Before the Japanese entered what is now Japan that country was occupied by the Ainu, among the most interesting people of the world. There are not many of them. In Yezo, the northern island of Japan, there are about seventeen thousand, and in the island of Saghalien, formerly Japanese, but now Russian, there are others. They are not like the Japanese, but are considered whites, not Mongolians. The men measure about five feet four inches; the women not more than five feet two inches. Their color is flesh, with a tinge of red or yellow; their eyes are large and do not appear to slant like those of the yellow peoples; their hair is abundant and tangled and they have much beard. Their body is very hairy. They are filthy and rarely wash themselves.

The women tattoo, beginning in girlhood. The patterns are cut in the flesh with a razor and soot is rubbed into the lines; to render the color permanent, water in which ash-tree bark has been steeped is rubbed over the part tattooed. The tattooing first done is at the centre of the upper lip; later the lower lip. The marks are added to from time to time until they cover the upper lip and reach from ear to ear. Such women appear to have a great moustache. After marriage a woman’s forehead may be tattooed, also patterns may be made up the backs of the hands and on the arms, and rings may be tattooed around her fingers.

Ainu clothing is generally made of elm bark, and that worn by men and women is much alike. The bark is stripped from the tree in spring, when it is full of sap. It is soaked in water to separate the inner and outer bark. Fibres are secured from the inner bark, which can be woven like thread into cloth. The men’s garments of this fibre cloth are adorned with patterns embroidered with colored threads; those of women are generally plain.

The Ainu house is rectangular, with a rather frail support and a substantial thatched roof. The roof is built first; then the chief posts of the walls are set and the roof is lifted up and put on them. Ainu houses grow as the family grows. A young married couple build a small house; as they have children a new and larger house is built behind the old one, which remains as a sort of hall; when the family is still larger and richer, the hall is torn down and a larger house is built behind the second one, which now becomes a hall or porch to it. There are two windows and one door in these houses. The windows are on the south and east sides, while the door is at the west end. The east end of the house and its window are sacred; people must not throw things through this window nor spit out of it. Sometimes the men worship the rising sun as they see it through this east window.

The Ainu are hunters and have ingenious ways of capturing or killing animals. In hunting deer they use a little squeaking whistle, the sound of which attracts the animals. They set bows, with arrows on the stretched cord, near trails over which deer and bears pass; in passing, the animal strikes a cord which lets loose a trigger, and the arrow flies. They also set a trap consisting of a stout bow, which, when sprung, shuts two boards tightly together; the foot of the animal is caught between these and held fast. Formerly the Ainu used poisoned arrows in hunting. These had a broad, hollowed point, in which a little of the poisonous paste was stuck. The poison was made from the root of aconite mixed with tobacco, peppers, and poisoned spiders. These, and other substances, were carefully mixed into a gummy paste. At present the Japanese government forbids the Yezo Ainu to use these poisoned arrows.

The bear hunt is looked forward to with anxiety. It is in the spring while snow is yet on the ground. Before starting the hunters pray to their gods for help and direction. Dogs accompany them. When a den is found, there is great excitement. They try to draw the animal out by teasing him with long poles. If he will not come out, one of the men draws his knife, enters the den, and faces the bear. The animal pushes him aside, when the hunter pricks him from behind with his knife. The angry animal then rushes forth, growling and snarling. The hunters and dogs waiting outside soon despatch him, though frequently some one is hurt or killed. The hunters then sit down near the dead bear and say all kinds of pretty things to him, pretending that they are sorry to have killed him, and asking his forgiveness. They then skin him, cut up the meat, carry it home, and have a feast.

At Ainu feasts the men always become dreadfully drunk from drinking rice wine. When he drinks, the Ainu uses a little stick to lift his moustache and keep it from the wine. These moustache lifters are made for the purpose and are frequently neatly carved.

Sometimes Ainu hunters secure a little bear cub, which they carry carefully home. It is fed with the best of food, and treated as a great pet. When it is so big as to be rough and troublesome, they put it in a cage. When it is quite grown, a bear feast is planned. Many guests are invited. The men eat millet-cakes and drink rice wine. After feasting for some time two men noose the bear with ropes and drag him around; the whole company then worry and tease the poor creature, finally choking him, after which they eat him.

The Ainu have many gods. In praying to them they use inao. These are little sticks which are so whittled with knives that curls of shavings hang from them. There are several ways of cutting these, and they are believed to please the gods. They are stuck up in the ground and left where prayers are made. Ainu men spend much time whittling these inao.