Thursday, August 02, 2007

The Hairy Ainus of Japan

Out of the bowels of Mount Tokachi, in the centre of Hokkaido, northernmost of the main islands of the island empire of Japan, abides the last retreat of the Hairy Ainus. "The Hairy Ainus who live in caves, hunt and fish with primitive weapons. They are a race seemingly unconnected with the surrounding Mongolian peoples, thought to have migrated to the northern islands of Japan from Manchuria, a remnant of Neolithic stock. They are taller than the Japanese, heavier-built; their hairiness has been exaggerated from the fact that the men never shave and the women, admiring hirsute embellishment, daub themselves with mustache designs in pot-smut. They are bear-worshipers, non-agricultural."

"Meanwhile, in Japan, many Jewish researchers were convinced that the long-haired Ainu people of Hokkaido were a lost tribe of Israelites, on the evidence that the Ainu are not Japanese, and therefore must be Jewish. A Jewish colony had existed in Kaifeng in China for many years, and China is, after all, *nearly* Japan."

haa, haa, you think that's funny? more likely thay were just a bunch of Boston Boobs, who got lost on their way to Coney Island. And I'm pretty sure TAB has no kinfolks in Hokkaido.

Today in Japan, a person of Ainu race is addressed as "Ainu no hito" (pl. "Ainu no hitobito") as opposed to the now deprecated address of "Ainujin," in the name of political correctness. A survey in 1999 countedd 23,767 Ainus in Japan, mostly in Hokkaido. During the Meiji era, the Ainus endured oppression from the Japanese government, which was intent on colonizing the northern territories and Okinawa islands. The discrimination that the Ainus faced included the loss of land rights and criminalization of hunting, which used to be the Ainu way of life. As a step in modernization, the Meiji government imposed Japanese education on the Ainus who did not have their own writing system. Much of this has resulted in most Ainus losing their native culture. Today, equal rights is emphasised and racism is condemned. Yet the Ainus in average still live a life less wealthy than the average Japanese.