Editing Ainu people (section)

==Culture==
{{Main|Ainu culture|Ainu cuisine|Ainu music|Yukar|}}
{{Update-EB |section=y|date=November 2016}}
{{Expand Japanese|アイヌ文化|date=June 2012|section=yes}}
[[File:Woman playing traditional Ainu instrument.jpg|thumb|Woman playing a {{lang|ain-Latn|[[tonkori]]}}.]]

Traditional Ainu culture is quite different from [[Culture of Japan|Japanese culture]]. According to Tanaka Sakurako from the [[University of British Columbia]], the Ainu culture can be included into a wider "northern circumpacific region", referring to various indigenous cultures of Northeast Asia and "beyond the [[Bering Strait]]" in North America.{{sfnp|Tanaka|2000}} The Ainu culture developed from the 13th century (late Kamakura period) to the present day. While most Ainu in Japan now live outwardly similar lives to the Wajin (ethnic Japanese) due to assimilation policies, many still maintain their Ainu identity and respect for traditional Ainu ways, known as "Ainu puri". The distinctive Ainu patterns (Ainu mon'yō) and oral literature (Yukar) have been designated as Hokkaido Heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/about05.html |script-title=ja:北海道ウタリ協会 |title=Hokkaidō utarikyōkai |trans-title=Hokkaido Utari Association |website=Hokkaidō utarikyōkai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426001838/http://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/about05.html |archive-date=April 26, 2014 |language=ja}}</ref>

===Language===
{{Main|Ainu language}}
[[File:Ainu_map.svg|thumb|Map of the pre-1945 distribution of Ainu languages and dialects]]
In 2008, the news block ''[[World Watch]]'' gave an estimate of fewer than 100 remaining speakers of the Ainu language.{{sfnp|Hohmann|2008|p=19}} In 1993, linguist [[Alexander Vovin]] placed the number at fewer than 15 speakers, characterizing the language as "almost extinct".{{sfnp|Vovin|1993|p=1|loc="The Ainu language, almost extinct nowadays, is located on Hokkaidô, the northernmost island of the Japanese Archepelago. Several thousands of Ainu still live there, but there are no more than ten or twenty native speakers of this language among them."}} Because so few present-day speakers are left, study of the Ainu language is limited and is based largely on historical research. Historically, the status of the Ainu language was rather high and was used by early Russian and Japanese administrative officials to communicate with each other and with the Ainu people.

[[File:AinuPlaceNames.png|thumb|Place names in the Ainu language]]
Despite the small number of native speakers of Ainu, there is an active movement to [[Language revitalization|revitalize]] the language, mainly in Hokkaido but also elsewhere, such as in [[Kantō region|Kanto]].{{sfnp|Martin|2011}} Ainu oral literature has been documented both in hopes of safeguarding it for future generations and for use as a teaching tool for language learners.{{sfnp|Miyaoka|Sakiyama|Krauss|2007}} As of 2011, there were an increasing number of second-language learners, especially in Hokkaido.

The resurgence of Ainu culture and language is in large part due to the pioneering efforts of the late Ainu folklorist, activist, and former [[Japanese Diet|Diet]] member [[Shigeru Kayano]], himself a native speaker. He first opened an Ainu language school in 1987, funded by [[Ainu Kyokai]].{{sfnp|Teeter|Okazaki|2011}}

Although some researchers have attempted to show that the Ainu and Japanese languages are related, modern scholars have rejected the idea that the relationship goes beyond contact, such as the mutual borrowing of words. No attempt to show a relationship with Ainu to any other language has gained wide acceptance, and linguists currently classify Ainu as a [[language isolate]].{{sfnp|Shibatani|1990|pp=3–5}} Most Ainu people speak either Japanese or Russian.

The Ainu language has no indigenous system of writing and has historically been transliterated using Japanese [[kana]] or [[Russian alphabet|Russian Cyrillic]]. {{As of | 2019}}, it was typically written either in [[katakana]] or in the [[Latin alphabet]].

Many of the Ainu dialects, especially those from different extremities of Hokkaido, are not mutually intelligible. However, all Ainu speakers understand the classic Ainu language of the {{lang|ain-Latn|[[Yukar]]}}, a form of Ainu [[Epic poetry|epic]]. Without a writing system, the Ainu were masters of narration, with the {{lang|ain-Latn|Yukar}} and other forms of narration such as {{lang|ain-Latn|[[Uepeker]]}} ({{lang|ain-Latn|Uwepeker}}) tales being committed to memory and related at gatherings that often lasted many hours or even days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ainu.htm|title=Ainu|website=omniglot.com|year=2009|access-date=August 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102071247/http://omniglot.com/writing/ainu.htm|archive-date=January 2, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>
<!--ethnologue data is incorrect; see [[ainu language]]-->
Concepts expressed with [[Preposition and postposition|prepositions]] in English, such as 'to', 'from', 'by', 'in', and 'at', appear as postpositional forms in Ainu. Whereas prepositions come before the word they modify, postpositions come after it. A single sentence in Ainu can comprise many added or [[agglutinate]]d sounds or [[affix]]es that represent nouns or ideas.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

===Social structure===
[[File:Ainu Marriage - 2.jpg|thumb|Ainu wedding in [[Hokkaido]], Japan]]
Ainu society was traditionally organized into small villages called kotan, typically located in river basins or along seashores where food was readily available, particularly in rivers where salmon traveled upstream. In early modern times, Ainu were forced to relocate their kotan near Japanese fishing grounds to provide labor. As a result, traditional kotan disappeared, and large villages of several dozen families were formed around fishing grounds.{{sfnp|Howell|2004}} The Ainu social structure included chiefs, but judicial functions were not entrusted to them. Instead, an indefinite number of community members sat in judgment upon criminals. Capital punishment did not exist, nor did the community resort to imprisonment. [[Corporal punishment|Beating]] was considered a sufficient and final penalty. However, in the case of murder, the nose and ears of the culprit were cut off, or the tendons of their feet were severed.<ref name="EB1911" />

