horses were driven by a man dressed all in black. He was very happy about something, smiled widely, and sometimes laughed. There was a black cage on the cart, and a small fluffy Teddy Bear was sitting in it on a chain. He sucked his paw, and tears flowed from his eyes. All the people of the village looked out the windows, went out into the street and were indignant: how shameful is it not for a black man to be kept on a chain and tormented? white bear cub. People were only indignant and said words, but did nothing. Only a kind family stopped the black man's cart, and Aina began to ask him to released the unfortunate Little Bear. The stranger smiled and said that he would release the beast if someone gave up his eyes. Everyone was silent. Then Aina stepped forward and said that she was ready for this. The black man laughed loudly and opened the black cage. The white fluffy Teddy Bear came out of the cage. And kind Aina lost her sight. While the villagers looked at the Little Bear and spoke sympathetic words to Aina, the black man on the black cart disappeared to no one knows where. The little bear didn't cry anymore, but Aina cried. Then the white Bear cub took the string in his paws and began to lead Aina everywhere: around the village, along the hills and meadows. This didn't last very long. And then one day the people of the village looked up and saw that The white fluffy Teddy Bear leads Aina straight into the sky, and leads Aina across the sky. The Big Dipper leads the Little Dipper and is always visible in the sky, so that people remember about good and evil...
The Ainu have a cult of the bear. differed sharply from similar cults in Europe and Asia. Only The Ainu fed a sacrificial bear cub at the breast of a female nurse!
The main celebration of the Ainu is the bear festival, on which Relatives and invitees from many villages gathered. For four years, one of the Ainu families raised a bear cub. The best food was given to him, and the bear cub was prepared for ritual sacrifice. In the morning, on the day of the sacrifice of the bear cub, The Ainu staged a mass cry in front of the bear's cage. After which the animal was taken out of the cage and decorated with shavings, and ritual jewelry was put on. Then he was led through the village, and while those present distracted the animal’s attention with noise and shouts, the young hunters, one after another, jumped on the bear, pressing against it for a moment, trying to touch its head, and immediately jumped away: a peculiar ritual of “kissing” the beast. They tied the bear in a special place and tried to feed it festive food. The elder pronounced a farewell word in front of him, described the works and merits of the village residents who raised the divine beast, and outlined the wishes of the Ainu, which the bear had to convey to his father - the mountain taiga god. It is an honor to “send” the beast to the forefather, i.e. killing a bear with a bow Any hunter could be awarded, at the request of the animal’s owner, but he must have been a visitor. Had hit right in the heart. The meat of the animal was placed on spruce paws and distributed taking into account seniority and birth. The bones were carefully collected and taken into the forest. Silence reigned in the village. It was believed that the bear was already on the way, and the noise could lead him off the road.
The genetic relationship of the Ainu with the people of the Neolithic Jomon culture, who were the ancestors of the Ainu, has been proven.
It has long been believed that the Ainu may have common roots with the peoples of Indonesia and the Pacific Aborigines, as they have similar facial features. But genetic research This option was also excluded.
The Japanese are sure that the Ainu are related to Paleo-Asian (?) peoples and came to the Japanese islands from Siberia. Recently there have been suggestions that The Ainu are relatives of the Miao-Yao, living in Southern China.
Appearance of the Ainu
The appearance of the Ainu is quite unusual: they have Caucasian features, they have unusually thick hair, wide eyes, and fair skin. A characteristic feature of the appearance of the Ainu is very thick hair and beard in men, what representatives of the Mongoloid race are deprived of. Thick long hair, matted into tangles, replaced helmets for the Ainam warriors.
Russian and Dutch travelers left many stories about the Ainu. According to their testimony, The Ainu are very kind, friendly and open people. Even Europeans who visited the islands over the years noted the characteristic Ainu gallantry of manners, simplicity and sincerity.
Russian explorers - Cossacks, conquering Siberia, reached the Far East. Arrived On the island of Sakhalin, the first Russian Cossacks even mistook the Ainu for Russians, they were so unlike the Siberian tribes, but rather resembled Europeans.
