Japan to recognize Ainu as indigenous inhabitants--report (fwd link)

[William J Poser]

Recognition of the Ainu will be a good thing, but I am surprised by
the inaccuracies in the article:

	The Ainu are believed to have first formed their
	society around the 13th century mainly in Hokkaido,
	extending to the Kurils and Sakhalin islands

The Ainu were certainly in Japan long before the 13th century. Even
Japanese records refer to them before that (mostly in the context
of mentions of young men going off to do battle with the Ainu
on the frontier) and the archaeology goes well before that. I'm not
aware of any particular event that happened in the 13th century
that might be thought of as the formation of Ainu society.

Although the area in which the Ainu are known to have lived in modern
times consists of Hokkaido, the southern Kuriles, and southern
Sakhalin, there is very strong evidence that they once occupied
northern/eastern Honshu as well. This evidence includes mentions in
early Japanese records as well as place names.

Bill