===Appearance and dress===
[[File:Ainu ceremonial dress.jpg|thumb|Ainu ceremonial dress, [[British Museum]]]]
Never shaving after a certain age, the men have full [[beard]]s and [[moustache]]s. Men and women alike cut their hair level with the shoulders at the sides of the head, trimmed semi-circularly behind. The women tattoo ({{lang|ain|anchi-piri}}) their mouths and sometimes their forearms. The mouth tattoos start at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing in size. The soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of [[birch bark]] is used for color.
Traditional Ainu dress consists of a robe spun from the inner bark of the [[elm|elm tree]], called {{lang|ain-Latn|attusi}} or {{lang|ain-Latn|attush}}. The various styles consist generally of a simple short robe with straight sleeves, folded around the body, and tied with a band around the waist. The sleeves end at the wrist or forearm, and the length generally is to the calves. Women also wear an undergarment of Japanese cloth.<ref name= "EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Ainu |volume=1|pages=441–442}} Citations:
* [[John Batchelor (missionary)|Rev. John Batchelor]], ''The Ainu and their Folk-lore'' (London, 1901)
* [[Isabella Bird]] (Mrs Bishop), ''Korea and her Neighbours'' (1898)
* [[Basil Hall Chamberlain]], ''Language, Mythology and Geographical Nomenclature of Japan viewed in the Light of Aino Studies and Aino Fairy-tales'' (1895)
* Romyn Hitchcock, ''The Ainos of Japan'' (Washington, 1892)
* [[Heinrich von Siebold|H. von Siebold]], ''Über die Aino'' (Berlin, 1881)</ref>
In winter, the skins of animals are worn, with leggings of [[deerskin]] and, in Sakhalin, boots made from the skin of dogs or [[Oncorhynchus|salmon]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/education/00_resources/articles/Columbia_river_basin/posterback.html |title=Columbia River Basin |date=February 25, 2009 |website=[[Bureau of Land Management]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225075127/http://www.blm.gov/education/00_resources/articles/Columbia_river_basin/posterback.html |archive-date=February 25, 2009}}</ref> Ainu culture regards earrings, traditionally made from grapevines, as gender-neutral. Women also wear a beaded necklace called a [[tamasay]].<ref name="EB1911" /> Modern craftswomen weave and embroider traditional garments that command very high prices.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

===Dwellings and Structures ===
[[File:Ainu woman with mouth tattoos and live bear.jpg|thumb|upright|Ainu woman with mouth tattoos and a live bear]]
Their traditional habitations are reed-thatched huts, the largest about {{convert |20|ft|0|abbr=on}} square, without partitions and having a fireplace in the center. There is no chimney; there is only a hole at the angle of the roof. One window sits on the eastern side, along with two doors. The house of the village head is used as a public meeting-place when one is needed.<ref name="EB1911" />
Another kind of traditional Ainu house is called {{lang|ain-Latn|chise}}.{{sfnp|Sjöberg|1993}} The "chise" or dwelling is typically oriented east to west or parallel to a river, with the entrance on the west side also serving as a storeroom. It has three windows, including the sacred rorun-puyar on the east side, through which gods enter and leave and ceremonial tools are taken in and out. The Ainu regard this window as sacred and are told never to look in through it. A chise has a fireplace near the entrance. A husband and wife would traditionally sit on the fireplace's left side (called shiso). Children and guests would sit facing them on the fireplace's right side (called harkiso). The chise has a platform for valuables called iyoykir behind the shiso. The Ainu place sintoko (hokai) and ikayop (quivers) there. additionally there is the "Chashi" or hilltop fortification.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Abad |first=Rafael |date=2018 |title=An archaeological approach to the origins of Ainu culture 考古学からみたアイヌ文化の起源 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36896280 |url-access=registration |website=Academia}}</ref> These were found mostly around Hokkaidō, Japan. These structures served as defensive strongholds and symbolic centers for Ainu communities. The term "Chashi" comes from the Ainu word "casi," meaning palisade or fortified compound.{{cn|date=May 2025}} The "okuriba" or sacred site, was another structure that has great value to the Ainu people. it refers to a sacred ritual platform used in Ainu funerary customs. it was used to help send off the spirits of the deceased. The Okuriba  was typically a raised platform where offerings were placed. the Ainu people believed that these offerings helped the deceased transition to the Spirit World.<ref name=":0" />    