This is what I wrote Cossack captain Ivan Kozyrev about the first meeting: “About fifty people dressed in skins poured out. They looked without fear and had an extraordinary appearance - hairy, long-bearded, but with white faces and not slanted, like the Yakuts and Kamchadals.”
It can be said that The Ainu looked like anyone: the peasants of the south of Russia, the inhabitants of the Caucasus, Persia or India, even the gypsies - but not the Mongoloids. These unusual people called themselves Ainami, which means “real person”, but the Cossacks dubbed them “Kurils”, adding an epithet - "shaggy". Subsequently Cossacks met Kurils throughout the Far East - on Sakhalin, southern Kamchatka, and the Amur region.
The Ainu pay a lot of attention education and training of children. First of all, they believe, a child must learn to obey his elders! In the child's unquestioning obedience to his parents, older brothers and sisters, adults in general, a future warrior was being raised. The obedience of a child, from the Ainu point of view, is expressed, in particular, in the fact that a child speaks to adults only when asked when he is addressed. The child must be in sight of adults at all times, but at the same time do not make noise, do not bother them with your presence.
The Ainu do not give names to children immediately after birth, as Europeans do, but at the age of one to ten years, or even later. Most often, the name Aina reflects a distinctive property of his character, an individual trait inherent in him, for example: Selfish, Dirty, Fair, Good Orator, Stutterer, etc. Ainu have no nicknames, these are their names.
Ainu boys are raised by the father of the family. He teaches them to hunt, navigate the terrain, choose the shortest road in the forest, hunting techniques and use of weapons. The upbringing of girls is entrusted to the mother. In cases where children violate established rules of behavior, commit mistakes or misdeeds, parents tell them various instructive legends and stories, preferring this means of influencing the child’s psyche to physical punishment.
War of the Ainu with the Japanese
IN Soon the idealistic life of the Ainu on the Japanese archipelago was interrupted by migrants from Southeast Asia and China - Mongoloid tribes who later became the ancestors of the Japanese. New settlers brought culture with them rice , which made it possible to feed a large population in a relatively small area. Having formed Yamato State, they began to threaten the peaceful life of the Ainu, so some of them moved to Sakhalin, the lower Amur, Primorye and the Kuril Islands. The remaining Ainu began an era of constant wars with the state of Yamato, which lasted about a thousand years.
The first samurai were not Japanese at all.
The Ainu were skilled warriors, fluent in their use of bows and swords, and the Japanese were unable to defeat them for a long time. A very long time, almost 1500 years .
The new state of Yamato, which arose in the 3rd-4th centuries, begins an era of constant war with the Ainu. IN 670 Yamoto renamed Nippon (Japan). "Among the Eastern Savages the strongest are emisi", - testify to Japanese chronicles, where the Ainu appear under the name “Emisi”.
The Japanese demonized the rebellious people, calling the Ainu savages, but the Japanese for quite a long time were inferior to the savages - the Ainu - militarily. A recording by a Japanese chronicler made in 712 : « When our exalted ancestors descended from the sky on a ship, on this island (Honshu) they found several savage peoples, among them the most savage were the Ainu.”
Ainu. 1904
The Japanese were afraid of an open battle with the Ainu and recognized that one warrior is worth a hundred Japanese . There was a belief that particularly skilled Ainu warriors could create fog in order to hide unnoticed by their enemies.
The Ainu knew how to deal with two swords, and on the right hip they wore two daggers . One of them (cheyki-makiri) served as a knife for committing ritual suicide - hara-kiri.
The origins of the cult of samurai are in the martial art of the Ainu, not the Japanese. As a result of thousands of years of war with the Ainu, the Japanese adopted a special military style from the Ainu culture - samurai, originating from the thousand-year-old military traditions of the Atsni. And some of the samurai clans, by their origin, are still considered Ainu.
Even the symbol of Japan - the great Mount Fuji - has in its name The Ainu word is "fuji", which means "hearth deity".
The Japanese were able to defeat the Ainu only after the invention of guns, having managed to adopt many techniques of military art from the Ainu. The samurai code of honor, the ability to wield two swords and the mentioned hara-kiri ritual - considered by many to be characteristic attributes of Japanese culture, but in fact these military traditions were borrowed by the Japanese from the Ainu.
