Chapter I: Preface

This book is not meant as a literary work, for I am not and do not pretend to be a literary man. It is but a record--an amplified log-book, as it were--of what befell me during my solitary peregrinations in Hokkaido, and a collection of notes and observations which I hope will prove interesting to anthropologists and ethnologists as well as to the general public.

Without any claim to infallibility I have tried to take an open-minded and sensible view of everything I have attempted to describe; in most cases, however, I have given facts without passing an opinion at all, and all I have said I have tried to express as simply and plainly as possible, so as not to give rise to misunderstandings.

There are a few points which I want to make quite clear.

First, that I went to Hokkaido entirely on my own account and for my own satisfaction. Next, that I accomplished the whole journey (some 4200 miles, out of which 3800 were ridden on horseback and on a rough pack-saddle) perfectly alone. By alone I mean that I had with me no friends, no servants, and no guides. My baggage consisted of next to nothing, so far as articles for my own convenience or comfort were concerned. I carried no provisions and no tent.

I am endowed with a very sensitive nature, and I pride myself in possessing the gift of adaptability to an extreme degree, and this may partly explain why and how I could live so long with and like the Ainu, whose habits and customs, as my readers will see, are somewhat different to ours.

When I go to a country I do my best to be like one of the natives themselves, and, whether they are savage or not, I endeavour to show respect for them and their ideas, and to conform to their customs for the time being. I make up my mind that what is good for them must be good enough for me, and though I have occasionally had to swear at myself for "doing in Ainuland as the Ainu does," especially as regards the food, I was not much the worse for it in the end. I never use force when I can win with kindness, and in my small experience in Hokkaido and other countries I have always found that real savages in their simplicity are most "gentleman-like" people. With few exceptions they are good-natured, dignified, and sensible, and the chances are that if you are fair to them they will be fair to you. Civilised savages and barbarians I always found untrustworthy and dangerous.

The Island of Yezo, with the smaller islands near its coast, and the Kurile group, taken together, are called "the Hokkaido." The Hokkaido extends roughly from 41° to 51° latitude north, and between 139° and 157° longitude east of Greenwich.

My view of the origin of the word Ainu is this: _Ainu_ is but a corruption or abbreviation of _Ai-num_, "they with hair," or "hairy men," or else of _Hain-num_, "come with hair," or "descended hairy." Considering that the Ainu pride themselves above all things on their hairiness, it does not seem improbable to me that this may be the correct origin of the word, and that they called themselves after the distinguishing characteristic of their race.

The word Ainu is a generic term, and is used both in the singular and plural; but when specifying, the words _Kuru_ (people, men), _utaragesh_ (woman), etc., are generally added to it: viz., _Ainu kuru_, Ainu people, Ainu men; _Ainu utaragesh_, an Ainu woman; _Ainu utaragesh utara_, several Ainu women.

The Ainu population of Yezo is roughly reckoned by the Japanese at about 15,000 or 17,000 souls, but at least half this number are half-castes, and in my opinion (and I have visited nearly every Ainu village in Yezo) the number of thoroughbred Ainu does not exceed 8000 souls.

The illustrations in this book are my own, and are the reproductions from sketches which I took on the spot. They may not show much artistic merit, but they seem to me to be characteristic of the country and the people, and I hope that my readers will be impressed with them in the same way.

A. HENRY SAVAGE LANDOR.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
From Hakodate to Mororran--Volcano Bay--The first Ainu--A
strange institution among them 1

CHAPTER II.
From Mororran to the Saru River 12

CHAPTER III.
Up the Saru River--Piratori and its chief 22

CHAPTER IV.
An Ainu Festival 30

CHAPTER V.
From the Saru River to Cape Erimo 35

CHAPTER VI.
From Cape Erimo to the Tokachi River 44

CHAPTER VII.
The Tokachi Region--Pure Ainu Types--Curious Mode of River
Fishing 50

CHAPTER VIII.
From the Tokachi River to the Kutcharo River 68

CHAPTER IX.
The Koro-pok-kuru, or Pit-dwellers 78

CHAPTER X.
The Kutcharo River and Lake--A Sulphur Mine--Akkeshi and
its Bay 95

CHAPTER XI.
From Akkeshi to Nemuro--A Horse Station--Nemuro and its
People 106

CHAPTER XII.
The Kurile Islands 121

CHAPTER XIII.
On the East and North-East Coast--From Nemuro to Shari-Mombets 133

CHAPTER XIV.
Along the Lagoons of the North-East Coast--From Shari-Mombets
to Poronai 145

CHAPTER XV.
On the North-East Coast--From Poronai to Cape Soya 157

CHAPTER XVI.
From Cape Soya to the Ishikari River 167

CHAPTER XVII.
The Ishikari River 179

CHAPTER XVIII.
Nearing Civilisation 187

CHAPTER XIX.
Completing the Circuit of Yezo--The End of my Journey 196

CHAPTER XX.
Ainu Habitations, Storehouses, Trophies, Furniture--Conservatism 207

CHAPTER XXI.
Ainu Art, Ainu Marks, Ornamentations, Weapons--Graves and
Tattoos 218

CHAPTER XXII.
Ainu Heads, and their Physiognomy 229

CHAPTER XXIII.
Movements and Attitudes 236

CHAPTER XXIV.
Ainu Clothes, Ornaments, and Tattooing 245

CHAPTER XXV.
Ainu Music, Poetry, and Dancing 255

CHAPTER XXVI.
Heredity--Crosses--Psychological Observations 266

CHAPTER XXVII.
Physiological Observations--Pulse-beat and Respiration--Exposure--
Odour of the Ainu--The Five Senses 274

CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Ainu Superstitions--Morals--Laws and Punishments 281

CHAPTER XXIX.
Marital Relations, and Causes that limit Population 293