=== Cuisine ===
Traditional [[Ainu cuisine]] consists of the meat of [[Bear hunting|bears]], foxes, [[Hokkaido wolf|wolves]], [[Japanese badger|badgers]], [[ox]]en, and [[horse meat|horses]], as well as fish, [[fowl]], [[millet]], vegetables, herbs, and [[root]]s. The Ainu traditionally never eat raw fish or meat, always boiling or roasting it.<ref name= "EB1911" /> They also cultivated crops such as millet (piyapa), foxtail millet (munchiro), and barnyard millet (menkur), which were used to make a type of sake called "tonoto" for ceremonial purposes.
Salmon was particularly important, referred to as kamuy chep (god's fish) or shipe (true food). In autumn, large quantities of salmon were caught and processed into dried fish for preservation. This served not only as a staple food but also as a major trade item with the Japanese. The Ainu also made extensive use of the bulbs of the Cardiocrinum cordatum (turep), from which they extracted and preserved starch. This tradition of starch usage made it easy for them to adopt potatoes when they were introduced. Ainu cuisine is not commonly eaten outside Ainu communities. Only a few restaurants in Japan – mainly in Tokyo and Hokkaido – serve traditional Ainu dishes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/food/check-out-tokyos-only-ainu-restaurant |title=Check out Tokyo's only Ainu restaurant |website=[[Japan Today]] |date=March 5, 2013 |access-date=January 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126181039/https://japantoday.com/category/features/food/check-out-tokyos-only-ainu-restaurant |archive-date=January 26, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hokkaidolikers.com/en/articles/4068 |title="Umizora No Haru", the restaurant where you can {{!}} Hokkaido Likers |website=www.hokkaidolikers.com |access-date=January 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126181049/https://www.hokkaidolikers.com/en/articles/4068 |archive-date=January 26, 2020 }}</ref>

===Hunting===
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Local Customs of the Ainu.jpg|thumb|Bear hunting, 19th century]]
The Ainu traditionally hunt from late autumn to early summer,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Swr9BTI_2FEC&q=ainu+hunted+autumn+summer&pg=PA18 |last=Nuttall |first=Mark |title=Encyclopedia of the Arctic |year=2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn= 978-1-136-78680-8 |page=18}}</ref> in part because in late autumn, [[plant gathering]], salmon fishing, and other activities of securing food come to an end, and hunters readily find game in fields and mountains in which plants have withered. A village typically possesses a hunting-ground of its own, or several villages use a joint hunting territory, called an {{lang|ain-Latn|iwor}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=Songs of Gods, Songs of Humans: The Epic Tradition of the Ainu |last=Phillipi |first=Donald L. |year=2015 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-1-40087-069-1 |location=Princeton, NJ |page=5 |jstor=j.ctt13x0q8v |jstor-access=free}}</ref> Heavy penalties were imposed on any outsiders trespassing on such hunting grounds or on joint hunting territory. The Ainu traditionally hunt [[Ussuri brown bear]]s, [[Asian black bear]]s, Ezo deer (a subspecies of [[sika deer]]), [[Mountain hare|hares]], [[red fox]]es, [[Japanese raccoon dog]]s, and other animals.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeY2yzunY98C&q=ainu+ezo+deer+rabbit+fox+raccoon&pg=PA8 |title=Living Together: Minority People and Disadvantaged Groups in Japan |last=Ishikida |first=Miki Y. |year=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-59535-032-2 |page=8}}{{self-published source|date= February 2020}}</ref> Ezo deer are a particularly important food resource for the Ainu, as are salmon.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&q=ainu+ezo+deer+salmon&pg=PA35 |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |last= West |first= Barbara A. |year= 2010 |publisher= Infobase Publishing |isbn= 978-1-43811-913-7 |page=35}}</ref> The Ainu also hunt [[sea eagle]]s, such as [[white-tailed sea eagle]]s, along with ravens and other birds.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Z0C6yH6bZYC&q=ainu+sea+eagles+ravens&pg=PA112 |title=Politics of Occupation-Centred Practice: Reflections on Occupational Engagement Across Cultures |last1=Pollard |first1=Nick |last2=Sakellariou |first2=Dikaios |year=2012 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-11829-098-9 |page=112}}</ref> The Ainu hunted eagles for their tail feathers, which they used in trade with the Japanese.{{sfnp|Sjöberg|1993|p=[{{GBurl|tePeAQAAQBAJ|p=54}} 54]}} Historically, the Ainu hunted sea-otters{{sfnp|Takahashi|2006|loc="The Ainu hunted sea-otters on Ulup Island where the animals lived, or obtained them by trading with the people of the northern islands."}} and traded their pelts in the Japanese market.{{sfnp|Takahashi|2006|loc="[...] there is not much written about the Japanese fur trade, though some writers mention it as part of the trade between the Japanese and the Ainu."}}

[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Ezo Shima Kikan 3 of a set of three scrolls.jpg|thumb|Ainu people, c. 1840]]

The Ainu hunted with [[arrow]]s and [[spear]]s with poison-coated points.{{sfnp|Landor|2012|p=[{{GBurl|6JQMmDXI9pQC|24}} 24]}} They obtained the [[poison]], called {{lang|ain-Latn|surku}}, from the roots and stalks of [[aconitum|aconites]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTTBPedwFfAC&q=ainu+arrows+poison+surku&pg=PT1785 |title=Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances: Foods, Fungi, Medicinal Herbs, Plants, and Venomous Animals |last=Barceloux |first=Donald G. |year=2012 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-11838-276-9 |page=1785}}</ref> The recipe for this poison was a household secret that differed from family to family. They enhanced the poison with mixtures of roots and stalks of [[Dogbane|dog's bane]], boiled juice of Mekuragumo (a type of [[Opiliones|harvestman]]), Matsumomushi (''[[Notonecta]] triguttata'', a species of [[Notonectidae|backswimmer]]), tobacco, and other ingredients. They also used [[stingray]] stingers or skin-covering stingers.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUVYsxzBcHQC&q=ainu+stingray&pg=PA62 |title=Advances in Marine Biology |year=1984 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-08057-944-3 |page=62}}</ref>
They traditionally hunt in groups with dogs.{{sfnp|Poisson|2002|p=32}} Before hunting, particularly for bears and similar animals, they may pray to the {{lang|ain-Latn|[[Kamuy-huci]]}}, the house guardian goddess, to convey their wishes for a large catch and to the god of mountains for safe hunting.{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=[{{GBurl|f3EIAwAAQBAJ|p=116}} 116]}} The Ainu traditionally hunt bears during the spring thaw. At that time, bears are weak because they haven't eaten during their long hibernation. Ainu hunters catch hibernating bears or bears that have just left hibernation dens.{{sfnp|Walker|2006|p=91}} When they hunt bears in summer, they use a spring trap loaded with an arrow, called an {{lang|ain-Latn|[[amappo]]}}.{{sfnp|Walker|2006|p=91}} The Ainu usually use arrows to hunt deer.{{sfnp|Siddle|1996|p=[{{GBurl|W5DKfJsPv2sC|p=85}} 85]}} Also, they drive deer into a river or sea and shoot them with arrows. For a large catch, a whole village would drive a herd of deer off a cliff and club them to death.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxkoW4AWfoQC&q=ainu+hunt+deer+cliff&pg=PA44 |title=Racism: A Global Reader |last1=Reilly |first1=Kevin |last2=Kaufman |first2=Stephen |last3=Bodino |first3=Angela |year=2003 |publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]] |isbn=978-0-76561-060-7 |page=44}}</ref>