In ancient times, the Ainu had the tradition of drawing mustaches on women, so they looked like young warriors. This tradition suggests that Ainu women were also warriors, along with men they fought like Despite all the bans from the Japanese government, even in the 20th century, Ainu got tattoos, it is believed that the latter the tattooed woman died in 1998.
Tattoos in the form of a lush mustache above the upper lip were applied exclusively by women , it was believed that this ritual was taught to the ancestors of the Ainu gods, the mother-progenitor of all living things - Oki-kurumi Turesh Mahi (Okikurumi Turesh Machi) younger sister of the Creator God Okikurumi .
The tradition of tattooing was passed down through the female line; the design was applied to the daughter’s body by her mother or grandmother.
In the process of “Japanization” of the Ainu people in 1799, a strict ban on tattooing Ainu girls was introduced , and in 1871 In Hokkaido, a second strict ban was proclaimed because it was believed that the procedure was too painful and inhumane.
The Ainu language is also a mystery; it has Sanskrit, Slavic, Latin, and Anglo-Germanic roots. Ainu language strongly stands out from the modern linguistic picture of the world, and a suitable place has not yet been found for it. During prolonged isolation the Ainu lost contact with all other peoples of the Earth, and some researchers even identify them as a special Ainu race.
Ethnographers struggling with the question - where in these harsh lands did people wearing loose (southern) type of clothing come from? Their national everyday wear - dressing gowns , decorated with traditional ornaments, festive - white.
National clothes of the Ainu - robe decorated bright ornament, fur hat or wreath. Previously, clothing material was woven from strips of bast and nettle fibers. Now the Ainu national clothes are sewn from purchased fabrics, but they are decorated with rich embroidery. Almost Each Ainu village has its own special embroidery pattern. When you meet an Ainu in national clothes, you can unmistakably determine which village he is from. Embroidery on men's and women's clothing differ. A man would never wear clothes with “feminine” embroidery, and vice versa.
Russian travelers were also amazed that In summer, the Ainu wore a loincloth.
Today there are very few Ainu left, about 30,000 people, and they live mainly in the north of Japan, in the south and southeast of Hokkaido. Other sources voice a figure of 50 thousand people, but this includes first-generation mestizos with an admixture of Ainu blood - there are 150,000 of them, they are almost completely assimilated with the population of Japan. The Ainu culture is fading into oblivion along with its secrets.
Decree of Empress Catherine II of 1779: “...leave the shaggy Kuril residents free and not demand any tax from them, and in the future do not force the peoples living there to do so, but try with friendly treatment and affection... to continue the acquaintance already established with them.”
The empress's decree was not fully observed, and yasak was collected from the Ainu until the 19th century. The trusting Ainu took their word for it, and if the Russians somehow held him in relation to them, then There was a war with the Japanese until the last breath... 
In 1884, the Japanese resettled all the Northern Kuril Ainu to the island of Shikotan, where the last of them died in 1941.The last Ainu man on Sakhalin died in 1961, when he buried his wife. he, as befits a warrior and the ancient laws of his amazing people, made himself “erythokpa”, ripping open the belly and releasing the soul to the divine ancestors...
It is believed that there are no Ainu in Russia. This small people who once inhabited lower reaches of the Amur, Kamchatka, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands , completely assimilated. It turned out that the Russian Ainu were not lost in the common ethnic sea. At the moment they are in Russia – 205 people .
As reported by “National Accent” through the mouth of Alexey Nakamura, leader of the Ainu community, « the Ainu or Kamchadal Kurils never disappeared, They just didn’t want to recognize us for many years. The self-name "Ainu" comes from our word for "man" or "worthy man" and is associated with military activities. We fought the Japanese for 650 years.”
October 30th, 2017
Everyone knows that Americans are not the indigenous population of the United States, just like the current population of South America. Did you know that the Japanese are also not the indigenous population of Japan? Who then lived on these islands before them?...
