Editing Ainu people (section)

===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" />