====Fishing====
{{Further|Itaomacip}}
Fishing is important to Ainu culture. They largely catch trout in summer and salmon in autumn, as well as {{lang|ain-Latn|ito}} ([[Sakhalin taimen|Japanese huchen]]), [[Big-scaled redfin|dace]], and other fish. Spears called {{lang|ain-Latn|marek}} were often used. Other methods were {{lang|ain-Latn|tesh}} fishing, {{lang|ain-Latn|uray}} fishing, and {{lang|ain-Latn|rawomap}} fishing. Many villages were built near rivers or along the coast. Each village or individual had a definite river fishing territory. Outsiders could not freely fish there and needed to ask the owner.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng04.html |title=Ainu History and Culture |website=ainu-museum.or.jp |access-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514051936/http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng04.html |archive-date=May 14, 2019 }}</ref>

===Japanese lacquerware===
[[File:Japan Hokkaido Ainu traditional house ”cise”3 2023.jpg|thumb|200px|Lacquer stored in cise ([[Hokkaido Museum]])]]
[[Japanese lacquerware]]<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:-13-第13回 アイヌの民具（その２）～漆器（しっき）～－「アイヌ文化情報発信！コラム」より－ |title=Dai-13-kai Ainu no mingu (sono 2): Shikki ("Ainu bunka jōhō hasshin! koramu" yori) |trans-title=-13-13th Ainu Folk Tools (Part 2) ~Lacquerware~ -From "Ainu Culture Information Dissemination! Column"- |language=ja |url=https://ainu-center.hm.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/13_01_013.htm |access-date=September 1, 2023 |website=ainu-center.hm.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp}}</ref> was used in everyday life as tableware and often used in ceremonies (ritual utensils), such as the cups used to offer alcohol when praying to the kamui. Lacquerware was often treated as treasure, and it was also used as containers for storing other treasures.

One of the characteristics of Ainu lacquerware is that it is almost entirely imported from the south of Honshu. Some pieces may have been lacquered in [[Matsumae, Hokkaido|Matsumae]] in southern Hokkaido, but since the technique of lacquering is from Honshu, lacquerware can be considered an introduced item among Ainu folk implements.

There are examples of spatulas and other objects used by the Ainu people for ceremonial purposes that remain in clusters of the same size, and some are specifically produced for trading with the Ainu.

===Ornaments===
[[File:Face detail, "Ainu leader." Department of Anthropology, Japanese exhibit, 1904 World's Fair (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ainu leader wearing a [[matanpushi]] in 1904]]
Traditionally, Ainu men wear a crown called a {{lang|ain-Latn|[[sapanpe]]}} for important ceremonies. {{lang|ain-Latn|Sapanpe}} are made from wood fiber with bundles of partially shaved wood. The crown has wooden figures of animal gods and other ornaments in its center.<ref name="Service2006">{{cite book |title=Ancient Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6z1vkF0xzHcC&q=matanpushi&pg=PA39 |year=2006 |publisher=Social Studies School Service |isbn=978-1-56004-256-3 |page=39}}</ref> Men carry an {{lang|ain-Latn|emush}} (ceremonial sword){{sfnp|Fitzhugh|Dubreuil|1999|p=[{{GBurl|4oRxAAAAMAAJ|p=107}} 107]}} secured by an {{lang|ain-Latn|emush-at}} strap to their shoulders.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtszAQAAIAAJ&q=emush |title=Tribal: The Magazine of Tribal Art |year=2003 |publisher=Primedia Inc. |pages=76 & 78}}</ref>

[[File:Ainu woman (from a book Published in 1931) P.81.png|thumb|An Ainu woman from Hokkaido, {{circa|1930}}]]

Ainu women traditionally wear {{lang|ain-Latn|[[matanpushi]]}}, embroidered headbands, and {{lang|ain-Latn|ninkari}}, metal earrings with balls. {{lang|ain-Latn|Matanpushi}} and {{lang|ain-Latn|ninkari}} were originally also worn by men. Furthermore, aprons called {{lang|ain-Latn|maidari}} are now part of women's formal clothes. However, some old documents state that men wore {{lang|ain-Latn|maidari}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} Women sometimes wear a bracelet called a {{lang|ain-Latn|tekunkani}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng08.html |title=Ainu History and Culture |website=Ainu Museum |access-date=September 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123224933/http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng08.html |archive-date=January 23, 2013 }}</ref>