Japanese are not native to Japan
Before them, the Ainu lived here, a mysterious people whose origins still have many mysteries. The Ainu lived next to the Japanese for some time, until the latter managed to push them north. About what the Ainu are ancient masters The Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, are evidenced by written sources and numerous names of geographical objects, the origin of which is associated with the Ainu language. And even the symbol of Japan - the great Mount Fuji - has in its name the Ainu word “fuji”, which means “deity of the hearth”. According to scientists, the Ainu settled the Japanese islands around 13,000 years BC and formed the Neolithic Jomon culture there.
Settlement of the Ainu at the end of the 19th century
The Ainu did not engage in agriculture; they obtained food by hunting, gathering and fishing. They lived in small settlements, quite distant from each other. Therefore, their habitat was quite extensive: the Japanese islands, Sakhalin, Primorye, the Kuril Islands and the south of Kamchatka.
Around the 3rd millennium BC, Mongoloid tribes arrived on the Japanese islands, who later became ancestors of the Japanese. The new settlers brought with them the rice crop, which allowed them to feed a large population in a relatively small area. Thus began difficult times in the life of the Ainu. They were forced to move to the north, leaving their ancestral lands to the colonialists.
But the Ainu were skilled warriors, fluent with bows and swords, and the Japanese were unable to defeat them for a long time. A very long time, almost 1500 years. The Ainu knew how to wield two swords, and on their right hip they carried two daggers. One of them (cheyki-makiri) served as a knife for committing ritual suicide - hara-kiri.
The Japanese were able to defeat the Ainu only after the invention of guns, having by this time learned a lot from them regarding the art of war. Code honor samurai, the ability to wield two swords and the mentioned hara-kiri ritual - these seemingly characteristic attributes of Japanese culture were actually borrowed from the Ainu.
Scientists are still arguing about the origin of the Ainu.
But the fact that this people is not related to other indigenous peoples of the Far East and Siberia is already a proven fact. A characteristic feature of their appearance is very thick hair and beard in men, which representatives of the Mongoloid race lack. It has long been believed that they may have common roots with the peoples of Indonesia and the Pacific Aborigines, as they have similar facial features. But genetic studies ruled out this option as well.
And the first Russian Cossacks who arrived on Sakhalin Island even mistook the Ainu for Russians, they were so unlike the Siberian tribes, but rather resembled Europeans. The only group of people from all the analyzed variants with whom they have a genetic relationship were the people of the Jomon era, who presumably were the ancestors of the Ainu. The Ainu language is also very different from the modern linguistic picture of the world, and a suitable place has not yet been found for it. It turns out that during their long isolation the Ainu lost contact with all other peoples of the Earth, and some researchers even distinguish them into a special Ainu race.
Ainu in Russia
The Kamchatka Ainu first came into contact with Russian merchants at the end of the 17th century. Relations with the Amur and North Kuril Ainu were established in the 18th century. The Ainu considered the Russians, who were racially different from their Japanese enemies, as friends, and by the middle of the 18th century, more than one and a half thousand Ainu accepted Russian citizenship. Even the Japanese could not distinguish the Ainu from the Russians because of their external similarity(white skin and Australoid facial features, which are similar to Caucasoid in a number of features). Compiled under the Russian Empress Catherine II, the “Spatial Land Description of the Russian State” included Not only all the Kuril Islands, but also the island of Hokkaido became part of the Russian Empire.
The reason is that ethnic Japanese did not even populate it at that time. The indigenous population - the Ainu - were recorded as Russian subjects following the expedition of Antipin and Shabalin.
The Ainu fought with the Japanese not only in the south of Hokkaido, but also in the northern part of the island of Honshu. The Cossacks themselves explored and taxed the Kuril Islands back in the 17th century. So Russia may demand Hokkaido from the Japanese.
The fact of Russian citizenship of the inhabitants of Hokkaido was noted in a letter from Alexander I to the Japanese Emperor in 1803. Moreover, this did not cause any objections from the Japanese side, much less official protest. Hokkaido was foreign territory for Tokyo like Korea. When the first Japanese arrived on the island in 1786, they were met by Ainu with Russian names and surnames. And what’s more, they are true Christians! Japan's first claims to Sakhalin date back to 1845. Then Emperor Nicholas I immediately gave a diplomatic rebuff. Only the weakening of Russia in subsequent decades led to the occupation of the southern part of Sakhalin by the Japanese.
