Low, M. (n.d.). Physical anthropology in Japan: The ainu and the search for the origins of the Japanese: The Ainu and the search for the origins of the Japanese: Current anthropology: Vol 53, NO S5. link

This paper was written by Morris Low in 2012. It was published in a textbook titled Current Anthropology which included papers about indigenous populations all over the world. This paper has eight sections that divide up the timeline of the Indigenous Ainu people of Japan. 

Chapter Outline

Origins of Anthropology in Japan:

• The roots of archeology date back to the Japanese showing an interest in prehistoric remains.

• Archeological data is used to solve historical problems, such as with the origins of the Ainu.

• The Japanese understood the importance of preserving archaeological history. Stefan Tanaka stated, “old things became a symbol of stability that grounds a changing society”.

• Following the Meiji restoration, there was a need to locate historical items from Japan’s past in order to put them on display for the West. 

• Morse and Tsuboi are credited with the establishment of anthropology in Japan.

• Tsuboi established the Bulletin of the Tokyo Anthropological Society which represented the transition from an antiquarian curiosity to a type of anthropological archaeology. 

• Tsuboi argued that the history of the Japanese should be studied by themselves rather than foreigners. 

Ainu Studies: 

• Koropokguru was a term used by the Ainu to describe an earlier people of a shorter stature that had also lived in Hokkaido. 

• After studying skeletal remains of the Ainu, Tsuboi argued that the Ainu had lived throughout all of Japan but were forced onto Hokkaido by the Japanese. 

• The Ainu had lighter skin than the Japanese.

Anthropology and Empire:

• Tsuboi and others’ work established the notion that the Ainu were an immature and primitive race. There were objections to this from indigenous people in Japan.

• Japanese officials and elite were afraid of being accused of ill treatment of the indigenous peoples following certain representations of them in Japan.  

• The idea that the Japanese people had mixed racial origins helped justify the annexation of Korea.

• Colonial expansion during the early 1900s was justified using c common ancestral origins of those in East Asia. 

• Some Anthropologists claimed that Ainu were racially inferior which led to the rise in the idea of Japanese racial superiority during their colonial expansion. 

Japan as a Homogenous nation:

• The Tokyo Imperial University was the leading center of anthropology in Japan in the early 1900s.

• Hasabe was appointed as the chair of anthropology which marked a shift towards a more biometric approach that included all populations of people in Japan.

Postwar studies:

• The loss of the empire and restrictions on overseas travel led to a limit on the studies that Japanese anthropologists could conduct. 

• Following the war, physical anthropology was used to deny the fact that the Ainu were indigenous people of Japan. 

• The combination of the development of molecular biology and morphological studies has suggested that the Ainu’s ancestors were likely to have been the Jomon people.

• Shima realized that there was a lot of racial mixing between populations which contradicts the portrayal that the Japanese are homogenous. 

• The Japanese were experiencing social problems and decided to study them through the lens of physical anthropology and biometrics. 

• There were studies conducted that measured the growth rate of children who were half Japanese and half American compared to those who were fully Japanese.

• A paper was written about the effects of wartime on infants and children, they discovered that wartime can slow down growth and delay puberty. 

Collection and Return of Ainu Skeletons:

• The collection of Aniu remains has been controversial because the Ainu have refused to cooperate with the requests of the anthropologists. 

• However, there have been instances of anthropologists tricking the Ainu and taking their remains and artifacts without permission. 

• Kodama was an anthropologist who did grave digging and conducted many mass excavations of the Ainu’s grave sites. 

• The British took skulls from the Ainu and even though they promised to return all of them, at least three have been found in museums elsewhere. 

• Following Japan’s colonial expansion, they have not returned countless artifacts to the cultures they took from.

• The debate of the origins of the Japanese has contributed to the neglect and mistreatment of the Ainu. 

Japan and Southeast Asia:

• The Japanese today are suspected to be descendants of the Jomon and Yayoi populations.

• The Ainu are also suspected to be related to the Jomon people.

• Some papers have suggested that up to three-quarters of the gene pool can be traced back to the Korean Peninsula. 

• As research continues, the study of DNA as well as physical anthropology will contribute to discovering the true origins of the Japanese. 

The Ainu as an Indigenous People:

• The Ainu are seen as the remnants of a past Japanese culture that failed to evolve with the times.

• Ainu culture seems completely tied in with Japanese culture despite their efforts to be recognized as an indigenous people with their own history. 

• In 1997, the Ainu Cultural Promotion Act was enacted as the Sapporo District Court recognized that the Ainu fit the legal category of indigenous people.

relevant works cited:

Koganei, Yoshikiyo. "Ainu no jinshugakuteki chosa no omoide [Recollections of ethnographical investigations of the Ainu]." Dolmen 4.7 (1935): 54-65.

Hanihara, Tsunehiko, and Hajime Ishida. 2009. Regional differences in craniofacial diversity and the population history of Jomon Japan. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139:311–322.

Hudson, M. J. (n.d.). (PDF) Ainu ethnogenesis and the northern Fujiwara. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316506

Mark Hudson uses this paper to go more in-depth about the relationship between the northern Fujiwara and the Ainu people. 

relevant works cited: 

Crawford, Gary W., and M. Yoshizaki 1987 Ainu Ancestors and Early Asian Agriculture. Journal of Archaeological Science 14:201-213.

