Read complete books and articles on: Ainu

Ainu - īˈnoo, aborigines of Japan who may be descended from a Caucasoid people who once lived in N Asia. More powerful invaders from the Asian mainland gradually forced the Ainu to retreat to the northern islands of Japan and Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in what is now the Russian Far East; today, they reside mainly on Hokkaido. Reduced in number, they live by hunting, fishing, and

10 of the Best Books and Articles on: Ainu

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Ainu Creed and Cult » Read Now
by B. Z. Seligman, H. Watanabe. 182 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
2.

The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800 » Read Now
by Brett L. Walker. 332 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This model monograph is the first scholarly study to put the Ainu--the native people living in Ezo, the northernmost island of the Japanese archipelago--at the center of an exploration of Japanese expansion during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the height of the Tokugawa shogunal era...
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This model monograph is the first scholarly study to put the Ainu--the native people living in Ezo, the northernmost island of the Japanese archipelago--at the center of an exploration of Japanese expansion during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the height of the Tokugawa shogunal era. Inspired by "new Western" historians of the United States, Walker positions Ezo not as Japan's northern "frontier" but as a borderland or middle ground. By framing his study between the cultural and ecological worlds of the Ainu before and after two centuries of sustained contact with the Japanese, the author demonstrates with great clarity just how far the Ainu were incorporated into the Japanese political economy and just how much their ceremonial and material life--not to mention disease ecology, medical culture, and their physical environment--had been infiltrated by Japanese cultural artifacts, practices, and epidemiology by the early nineteenth century.
Walker takes a fresh and original approach.Rather than presenting a mere juxtaposition of oppression and resistance, he offers a subtle analysis of how material and ecological changes induced by trade with Japan set in motion a reorientation of the whole northern culture and landscape. Using new and little-known material from archives as well as Ainu oral traditions and archaeology, Walker poses an exciting new set of questions and issues that have yet to be approached in so innovative and thorough a fashion.
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3.

Japan's Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity » Read Now
by Michael Weiner. 254 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The Japanese have traditionally projected themselves as a culturally and racially homogenous society. After years of marginalization, many of the 'hidden' minorities in Japan are now beginning to challenge this image by reasserting their cultural identities. Japan's Minorities identifies the six...
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The Japanese have traditionally projected themselves as a culturally and racially homogenous society. After years of marginalization, many of the 'hidden' minorities in Japan are now beginning to challenge this image by reasserting their cultural identities. Japan's Minorities identifies the six principal minority groups in Japan:* the Ainu* the Burakumin* the Chinese* the Koreans* the Nikkeijin* the OkinawansThe contributors to this volume show how the Japanese have incorporated events such as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings into a 'Japaneseness' which excludes these minorities. The chapters provide clear historical introductions to particular groups and put their experiences in the context of contemporary Japanese society.
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4.

An Introduction to Japanese Society ("Indigenous Ainu" begins on p. 202) » Read Now
by Yoshio Sugimoto. 316 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This revised edition has been updated to cover developments in the five years since the first edition was published. Yoshio Sugimoto challenges the traditional notion that Japan is an homogeneous society with few cultural and social disparities.
5.

Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity (Chap. 16 "Rethinking Indigenous Religious Traditions: The Case of the Ainu") » Read Now
by Jacob K. Olupona. 352 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

What role do indigenous religions play in today's world? Beyond Primitivism is a complete appraisal of indigenous religions - faiths integrally connected to the cultures in which they originate, as distinct from global religions of conversion - as practised across America, Africa, Asia and the...
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What role do indigenous religions play in today's world? Beyond Primitivism is a complete appraisal of indigenous religions - faiths integrally connected to the cultures in which they originate, as distinct from global religions of conversion - as practised across America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific today. At a time when local traditions across the world are colliding with global culture, it explores the future of indigenous faiths as they encounter modernity and globalization. Beyond Primitivism argues that indigenous religions are not irrelevant in modern society, but are dynamic, progressive forces of continuing vitality and influence. Including essays on Haitian vodou , Korean shamanism and the Sri Lankan 'Wild Man', the contributors reveal the relevance of native religions to millions of believers worldwide, challenging the perception that indigenous faiths are vanishing from the face of the globe.
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6.

Endangered Peoples of Southeast and East Asia: Struggles to Survive and Thrive (Chap. 2 "The Ainu of Japan") » Read Now
by Leslie E. Sponsel. 282 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The tremendous cultural diversity and distinct ways of life of many Southeast and East Asian peoples are in serious jeopardy today because of varying combinations of economic, political, and environmental threats, often linked to severe human rights violations. Endangered Peoples of Southeast and...
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The tremendous cultural diversity and distinct ways of life of many Southeast and East Asian peoples are in serious jeopardy today because of varying combinations of economic, political, and environmental threats, often linked to severe human rights violations. Endangered Peoples of Southeast and East Asia introduces 14 endangered cultures, from the Kubu of Central Sumatra in Indonesia, to the Ainu of Japan. The most pressing issues of these marginalized groups--such as the impact of tourism, prohibition against whaling, or dislocation due to nuclear testing--are brought to light by anthropologists based on their own extensive field work. The cultural and historical information provided here is not available in any other printed source.
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7.

Hunters and Gatherers in the Modern World: Conflict, Resistance, and Self-Determination (Chap. 11 "Political Movement, Legal Reformation, and Transformation of Ainu Identity") » Read Now
by Megan Biesele, Robert K. Hitchcock, Peter P. Schweitzer. 498 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
8.

Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan » Read Now
by Richard Siddle. 270 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This is the first major study to trace the outlines of Ainu history & explore the ways in which competing versions of Ainu identity have been articulated, shedding light on the way modern relations between the Ainu & the Japanese have been shaped.
9.

Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir » Read Now
by Shigeru Kayano, Kyoko Selden, Lili Selden. 172 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
10.

The Ainu of Northern Japan: A Study of Conquest and Acculturation » Read Now
by John A. Harrison, Shinichir Takakura. 92 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library