Ainu Geography
A look at the geography of traditional Ainu lands, primarily the island of Hokkaido, and their population.
The majority of Ainu people now live on Hokkaido, the northernmost island prefecture of Japan. It is surrounded by the Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, and larger Pacific Ocean. The island covers 32,221 square miles, or 83,453 square kilometers. Its largest city and capital is Sapporo (pop. 2 million). In the past, the Ainu also occupied modern Russia’s Sakhalin Island, Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, and Japan's Northern Honshu.
Due to assimilation and limited census figures, the modern Ainu population is uncertain. According to a 1984 census, there were 24,381 Ainu people in Japan. This number may not, however, account for Japanese citizens who are unaware of or reluctant to identify with Ainu ancestry.
The traditional lands of the Ainu generally see cold winters and short, cool summers. The Sakhalin Ainu, for example, often traveled via dog sleds. Hokkaido is most temperate of these with mild summers and snowy winters. Its landscape consists of densely forested mountains, rolling farmlands, and craggy coastlines. Its largest mountain is Asahi, a volcanic peak popular among visiting skiers. Akan National Park, in the northeastern portion of the island, is home to several notable crater lakes, including Lake Akan itself. The lakes are famous for their hot springs and migratory birds. Forests are primarily made up of fir, spruce, oak, birch, and maple. The island’s rich wildlife includes brown bears, sika deer, red-crowned cranes, tanuki, orca, salmon, and many predatory birds.
Further Reading:
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References
Batchelor, John. The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore. Religious Tract Society. 1901.
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Illness and Healing Among the Sakhalin Ainu. Cambridge University Press. 2014.
Siddle, Richard. Race, Resistance, and the Ainu of Japan. Routledge. 2012.
Sjoberg, Katarina. The Return of Ainu: Cultural Mobilization and the Practice of Ethnicity in Japan. Routledge. 2013.
“The Ainu People.” Ainu History and Culture, Ainu Museum, www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/study/eng01.html.
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