1999 Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

Howell, David L. “Ethnicity and Culture in Contemporary Japan.” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 31, no. 1, 1996, pp. 171–90. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/261100. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

David Howell wrote this paper in 1996. This was one of the papers cited in the primary scholarly source that I included on this website, however, it is a complete coincidence that I selected it for this annotation. National identity in Japan has been very important to its citizens for their entire history. This has led to racial discrimination and segregation of indigenous peoples of Japan. There are three minority groups in Japan, and the Ainu is one of them. Despite the recent rise in Ainu support, the discrimination has not relented. Many issues with ethnic differences stem from the conflicts between Korea and Japan throughout history. Howell argues that there is a paradox between maintaining cultural identity while attempting to make people functional citizens of the society. 

relevant works cited:  

Japanese as a Member of the Asian and Pacific Populations (Kyoto 1992); Baba Hisao, 'Ainu, Ryukyujin wa Jomonjin no chokkei shison ka' in Suzuki Kimio (ed.), Soten: Nihon no rekishi: Genshi hen (Tokyo 1990), 106-22

Rethinking Modernization and Modernity in Japanese History: A Focus on State-Society Relations', Journal of Asian Studies 53, 2 (May 1994), 346-66

1. 公益財団法人 アイヌ民族文化財団. History. (n.d.). https://www.ff-ainu.or.jp/web/english/details/post-5.html

outline:

• Ainu culture is believed to have been established around the 12th-13th century but historical materials date it to the 15th century.

• Ainu went from being producers to laborers on the fishing grounds.

• The Ainu had a feud with the Wajjin and their last battle was the battle of Shakushain.

• The shogunate forced the Ainu to change their culture and assimilate but they were strong-willed and rebelled.

• The Ainu were forced to relocate to Hokkaido and suffered tremendously from mistreatment by the government.

• Beginning in the late 1990s, the Ainu began to gain protections and rights from the government. 

2. K, K. (2023, August 25). The ainu: History of the indigenous people of Japan. The Archaeologist. https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/ainu-history-of-the-indigenous-people-of-japan

outline:

• The appearance of the Ainu is not like the Japanese but more similar to the Russians. 

• The bear cub is an important symbol for the Ainu.

• During the Meiji period, the Ainu lost a lot of their culture due to government restrictions. 

• During the late 20th century, the Ainu gained recognition from the government as a true indigenous group of Japan. 

3. Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). Nova online | island of the spirits | origins of the ainu. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hokkaido/ainu.html

Plant use and domestication is an important tool in archaeology. The collection of seed and plant remains allows insight into what life was like for people of the past. The Ainu are now thought to have been hunter-gatherer types based on the study of their food. 

3. YouTube. (2021, July 1). Ainu - history of the indigenous people of Japan documentary. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tnK2FK2298

This documentary follows the culture of the origins of the Ainu. It describes the garments they wore, the tools they used, their daily life, etc. It then goes into the conflicts that the Ainu had with the Japanese and other foreigners who tried to push them out. 

4. YouTube. (2018, March 18). The fascinatingly mysterious origins of the ainu. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFohbr7ALeQ

This is another documentary that follows the origin story of the Ainu. The narrator goes in-depth about how the Ainu are related to other populations in Japan, such as the Jomon. The narrator mainly focuses on how the Ainu are connected with the rest of Japan's people. 

5. Sapiens. (2023, September 18). The untold story of Japan’s first people. SAPIENS. https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ainu-prejudice-pride/

The Japanese government used to try and cover up the existence of the Ainu. However, due to international and internal pressure, the government now recognizes them as an indigenous group in Japan. The government is now working with the Ainu to display their history and culture to all of Japan. 

6. Marmenlind, A. (2023c, October 21). The story of the Ainu: Metropolis Magazine Japan. Metropolis Japan. https://metropolisjapan.com/the-story-of-the-ainu/

This article focuses on the colonization of the Ainu people. The overarching theme is that the discrimination and segregation of the Ainu before 1900 was more common than anyone realizes. However, conditions have improved as now the Ainu are considered true citizens of Japan. 

7. Japan Fans. (2023, March 14). History and culture of the ainu. https://japanfans.nl/en/history-and-culture-of-the-ainu/

This article gives a very broad overview of who the Ainu were and what their distinguishing characteristics are. It also goes into detail about the language used by the Ainu, which is not discussed as often when the history of the Ainu is brought up. A fun fact about this is that the Ainu have no indigenous system of writing!

9. History and culture of the ainu. JAPAN. (2021, March 29). https://japaneseplus.org/2021/03/29/history-and-culture-of-the-ainu/

This article starts by comparing the history of the Ainu to the history of the Native Americans. The mistreatment and discrimination have led to many problems, such as a disappearing native language. However, some practices, like lip tattooing, have not been lost. 

10. Zaman, M. (2021, February 26). The Ainu and Japan’s colonial legacy. – Tokyo Review. https://tokyoreview.net/2020/03/ainu-japan-colonial-legacy/

This article discusses the political side of Ainu's history. It mentions multiple acts that were against the indigenous people of Japan as well as ones meant to protect them. Sadly, despite the government's efforts, the status quo regarding indigenous people in Japan has yet to change completely.