While travelling is on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak, BBC Travel will continue to inform and inspire our readers who ...

The site is contemporaneous with the medieval Japanese to the south, who had been forging a nation-state for several centuries. The immediate predecessors of the Ainu, who are the native people of ...

The Ainu were deprived of their own customs, language and lands for hunting and fishing under Japan’s policy of forced assimilation for the development of Hokkaido. A survey of some 13,000 Ainu ...

A film inspired by the story of a young Ainu woman who translated into Japanese an epic poem passed down orally among the indigenous people of Hokkaido will soon have a wide domestic release. The ...

The Ainu, an indigenous people predominantly living in northern Japan, have a distinct language and rich cultural traditions. Although Hokkaido has the largest Ainu population, thousands also live ...

In the southern part of the island he meets the Ainu people. Because of their appearance, they are scathingly called the ‘shaggy people’ by the Japanese and the Russians. Bronisław, however, treats ...

In Japan, the Indigenous community known as the Ainu has been struggling to assert a 21st century identity after decades of erasure. About 20 years ago, the government officially recognized them as ...

The Ainu are a group of indigenous people from northern Japan. Japan is preparing to welcome a new era, with Emperor Akihito planning to abdicate at the end of April.

The indigenous people of Northern Japan are using a Māori technique to revitalise their language, which is at risk of dying out. The Ainu language is listed as 'critically endangered', but ...

After centuries of forced assimilation, Japan’s indigenous Ainu population, language and culture are emerging once more thanks to anime, the country’s thriving sub-cultures and YouTube.

Ainu Mosir features a scene from the Marimo Festival, an important event in Ainu Kotan. Shige, who lives in Shiranuka, more than 80 kilometers from Lake Akan, also participated in this festival.

A piece of home, but in Japan. And, of course, there’s the important influence of the Indigenous Ainu people, who migrated centuries ago from northern Russia. That’s why I wanted to spotlight ...