Women may wear a necklace called a {{lang|ain-Latn|rektunpe}}, a long, narrow strip of cloth with metal plaques.<ref name="Service2006" /> They may also wear a necklace that reaches the breast, called a {{lang|ain-Latn|[[tamasay]]}} or {{lang|ain-Latn|shitoki}}, usually made from glass balls. Some glass balls came from trade with the Asian continent. The Ainu also obtained glass balls secretly made by the [[Matsumae clan]].{{sfnp|Fitzhugh|Dubreuil|1999|p=[{{GBurl|4oRxAAAAMAAJ|p=158}} 158]|loc="Some glass beads were brought to the Ainu through trade with the Asian continent, but others were secretly made by the Matsumae clan at their headquarters in Hakodate."}}

===Housing===
{{Further|Kotan (village)}}
[[File:Little world, Aichi prefecture - Ainu house in Hokkaidō.jpg|thumb|Ainu house in Hokkaido]]
A village is called a {{lang|ain-Latn|kotan}} in the Ainu language. {{lang|ain-Latn|Kotan}} were traditionally located in [[river basins]] and along seashores where food was readily available, particularly in the basins of rivers through which [[salmon]] traveled upstream. In early modern times, the Ainu people were [[forced labor|forced to labor]] at Japanese fishing grounds. Ainu {{lang|ain-Latn|kotan}} were also forced to relocate to near fishing grounds so that the Japanese could secure a labor force. When the Japanese moved to other fishing grounds, Ainu {{lang|ain-Latn|kotan}} were forced to accompany them. As a result, the traditional {{lang|ain-Latn|kotan}} disappeared, and large villages of several dozen families were formed around the fishing grounds.{{sfnp|Howell|2004}}

[[File:Japan Hokkaido Ainu traditional house ”cise”1.jpg|thumb|Ainu traditional house. Ainu: {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}}]]

{{lang|ain-Latn|Cise}} or {{lang|ain-Latn|cisey}} (houses) in a {{lang|ain-Latn|kotan}} are made of [[cogon|cogon grass]], [[bamboo|bamboo grass]], [[bark (botany)|bark]], etc. The length lays east to west or parallel to a river. A {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} is about seven by five meters, with an entrance at the west end that also serves as a storeroom. A {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} has three windows, including the {{lang|ain-Latn|rorun-puyar}}, a window located on the side facing the entrance (i.e., on the east side), through which gods enter and leave and ceremonial tools are taken in and out. The Ainu regard this window as sacred and are told never to look in through it. A {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} has a fireplace near the entrance. A husband and wife would traditionally sit on the fireplace's left side (called {{lang|ain-Latn|shiso}}). Children and guests would sit facing them on the fireplace's right side (called {{lang|ain-Latn|harkiso}}). The {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} has a platform for valuables called {{lang|ain-Latn|iyoykir}} behind the {{lang|ain-Latn|shiso}}. The Ainu place {{lang|ain-Latn|sintoko}} ({{lang|ain-Latn|hokai}}) and {{lang|ain-Latn|ikayop}} (quivers) there.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

<gallery>
File:PSM V33 D514 Ainu houses.jpg|Ainu {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} (from ''[[Popular Science Monthly]], Volume 33'', 1888)
File:PSM V33 D517 Plan of an ainu house.jpg|Plan of an Ainu {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}}
File:Japan Hokkaido Ainu traditional house ”cise”2 2023.jpg|Gathering place around a {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} fireplace<!--Hokkaido Foundation for History and Culture-->
File:National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka - Interior of the house of Ainu - Saru River basin, Hokkaidô.jpg|Interior of a {{lang|ain-Latn|cise}} in the [[Saru River]] basin
</gallery>

===Traditions===
[[File:作業中の千島アイヌ.png|300px|thumb|[[Chishima]] Ainu working]]
The Ainu people have various types of marriage. A child is traditionally promised in [[arranged marriage|marriage by arrangement]] between their parents and the parents of their betrothed, or by a go-between. When the betrothed reach a [[marriageable age]], they are told who their spouse is to be. There are also traditional marriages based on the mutual consent of both sexes.{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=[{{GBurl|f3EIAwAAQBAJ|p=223}} 223]}} In some areas, when a daughter reaches a marriageable age, her parents allow her to live in a small room called a {{lang|ain-Latn|tunpu}}, annexed to the southern wall of the house.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iiADAAAAMBAJ&q=ainu+marriage+house&pg=PA85 |title=Ainu Family Life and Religion |first=J. K. |last=Goodrich |journal=[[Popular Science]] |volume=XXXVI |date=April 1889 |page=85}}</ref> The parents choose her husband from the men who visit her.

The age of marriage is 17 to 18 years of age for men and 15 to 16 years of age for women,<ref name="Service2006" /> who are traditionally tattooed. At these ages, both sexes are regarded as adults.{{sfnp|Poisson|2002|p=35}}

[[File:Suitsetav ainu mees - An Ainu man smoking (9614485282).jpg|thumb|An Ainu man smoking]]

When a man proposes to a woman in traditional fashion, he visits her house, and she hands him a full bowl of rice. He then eats half of the rice and returns the rest to her. If the woman eats the remaining rice, she accepts his proposal. If she does not and instead puts it beside her, she rejects his proposal.<ref name="Service2006" /> When a man and woman become engaged or learn that their engagement has been arranged, they exchange gifts. The man sends her a small engraved knife, a workbox, a spool, and other gifts. She sends him embroidered clothes, coverings for the back of the hand, leggings, and other handmade clothes.{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|p=[{{GBurl|f3EIAwAAQBAJ|p=226}} 226]}}

