The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-11-16
TIE ANU OF JAPAN,

| 1eZo, the most northern island OF the
Japanese archipelago of any conse-
| quence, is the Indian territory of the
| Sunrise empire. 1t is the home of the
! Ainu, the aborigines of Japan.
Very little has been known of these
peculiar people by Europeans until
within more recent times. My own at
tention was especially attracted to them
three years ago when the first and only
missionary among them came down to
Toxic on "A iecturing tour, bringing
live specimen with him. He was d
man of about forty years of age,
probably less than five feet in height,
heavily built, with straight black
hair coming down low over broad
forehead. and a most vigorous growth
of beard, which. with heavy eye rows,
almost completely covered his whole
face The Ainu are the hairiest people
! in the world; even their bodies are COW
cred with hair.
On the occasion of meeting this Ainu
heard him speak. There is little or
no similarity between tia Anu and
japanese language, hence | understood
only through an interpreter. After
listening for awhile | was constrained
to say to myself: And 10! the poor In
diam" According to his statements.
his people in former times spread over
the whole of Japan, and lived III
peace and prosperity till the japanese
came, took their country from them,
driving them into the cold regions
of the north. The word "Ainu."
according to Ainu interpre tation,
means man." according to Japanese
Interpretation, the same word spelt
"Aino," is compound word formed by
writing two Japanese words: a." an
exclamation expressing contempt, and
''inu," dog-tbe hateful dogs.
1t is quite evident that these people
did, in the remote past. inhabit the
larger part of Japan. This we see by
the Ainu names which still cling To
many rivers, mountains, capes and
bays But they are one of those I'M
fortunate peoples which seem destined
to pass away before the advance of
more civilized race. At one time they
must have numbered hundreds of thou
sands: now only about fifteen thousand
remain in the secluded interior
mountains of NezO. and they
are gradually diminishing in num-
Der. One OF the chief causes Of
this mortality is drunkenness. Ana
the japanese government is responsible
for this. Japanese go among them
peddling out their saki rice whisky,
and these hairy children of the noun
taius fell an easy prey to this traffic.
They live mostly on the fruit of the
chase: and always after a successful
bear hunt feast is held. which ends
in a dead drunk On this most unpalata-
bic Japanese saki
Then. again. their manner OF living
n that severe northern region. where
for half the year snow and ice cover
the ground. is another cause of their
gradual decrease. Their houses are the
merest excuse for shelter, and their
clothing fails to protect them from the
cold.
They have no written language. and
hence no books. japan. which ex-
changes her saki for the valuable skins
and furs of the AiRu. has virtually
kept these people in ignorance. For
centuries she waged DISCRIMINATING
wars against them until they were re-
duced 20 condition Of utter helpless
ness and then left 10 themselves. ia
Pan. which would be Indignantly Of
Tended should some one charge her
with a little IF heathauiSm. has made
no effort 10 improve the condition 81
the Aiuu. Their life J. a cold. dark,
dreary existence amid the northern
SHOWS ~ The Island empire. Their reli-
gion ! 4 kind Of nature worship.
kamui God Is seen and heard IN
all the manifestations q nature
IN the flow OF the river. the fall
Of the cataract. the whispering of the
winds. The rush Of the tempest the
rolling Of the thunder; and the glade>
and dells Of the forest ara the fsvorite
haunts OF the fairies Legends inuu-
mera Die are stored Up e their tradl-
tons
Only since Christian missions entered /
Japan has anything been done % hel2
the poor Ainr. An effort ! being made +
% give heir language q written form.
and a-so - teach them the art 81 farm F..
iu- An effort n these direct ions has .
been ~nroursgiH-- The women are l--- &