Kirkch01's List: Ainu: location, environment, and population

• World Directory of Minorities
• The Ainu are an indigenous people who inhabit the island of Hokkaido of Japan, as well as the north of Honshu, Japan's main island and Sakhalin island, in Russia. There may be between 30,000 and 50,000Ainu in Japan (there are no official census figures; one of the few such surveys conducted was by the Hokkaido Government in 1984, which gave the Ainu population of Hokkaido then as 24, 381). Only a very small number remain fluent in their traditional language
• Again the Ainu experienced dramatic consequences not dissimilar to what occurred to many other indigenous peoples falling under the sway of an alien power: unfamiliar diseases and mistreatment by the Japanese authorities apparently lead to a dramatic decline of the population between 1822 and 1854.
• The final legal and political steps which would lead to the almost complete disintegration of Ainu society emerged during the Meiji period (1868-1912): direct administration by the Japanese government then was now to be exercised over Ainu land and people, leading to the legal extinguishment of all Ainu land rights and to a massive programme to encourage ethnic Japanese to settle in Hokkaido. These discriminatory government policies lead to a population explosion, with Hokkaido's population soaring to over a million people with the Ainu being completely submerged in an ocean of foreign settlers.
• After having been confiscated all of their traditional land and resources earlier by the Japanese government, the Ainu were encouraged to take on farming and given land under an 1899 law, the Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act. By that time however, the best plots of land had already been handed over to ethnic Japanese settlers, and the size of the plots handed over to an Ainu was much smaller than that given to a Japanese
• Some Ainu viewed the recognition as merely symbolic, with unclear benefits for dealing with the problems of social and economic marginalization, and noted the absence of any apology for past policies of land theft, cultural repression and forced assimilation. Others noted that official recognition could lead to increased pride within the Ainu community, which would lead to a greater desire to preserve Ainu culture.

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• History of the Ainu
• Hokkaido, the Northern island of Japan where the Ainu has inhabited, is full of natural resources based on rich river systems. Because of the fact and the location, the land of the Ainu had been both, Japanese and Russian's interests and the Ainu had been a target of extermination in order for them to obtain the flourished land.
• 1400's The first contact with Japanese from main island and the Ainu engaged in peaceful trade with the Japanese 
  1457  The Battle of Kosyamain: 
  1669  The Battle of Syaksyain 
  1789  The Battle of Kunashiri-Menasi: Japanese succeeded to integrate the Northern island by defeating the Ainu for previous three battles 
  1869  Mass immigration of Japanese to Hokkaido started with the encouragement of the new western ideal government to develop the Hokkaido, Sakhalin and Kuril became under control of Russian 
  1871  Enactment of the registration; The Ainu became the common with prohibition of their traditional way of living and enforcement of use of Japanese 
  1878  The Ainu is given the status of former aborigines
• View on the change of the Ainu Population 
  As we can see in the following table and graph, the change in the Ainu population clearly indicates the evidence of Japanese exploitation of the Ainu which enforced them to give up their tradition and culture. We can not overlook Ainu's physical and psychological struggle over the abrupt change in their life style of which has been suffered with low economic income as well as harsh discrimination. I believe the struggle is one of the main causes of decreasing population. The population of the Ainu rapidly decreased between 1822 and 1873; about 7000 Ainu died over 50 years. The reason behind the rapid decrease of the population is thought to be the spread of epidemics, such as small pox, measles, cholera and tuberculosis beside the enforcement of Japanese culture and labor. Parallel to the uprising movement in 1960's, the Ainu population also has increased about 6000. Today, the Ainu population seems to be stable with small fracture in numbers.

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• Actual Living Conditions of the Hokkaido Ainu 
  
      According to the Survey on the Hokkaido Ainu Living Conditions conducted  in 2006 by the Hokkaido Government, the Ainu population in Hokkaido^{Note 1} is 23,782 in 72 municipalities. About 59.5% of these live in the  subprefectures of Hidaka and Iburi (as shown on the map to the below).  It is estimated that the Ainu population is far larger than the results  indicate due to the constraints of the survey.

• Ainu who lived in Hokkaido, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin were called "Hokkaido Ainu", "Kurile Ainu" and "Sakhalin Ainu"respectively. Most Ainu now live in Hokkaido. It has been confirmed that a few Ainu people now live in Sakhalin. The census of the Ainu was started by the Japanese in the 1800 s for various purposes, e.g. for putting them to work. The Ainu population from 1807 to 1931 varied as follows :

   
   
  • 1807 : 26,256
   
  • 1822 : 23,563
   
  • 1854 : 17,810
   
  • 1873 : 16,272
   
  • 1903 : 17,783
   
  • 1931 : 15,969
   
   

  These figures (estimated ones) show that the population decreased particularly sharply from 1822 to 1854. The reasons for the decrease were, among others, the spread through the Ainu population of such diseases as smallpox, measles, cholera, tuberculosis and venereal diseases and the breakup of families due to forced labor.

   

  According to a current survey conducted by the Hokkaido Government in 1984, the Ainu population of Hokkaido then was 24,381.

• POPULATION:    25,000

• Hokkaido, one of Japan's four main islands, is 32,247 square  miles (83,520 square kilometers)—comprising one-fifth of Japan.  Hokkaido is twice as large as Switzerland. A small number of Ainu live  on southern Sakhalin. Earlier, the Ainu also lived in the southern Kuril  Islands, along the lower reaches of the Amur River, and in Kamchatka, as  well as the northern part of the Northeast region of Honshu. Their  ancestors may have once lived throughout Japan. 

   

    Hokkaido is surrounded by beautiful coasts. The island has many  mountains,   lakes, and rivers. Its land was densely wooded with ancient trees into  the twentieth century. Two major mountain ranges, Kitami in the north  and Hidaka in the south, divide Hokkaido into the eastern and western  regions. The Saru basin area in southeastern Hokkaido is a center of  Ainu ancestral culture. 

   

    An 1807 survey reported the Hokkaido and Sakhalin Ainu population as  23,797. Mixed marriages between Ainu and mainland Japanese became more  common over the last century. In 1986 the total number of people in  Hokkaido identifying themselves as Ainu was 24,381. 

   

    In the late nineteenth century, the Japanese government created a  colonial office for Hokkaido's economic development and  encouraged settlers from other parts of Japan. A similar government  office now continues to promote Hokkaido's development. With the  loss of their land, their livelihood, and their traditional culture, the  Ainu had to adapt to a rapidly industrializing society.

• Hokkaido’s annual mean temperature is around 10.0ºC, which is similar to that of Chicago or Boston in North America.
    Hokkaido enjoys four distinct seasons with no rainy season and a cool, refreshing summer with low humidity. In winter, there is considerable snowfall on the Sea of Japan side and there are many days with freezing temperatures even in the daytime.
• Surrounded in all four directions by the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, Hokkaido is home to a variety of magnificent mountains, extensive wetlands, beautiful lakes, marshes, rivers, forests and more. With expansive farmland, also referred to as the breadbasket of Japan, the prefecture produces a variety of products, consisting mainly of rice, dry-field crops, and dairy and livestock products.
    Hokkaido has two volcanic zones, along which many volcanoes and hot springs exist.