The worn-out fabric of old clothing is used for baby clothes because soft cloth is good for their skin. Additionally, worn-out material was thought to protect babies from the gods of illness and demons, due to these entities' abhorrence of dirty things. Before a baby is breast-fed, they are given a [[decoction]] of the [[endodermis]] of an [[alder]] and the roots of [[butterburs]] to discharge impurities.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sILrJPM4DFAC&q=ainu+decoction+alder&pg=RA1-PA110 |title=Early European Writings on Ainu Culture: Religion and Folklore |last=Refsing |first=Kirsten |year=2002 |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |isbn=978-0-70071-486-5 |page=110}}</ref> Children are raised almost naked until about the ages of four to five. Even when they wear clothes, they do not wear belts and leave the front of their clothes open. Subsequently, they wear bark clothes without patterns, such as {{lang|ain-Latn|attush}}, until they come of age.

Ainu babies traditionally are not given permanent names when they are born. Rather, they are called by various temporary names until the age of two or three. 
Newborn babies are named {{lang|ain-Latn|ayay}} ("a baby's crying"), {{lang|ain-Latn|shipo}}, {{lang|ain-Latn|poyshi}} ("small excrement"), and {{lang|ain-Latn|shion}} ("old excrement").{{sfnp|Poisson|2002|p=31}} Their tentative names have a portion meaning "excrement" or "old things" to ward off the demon of ill-health. Some children are named based on their behavior or habits; others are named after notable events or after their parents' wishes for their future. When children are named, they are never given the same names as others.{{sfnp|Landor|2012|p=[{{GBurl|6JQMmDXI9pQC|294}} 294]}}

Men traditionally wear [[loincloth]]s and have their hair dressed properly for the first time at age 15 to 16. Women are also considered adults at the age of 15 to 16. They traditionally wear underclothes called {{lang|ain-Latn|mour}}{{sfnp|Fitzhugh|Dubreuil|1999|p=[{{GBurl|4oRxAAAAMAAJ|p=320}} 320]|loc="Ainu women's underclothes were called mour, literally "deer," a sort of one-piece dress with an open front, ..."}} and have their hair dressed properly, with wound waistcloths called {{lang|ain-Latn|raunkut}} and {{lang|ain-Latn|ponkut}} around their bodies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kindaichi |first=Kyōsuke |author-link=Kyōsuke Kindaichi |year=1941 |title=Ainu Life and Legends |publisher=Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways |url={{GBurl|6cLYAAAAMAAJ|q="pon kut"}} |page=30 |quote=One is a nettle-hemp braid named {{lang|ain-Latn|pon kut}} (small sash) or {{lang|ain-Latn|ra-nn kut}} (under sash).}}</ref>
When women reached the age of 12 or 13, the lips, hands, and arms were traditionally tattooed. When they reached the age of 15 or 16, their tattoos would be completed, indicating their qualification for marriage.{{sfnp|Poisson|2002|p=35}}

===Religion===
{{Further|Ainu creation myth|Ko-Shintō|Shamanism in Siberia}}
{{Category see also|Ainu mythology}}
[[File:Ainu-iomante-bear-spirit-sending-ceremony-by-Hirasawa-Byozan-1875.png|thumb|Painting of the Ainu {{lang|ain-Latn|[[Iomante|iyomante]]}}, or bear spirit sending ceremony, in Hokkaido (1875)]]
The Ainu are traditionally [[Animism|animist]]s,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2025-05-05 |title=Ainu {{!}} Definition, Culture, & Language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ainu |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>believing that everything in nature has a {{transliteration|ain|[[kamuy]]}} (spirit or god) on the inside. The most important include:
* {{transliteration|ain|[[Kamuy-huci]]|italic=no}}, goddess of the hearth
* {{transliteration|ain|[[Kim-un-kamuy]]|italic=no}}, god of bears and mountains
* {{transliteration|ain|[[Repun Kamuy]]|italic=no}}, god of the sea, fishing, and marine animals<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng10.html|title=Ainu History and Culture|website=ainu-museum.or.jp|access-date=January 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124020805/http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng10.html|archive-date=November 24, 2018}}</ref>
* {{transliteration|ain|[[Kotan-kar-kamuy]]|italic=no}}, regarded as the creator of the world in the Ainu religion<ref name="adami">Norbert Richard Adami: ''Religion und Schaminismus der Ainu auf Sachalin (Karafuto)'', Bonn 1989, p. 40-42.</ref>

[[File:Iomante2.JPG|thumb|Ainu traditional ceremony, {{circa|1930}}]]
Ainu craftsmen, and the Ainu as a whole, traditionally believed that "anything made with deep sincerity was imbued with spirit and also became a [{{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}]".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2023-08-22 |title=The Ainu: History of the Indigenous people of Japan |url=https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/ainu-history-of-the-indigenous-people-of-japan |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=The Archaeologist |language=en-US}}</ref> They also held the belief that ancestors and the power of the family could be invoked through certain patterns in art to protect them from malignant influences.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hauge |first1=Victor |title=Folk Traditions in Japanese Art |last2=Hauge |first2=Takako |publisher=[[Kodansha]] |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-87011-360-4 |edition=1st |location=Tokyo |page=262}}</ref>

The Ainu religion has no priests by profession. Instead, the village chief performs whatever religious ceremonies are necessary. Ceremonies are confined to making [[libation]]s of {{transliteration|ja|[[sake]]}}, saying prayers, and offering [[willow]] sticks with wooden shavings attached to them.<ref name="EB1911" /> These sticks are called {{lang|ain-Latn|[[inaw]]}} (singular) and {{lang|ain-Latn|nusa}} (plural).

