Customer Reviews

The Ainu of Northeast Asia

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A skillful historian whose thorough research covers key aspects of the Ainu history and culture dating from 30,000 BCE to 1997 wrote this book. His sources are numerous, ranging from the Ainu's Uepeker (oral tales and old history) to the findings of the recent Nibutani Dam Case and to interviews of numerous Ainu people and scholars in Hokkaido, Japan. He incorporates the results of rigorous studies by anthropologists, archeologists and linguists as well as those of DNA scientists to present an objective view of the Ainu origins. The author successfully shows that "The Ainu people are not an enigma, but a people who have lived in Northeast Asia for centuries and continue to pass their cultural heritage to their children."

The author aptly presents Ainu historical and cultural experiences. The impact of laws by the various ruling societies on this subjugated; indigenous minority is addressed, as is the influence that the Ainu people have on their various masters. The author successfully shows that ".... the Ainu not as an isolated primitive people without a history, but a people who were a wider part of a wider history in Northeast Asia. The history of the Ainu is intertwined with the history of the Japan, the Mongol and Manchu Empire in China, and the Russian and Soviet Empire in Siberia."

The author 's efforts to make unfamiliar Ainu and Japanese words and terminology understandable are invaluable. The book's bibliography, glossary of Ainu words, chronology of events, maps, charts and illustrations are also valuable aids to understanding the Ainu history.

The reader will find this book of Ainu history to be an interesting and authoritative work that scholar and enthusiast alike can appreciate.

This is indeed a great book. It was quite evident that Mr. Johnson took his time while researching the Ainu. I think this book sheds a great deal of light on a much misunderstood subject. Any home library is incomplete without it.

Limited access to Japanese resources, outdated European references, lack of basic knowledge about Asian History ended in a book with many misunderstandings, e.g. the toponymy of Mount Fuji or the use of word "Ainu" in ancient Chinese documents.