It is interesting that in 1925 the Bolsheviks condemned the previous government, which gave Russian lands to Japan.
So in 1945, historical justice was only restored. The army and navy of the USSR resolved the Russian-Japanese territorial issue by force. Khrushchev signed the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan in 1956, Article 9 of which stated:
“The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Shikotan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan” .
Khrushchev's goal was the demilitarization of Japan. He was willing to sacrifice a couple of small islands in order to remove American military bases from the Soviet Far East. Now, obviously, we are no longer talking about demilitarization. Washington clung to its “unsinkable aircraft carrier” with a death grip. Moreover, Tokyo’s dependence on the United States even intensified after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Well, if this is so, then the gratuitous transfer of the islands as a “gesture of goodwill” loses its attractiveness. It is reasonable not to follow Khrushchev’s declaration, but to put forward symmetrical claims based on known historical facts. Shaking ancient scrolls and manuscripts, which is normal practice in such matters.
An insistence on giving up Hokkaido would be a cold shower for Tokyo. It would be necessary to argue at the negotiations not about Sakhalin or even about the Kuril Islands, but about our own territory at the moment. I would have to defend myself, make excuses, prove my right. Russia would thus go from diplomatic defense to offensive. Moreover, China’s military activity, nuclear ambitions and readiness for military action by the DPRK and other security problems in the Asia-Pacific region will give another reason for Japan to sign a peace treaty with Russia.
But let's go back to the Ainu
When the Japanese first came into contact with the Russians, they called them Red Ainu(Ainu with blond hair). Only at the beginning of the 19th century did the Japanese realize that the Russians and the Ainu were two different peoples. However, to the Russians the Ainu were "hairy", "swarthy", "dark-eyed" and "dark-haired". The first Russian researchers described the Ainu looking like Russian peasants with dark skin or more like gypsies.
The Ainu sided with the Russians during the Russo-Japanese Wars of the 19th century. However, after defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, the Russians abandoned them to their fate. Hundreds of Ainu were killed and their families were forcibly transported to Hokkaido by the Japanese. As a result, the Russians failed to recapture the Ainu during World War II. Only a few Ainu representatives decided to stay in Russia after the war. More than 90% went to Japan.
Under the terms of the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1875, the Kuril Islands were ceded to Japan, along with the Ainu living there. 83 Northern Kuril Ainu arrived in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on September 18, 1877, deciding to remain under Russian control. They refused to move to reservations on the Commander Islands, as the Russian government suggested to them. After which, from March 1881, for four months they traveled on foot to the village of Yavino, where they later settled.
Later the village of Golygino was founded. Another 9 Ainu arrived from Japan in 1884. The 1897 census indicates a population of 57 in Golygino (all Ainu) and 39 in Yavino (33 Ainu and 6 Russians). Both villages were destroyed by Soviet authorities, and the residents were resettled to Zaporozhye, Ust-Bolsheretsk region. As a result, three ethnic groups assimilated with the Kamchadals.
The Northern Kuril Ainu are currently the largest Ainu subgroup in Russia. The Nakamura family (South Kuril on the paternal side) is the smallest and has only 6 people living in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. There are a few on Sakhalin who identify themselves as Ainu, but many more Ainu do not recognize themselves as such.
Most of the 888 Japanese living in Russia (2010 census) are of Ainu origin, although they do not recognize it (pure-blooded Japanese are allowed to enter Japan without a visa). The situation is similar with the Amur Ainu living in Khabarovsk. And it is believed that none of the Kamchatka Ainu are left alive.
Epilogue
In 1979, the USSR deleted the ethnonym “Ainu” from the list of “living” ethnic groups in Russia, thereby declaring that this people had become extinct on the territory of the USSR. Judging by the 2002 census, no one entered the ethnonym “Ainu” in fields 7 or 9.2 of the K-1 census form. There is information that the Ainu have the most direct genetic connections through the male line, oddly enough, with the Tibetans - half of them are carriers of the close haplogroup D1 (the D2 group itself is practically not found outside the Japanese archipelago) and the Miao-Yao peoples in southern China and in Indochina.
