Tourism and Ainu Identity, Hokkaido, Northern Japan

Abstract

This chapter examines the expression of Ainu identity, the representation of Ainu culture, and discuss how they are utilizing a growing interest in their heritage. The coat is especially interesting as it has straight kimono-type sleeves rather than the more typical Ainu type, which have a triangular section. Hokkaido, the most northern island of Japan, has been a desired destination for tourists from Japan and other countries for over a century. The Ainu in Biratori were making items to barter with the Japanese living on the southern coast of Hokkaido in the 1880s. The Ainu suffered discrimination and prejudice from the Japanese, whose government have encouraged miscegenation since the beginning of the nineteenth century leading to a loss of Ainu identity through their superficial immersion in the lowest strata of Japanese society. One of the richest sources of Ainu heritage is the oral literature. Ainu women are able to tuna a market tor their embroidery.