Fresh Light on the Ainu.1

Abstract

MR. A. H. SAVAGE LANDOR, grandson of the poet, and himself a talented artist, recently made a remarkable journey round the island of Yezo, and up many of its large rivers, repeating Captain Blakiston's route in 1869 so far as regards the north-east and west coasts, but supplementing that traveller's journey along the whole east coast and in the interior. He travelled alone, with practically no equipment except for painting; and during five months he lived almost exclusively with the Ainu, even sharing their food.. He visited in this way nearly every native village in Yezo, and estimates the total number of purebred Ainu now on the island at about 8000, while the Japanese estimate of the whole Ainu population, including half-breeds, is from 15,000 to 17,000. Mr. Landor gives a lively and straightforward account of his journey, illustrated by numerous portraits, pieces of landscape, and drawings of houses and implements, which is replete with incidental information as to the ways of the primitive people and the minor adventures of the road. No European has previously covered so much ground in Yezo, and we are surprised at the modest size of the volume in which so many fresh observations are recorded for the first time. The geographical results of the journey were communicated, shortly after his return, to the Royal Geographical Society, and published, with a map of the island (reproduced, with some additions, in this volume), in the last part of the Society's “Supplementary Papers.” We are not aware that the anthropological data have yet been submitted to specialists, but we feel confident that they will assist notably in forwarding our knowledge of the difficult problems of Ainu ethnology. The author as an artist has a keen and discriminating eye for form and colour, so that his observations carry much more weight than the chance remarks of most non-scientific travellers. It seems a pity that some of the portraits are not reproduced in colour, and we trust that an effort will be made to secure for anthropological collections some of the original pictures, which we understand are still in Mr. Landor's possession.