As for female (Mt-DNA) haplogroups, the Ainu group is dominated by group U, which is also found among other peoples of East Asia, but in small numbers. During the 2010 census, about 100 people tried to register themselves as Ainu, but the government of the Kamchatka Territory rejected their claims and recorded them as Kamchadals.
In 2011, the head of the Ainu community of Kamchatka Alexey Vladimirovich Nakamura sent a letter to the Governor of Kamchatka Vladimir Ilyukhin and the Chairman of the local Duma Boris Nevzorov with a request to include the Ainu in the List of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation. The request was also rejected. Alexey Nakamura reports that in 2012 there were 205 Ainu registered in Russia (compared to 12 people registered in 2008), and they, like the Kuril Kamchadals, are fighting for official recognition. The Ainu language became extinct many decades ago.
In 1979, only three people on Sakhalin could speak Ainu fluently, and the language became completely extinct there by the 1980s. Although Keizo Nakamura He spoke fluent Sakhalin-Ainu and even translated several documents into Russian for the NKVD; he did not pass on the language to his son. Take Asai, the last person who knew the Sakhalin Ainu language, died in Japan in 1994.
Until the Ainu are recognized, they are noted as people without nationality, like ethnic Russians or Kamchadals. Therefore, in 2016, both the Kuril Ainu and the Kuril Kamchadals were deprived of the rights to hunting and fishing, which the small peoples of the Far North have.
Ainuamazing
Today there are very few Ainu left, about 25,000 people. They live mainly in the north of Japan and are almost completely assimilated by the population of this country.
The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan. Unknownstory
Music from ancient times. Ainu - Old photos and songs
Nikolay Levashov about the Kuril Islands and Japan
At the moment, there are 25,000 Ainu in Japan, and 109 in Russia, which is due to the repatriation of the Ainu, as Japanese citizens from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands after World War II, and large assimilation. However, they still continue to live on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, as the original, most ancient inhabitants of these places.
And finally, one of the national Ainu tales as recorded by Russian researchers:
On the sable hunt
“I went hunting in the taiga. I went far. Having gone down the mountain to a small river, I built myself a hut and set up an inau behind it so that I could have luck in the hunt.
Then I set sable traps both near the river and on the trees that fell across it - animals like to run across them, and further in the taiga. He set a lot of traps.
At night I slept in a hut, and early in the morning, when the sun threw a golden chain on the top of the mountain and began to pull itself out of the distant sea, I went to check the traps. Oh, how pleased I was to see the prey in the first trap, and the second, and the third, and many more. I tied the caught sables into a large bundle and walked cheerfully towards my hut.
When I crossed the river, I looked at the hut and was very surprised - smoke was rising from it.
Who was it that flooded my hearth, however?
I carefully crept up to the hut and heard a sound similar to the sound of boiling water. Strange. What kind of person came into my hut and cooked something? And it already smells. And tasty, though.
I entered. Oh-ho-ho-ho! Yes, this is my wife! How did she think of finding me? I’ve never found it, but here I come.
And my wife sat in my place and prepared dinner.
“Let’s take off your shoes,” she said. - I'll dry your shoes.
I took off my shoes, gave her my shoes, and I kept looking at her carefully and thinking: is this my wife? It seems like it’s not mine and it seems like it’s not mine. We need to find out somehow.
Sit down and eat,” she said. - I'm tired from hunting. I started eating, but I kept thinking: somehow she doesn’t look like my wife. No, it's not like that. It must be some kind of evil spirit. It became scary, however. What should we do anyway?
Suddenly the woman stood up and said:
Well, I'll go. She said so and left.
I looked out of the hut and looked after her. “Isn’t this a bear?” - I thought. And that’s just what I thought, really - the woman turned into a bear. She roared loudly and, clubfoot, went into the taiga.
Of course I was scared. He placed inau around the entire hut. At night I slept lightly and restlessly. And in the morning I went to check the traps again. Oh-ho-ho-ho, how many sables we caught! Never came across so many!
Returning home, I remembered how the ancient old people told me: sometimes forest dwellers come to the Ainu in the guise of a man or woman to help them hunt. The old people call them people of the forest. This means that the forest woman came to me, and not my wife. The wife, of course, could not help so well on the hunt. But she did. Well done, though!"