They are placed on an altar used to "send back" the spirits of killed animals. Ainu ceremonies for sending back bears are called {{lang|ain-Latn|[[Iyomante]]}} which dates back to AD 11.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Hokkaido University |first=CAIS |date=July 12, 2012 |title=Indigenous Archaeology of the Ainu: Shifting from Archaeological site to Native Property |url=https://www.jspsusa.org/FORUM2012/presentation/2-1_Kato.pdf}}</ref> This ritual took place over several years and included the capture of a bear cub, who was then raised as a member of the family. Eventually, they would ritually kill the bear. Since they treated the bear well in life, the Ainu believed that in death, the spirit of the bear would ensure the well-being of its adoptive community.<ref name=":1" /> The Ainu people give thanks to the gods before eating and pray to the deity of fire in times of [[Illness|sickness]]. Traditional Ainu belief holds that their spirits are [[Immortality|immortal]] and that their spirits will be rewarded hereafter by ascending to {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy mosir}} (Land of the Gods).<ref name="EB1911" />

The Ainu are part of a larger collective of indigenous people who practice "arctolatry", or [[bear worship]].<ref name="Cobb BBC" /> The Ainu believe that the bear holds particular importance as {{lang|ain-Latn|Kim-un Kamuy|italic=no}}'s chosen method of delivering the gift of the bear's hide and meat to humans.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Japan's Bear-Worshipping Indigenous Group Fought Its Way to Cultural Relevance|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-bear-worshipping-group-in-japan-fought-for-cultural-relevance-180965281/|access-date=2021-10-06|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

John Batchelor reported that the Ainu view the world as being a spherical ocean on which many islands float, a view based on the fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. He wrote that they believe the world rests on the back of a large fish, which, when it moves, causes earthquakes.{{sfnp|Batchelor|1901|pp=51–52}}

Ainu assimilated into mainstream Japanese society have adopted [[Buddhism in Japan|Buddhism]] and [[Shinto|Shintō]]; some northern Ainu were converted as members of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Regarding Ainu communities in [[Shikotan]] and other areas that fall within the Russian sphere of cultural influence, there have been a few churches constructed, and some Ainu are reported to have accepted the Christian faith.<ref>[http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/lcs/kiyou/19-1/RitsIILCS_19.1pp.43-55Fumoto.pdf 北千島アイヌの改宗政策について] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192133/http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/lcs/kiyou/19-1/RitsIILCS_19.1pp.43-55Fumoto.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }} – [[立命館大学]]</ref> There have also been reports that the Russian Orthodox Church has performed some missionary projects in the [[Sakhalin]] Ainu community. However, there are only reports of a few conversions to Christianity. Converts have been scorned as {{transliteration|ain|"Nutsa Ainu"|italic=no}} (Russian Ainu) by other members of the Ainu community. Reports indicate that many Ainu have kept their faith in their traditional deities.<ref name="Potapova">{{cite journal |last=Potapova |first=Н. В. |script-title=ja:樺太における宗教活動 |title=Karafuto ni okeru shūkyō katsudō |trans-title=Religious activities in Sakhalin |journal=日本とロシアの研究者の目から見るサハリン・樺太の歴史 |publisher=[[Hokkaido University]] |url=https://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/coe21/publish/no11/potapova.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200935/http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/coe21/publish/no11/potapova.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

According to a 2012 survey conducted by [[Hokkaido University]], a high percentage of Ainu are members of their household family religion, which is Buddhism (especially {{transliteration|ja|[[Nichiren Shōshū]]|italic=no}} Buddhism). However, it is noted that, similar to the Japanese religious consciousness, there is not a strong feeling of identification with a particular religion, with Buddhist and traditional beliefs both being part of their daily lives.<ref name="Potapova"/>

Another religious-based practice was the Kamuy Puyara or Sacred Windows. Ainu homes, called chise, contained a special window through which sacred offerings were made. Excavations of Pre-Modern Ainu settlements (13th–17th century) show burials and house orientations aligned with spiritual beliefs.<ref name=":0" />

====Rituals====
The Ainu religion consists of a pantheistic animist structure in which the world is founded on interactions between humans and {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}. Within all living beings, natural forces, and objects, there is a {{lang|ain-Latn|ramat}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Burial Practices of the Ainu {{!}} TOTA |url=https://www.tota.world/article/65/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=www.tota.world}}</ref>(sacred life force) that is an extension of a greater {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}. {{lang|ain-Latn|Kamuy}} are gods or spirits that choose to visit the human world in temporary physical forms, both animate and inanimate, within the human world. Once the physical vessel dies or breaks, the {{lang|ain-Latn|ramat}} returns to the {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} and leaves its physical form behind as a gift to humans. If the humans treated the vessel and {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} with respect and gratitude, then the {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} would return out of delight for the human world. Due to this interaction, the Ainu lived with deep reverence for nature and all objects and phenomena in the hopes that the {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} would return. The Ainu believed that the {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} granted humans objects, skills, and knowledge to use tools, and thus deserve respect and worship. Daily practices included the moderation of hunting, gathering, and harvesting to not disturb the {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}. Often, the Ainu would make offerings of an {{lang|ain-Latn|inau}} (sacred shaved stick), which usually consisted of whittled willow tree wood with decorative shavings still attached, and wine to the {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}. They also built sacred altars called {{lang|ain-Latn|nusa}} (a fence-like row of taller Inau decorated with bear skulls), separated from the main house and raised storehouses and often observed outdoor rituals.<ref name="Prayer to Kamuy – Religion">{{Cite web |title=Prayer to Kamuy – Religion |url=https://www.akarenga-h.jp/en/hokkaido/ainu/a-03/ |access-date=March 5, 2023 |website=AKARENGA |language=en}}</ref>

