The Ainu Poem

Sirokanipe ranran piskan Konkanipe ranran piskan. This Ainu poem is about an owl deity. It roughly translates to “Fall fall, silver drops, all around fall fall, golden drops, all around” (Selden). The Ainu worshiped all aspects of nature as gods, believing animals were spirits temporarily visiting the earth. The Ainu are an ancient people of nature, living in close communities and are now a minority of Japan. The Ainu used to live in Honshu, Japan’s main island, but have since been limited to a smaller area by the Japanese. They now dwell mostly in Russia’s Sakhalin and Kuril Islands and Hokkaido (Peoples of the World). Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost island. It is 32,247 square miles, measuring twice the size of Switzerland and making up one-fifth of Japan (Selden). Hokkaido is decorated with beautiful coasts, mountains, lakes and rivers. There are two major mountain ranges in Hokkaido, the Kitami in the north, and Hidaka in the south (Selden). One estimated population of Ainu is 25,000 (Selden). The exact number is and will most likely remain unknown due to intermarriage between Ainu and other ethnicities. Also, large numbers of people are unaware of or hide their heritage to avoid racism and discrimination (“Ainu People”). Most Ainu speak Japanese, leaving the Ainu language nearly forgotten except for the very few fluent and partial
speakers (Selden). The Ainu are believed to have originated in the Asian mainland, Siberia and the Southern Pacific (Selden). In the nineteenth century, the Japanese government wanted Hokkaido to be economically developed (Selden). The Japanese in the south began moving up into the Ainu territory, disrupting what had been a peaceful co-existence between the two cultures. The Ainu showed little resistance at first, but several wars did break out (“Ainu People”). There was little victory for the Ainu, and the Japanese took most of the land. Now, however, some of the Japanese want to protect what is left of the culture (Peoples of the World). The Ainu, as a people, were peaceful, but could not stay that way forever. Kosamainu, an Ainu warrior, lived in eastern Hokkaido. He led the Ainu rebellion against the mainland Japanese that were ruling the southern tip of Hokkaido, called Matsumae. He and his army of rebels destroyed ten of the twelve Japanese bases before Kosamainu was killed in 1457 (Selden). Samkusainu, another Ainu warrior, organized the Ainu in the southern half of Hokkaido during the 1669 uprising. He was not nearly as successful as Kosamainu. His group of men was wiped out after two months by the Japanese in Matsumae (Selden). Ainu families were nuclear, with parents and children living together under one roof. When the children were grown and married, they lived on their own. They were considered adults at the age of fifteen or sixteen (“Life of the Ainu”). When girls hit puberty, their arms, hands and lips were tattooed. This was done in a long process over several years, generally by their grandmothers. When the tattoos were complete, the girls were fit for marriage. However, this practice was outlawed in 1871 by the Japanese government (“Life of the Ainu”). When babies were born, they were given “temporary names” that lasted until they were two or three years old (“Life of the Ainu”). These names were to “ward off the demon of ill-health” (“Life of the Ainu”). “Ayay,” “Poyshi,” “Shinon,” and “Shipo” were some of the commonly used names. Children received permanent names when they were older. Sometimes they depicted characteristics and behaviors the child had. Others held the parents’ hopes for the future. These names were always unique. Children wore very little clothing before age five (“Life of the Ainu”). What clothes they did wear were old and worn. The soft fabric was good for their skin, and the worn-out cloth protected them from gods and demons of illness (“Life of the Ainu”). Marriages were often family decisions.
Some parents made arrangements with others, and those getting married were given no opinion in the matter (“Life of the Ainu”). Other times, the children found each other and fell in love. Sometimes, the daughter’s parents made her live in rooms separated from them called “tunpu” and would pick her husband from her visitors (“Life of the Ainu”). At the weddings, prayers to the goddess of fire are said to keep the family and home well and happy (“Life of the Ainu”). A small ceremony of eating rice is performed between the bride and groom, officially wedding them (“Life of the
Ainu”). The actual event of becoming engaged is rather interesting and very different than the western tradition of rings. The would-be groom would go to the home of the girl he is aspiring to marry. There, she would prepare him a bowl of rice, as she would any other time. He would eat only half of the bowl and hand it back. If she were to eat the rest, she would accept the engagement. If she set the bowl aside, she would reject him (“Life of the Ainu”). Once engagement was ensured, the couple would exchange gifts. He would send her things such as engraved knives, workboxes, and spools. She would give him embroidered clothes and leggings, among other things (“Life of the Ainu”). The Ainu had few major holidays, but one of the most memorable was I-omante. I-omante, or Iyomante, is the spirit-sending festival of a bear or spotted owl (Peoples of the World). It was observed only once every five or ten years for a bear. The Ainu believed that a spirit was visiting this world and was temporarily in the form of a bear. I-omante was a ritual to set the spirit free to go back to the “divine land” (Selden). The festival consisted of three days of reverence to a cub, during which they would pray, dance, and sing. After the three days, the cub was shot with arrows and its head was decorated luxuriously and put on an alter. The meat was shared by the village community in respect of the bears spirit (Selden). The Ainu were a Pantheistic people, believing in many gods. Among those were the gods of water, mountain, moon, sun, and fire (Selden). The goddess of fire, or “grandmother hearth,” was one of the most important (“Ainu People”). There was a fire pit in every home, used for cooking, eating, and rituals. The main offerings were of wine and inau. The inau are whittled twigs or poles with shavings still attached and curled decoratively (Selden). Their religion revolved around nature and harmony with it. They believed that the world was created by oil floating on the ocean rising to make the sky. What was left on the water made the land. A vapor rose and made two gods. They made the sea, soil, minerals, plants, animals, and everything else on the earth. When they were finished, they married and had even more gods (Selden). They had heroes of their religion, just as any other might. Okikurmi of the Saru region was one such semi-divine hero. He was believed to have come from the heavens to help the people of Earth. He taught them to use fire, hunt, fish, plant, worship gods, and much more. He stayed in this world for a long time, marrying in a small village, but eventually had to return to the divine land (Selden). The Ainu people lived their lives peacefully, obeying their own laws according to their own beliefs. They raised their children as they thought was best, protecting them with names and clothes, and married the way they wanted to. They worshiped the gods they had for hundreds of years, until the Japanese moved into their land, telling them they had to stop these practices. Their language was suppressed and their land taken away, and even now they still face discrimination in their home country (“Ainu People”). The Ainu were a peaceful, close knit, culture, and were once the main population of Japan, but are now a minority, troubled by discrimination and racism.

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“Ainu”. Peoples of the World. 2001.
“Ainu People”. Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5 Feb. 2006. <www.wikipedia.org>
Life of the Ainu, The. Retrieved 26 Jan. 2006 <www.ainu-museum.org>.
Selden, K. “Ainu”. Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. 1998.