The Ainu observed a ritual that would return {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}, a divine or spiritual being in Ainu mythology, to the spiritual realm. This {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} sending ritual was called Omante. A bear cub would be captured alive during hibernation and raised in the village as a child. Women would care for the cubs as if they were their children, sometimes even nursing them if needed. Once the bears reached maturity, they would hold another ritual every 5 to 10 years called [[Iomante]] (sometimes Iyomante). People from neighboring villages were invited to help celebrate this ritual, in which members of the village would send the bear back to the realm of spirits by gathering around it in a central area and using special ceremonial arrows to shoot it. Afterwards, they would eat the meat. However, in 1955, this ritual was outlawed as animal cruelty. In 2007, it became exempt due to its cultural significance to the Ainu. The ritual has since been modified; it is now an annual festival. The festival begins at sundown with a torch parade. A play is then performed, and this is followed by music and dancing.<ref name="Prayer to Kamuy – Religion"/><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Ainu Beliefs {{!}} TOTA |url=https://www.tota.world/article/853/ |access-date=March 5, 2023 |website=www.tota.world}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=History |first=HWYN |date=April 26, 2019 |title=HWYN |url=https://hwyn.org/2019/04/26/bears-and-their-importance-in-ainu-culture-and-religion/ |access-date=March 5, 2023 |website=hwyn.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

Other rituals were performed for things such as food and illness. The Ainu had a ritual to welcome the salmon, praying for a big catch, and another to thank the salmon at the end of the season. There was also a ritual for warding off {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} that would bring epidemics, using strong-smelling herbs placed in doorways, windows, and gardens to turn away epidemic {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}. Similarly to many religions, the Ainu also gave prayers and offerings to their ancestors in the spirit world or afterlife. They would also pray to the fire {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}} to deliver their offerings of broken snacks and fruit, as well as tobacco.<ref name="Prayer to Kamuy – Religion" />

=====Dancing in rituals=====
Traditional dances are performed at ceremonies and banquets. Dancing is a part of the newly organized cultural festivals, and it is even done privately in daily life. Ainu traditional dances often involve large circles of dancers, and sometimes there are onlookers that sing without musical instruments. In rituals, these dances are intimate; they involve the calls and movements of animals and/or insects. Some, like the sword and bow dances, are rituals that were used to worship and give thanks for nature. This was to thank deities that they believed were in their surroundings. There was also a dance in Iomante that mimicked the movements of a living bear. However, some dances are improvised and meant just for entertainment. Overall, Ainu traditional dancing reinforced their connection to nature and the religious world and provided a link to other Arctic cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Traditional Ainu dance {{!}} Silk Roads Programme |url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/silk-road-themes/intangible-cultural-heritage/traditional-ainu-dance |access-date=March 5, 2023 |website=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref>

=====Funerals=====
When a person dies, their soul is thought to travel through the hearth of Kamuy Fuchi, the goddess of fire, to the afterlife.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Samuel |title=She Joins the Ancestral Host: Death, Mourning, and Burial in Ainu Culture |url=https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/PDF/101/She-Joins-Ancestral-Host.pdf}}</ref> Burial customs included dressing the deceased in ceremonial clothing and surrounding them with their treasured possessions, which were intentionally broken to release their spirits.<ref name=":4" /> Funerals also included prayers and offerings to the fire {{lang|ain-Latn|kamuy}}, as well as verse laments expressing wishes for a smooth journey to the next world. Sometimes a burial would be followed by burning the residence of the dead. In the event of an unnatural death, there would be a speech raging against the gods. The graves were often isolated and were marked by carved poles called "kuwa."<ref name=":4" /> These practices reflect the Ainu's deep spiritual beliefs and their connection to nature and the divine. 

In the afterlife, recognized ancestral spirits moved through and influenced the world, though neglected spirits would return to the living world and cause misfortune. Prosperity of family in the afterlife would depend on prayers and offerings left by living descendants; this often led to Ainu parents teaching their children to look after them in the afterlife.<ref name=":9" />

===== Graves =====
Archaeological excavations have revealed that Ainu graves are typically oval or rectangular, with the deceased primarily buried in an extended dorsal position, though some were interred in a crouched posture. Offerings placed around the head provide insight into its orientation, based on the distribution of burial accessories, even when skeletal remains are absent. Over 1,000 burials from the Pre-Ainu Period have been uncovered and cataloged by Utagawa, with about 400 featuring precisely documented orientations. Earlier excavation reports predominantly referenced magnetic north, according to current Hokkaido data. At the Tohohata Burial site in Shin-Hidaka Town, 75 burials have been excavated, and with only one exception, all exhibited a southeast orientation near the Winter Solstice sunrise point. In contrast, at the Motomonbetsu site in Monbetsu Town, northeastern Hokkaido, burial orientations are more varied, with east, southeast, north, and northwest alignments being present. This variation suggests regional differences in burial orientation mirroring patterns seen in house alignments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goto |first=Akira  |title=House and Burial Orientations of the Hokkaido Ainu, Indigenous Hunter-Gathers of Northern Japan |journal=Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry |volume=18 |issue=4 |date=2018 |pages=173–180 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.1478670 |doi-access=free}}</ref>