The history
The history of the Ainu people is complex, as any oppressed indigenous people's is.
This page will briefly cover the history needed to understand where the Ainu people stand today, in relation to the Japanese people.
Because I recognize that this is far from getting the whole context of the history of the Ainu, I recommend you explore more through the links embedded, also in the Expand page.
Location:
The Ainu people are Japan's indigenous people who mainly live in Hokkaido, a northern island in Japan, and a portion in northern mainland Japan, Kurile Island, and Sakhalin Island in Russia (*3). Their history dates back to the 12th century, where their base culture, called the Satsumon culture, starts to evolve into the Ainu culture (*1).
Population:
In 2025, there is a rough estimate of 24,000 Ainu people in Japan (*2), which takes into account the ones who are assimilated into cities. This is an increase compared to the data from 2013, which ranges from 16,786 people (*1) to 19,786 people (*2). Their language has been acknowledged as "critically endangered" by UNESCO in 2009 (*11), and many are trying to relearn the language (*5).
The cruel history
Assimilation:
Despite having some conflicts before then, tensions started to become serious in the late 1800s. 「蝦夷地」“Ezochi,” meaning the 'uncivilized people’s land,' was a common term used by the Japanese government to refer to the Ainu land (*2). In the 1850s, the Tokugawa shogunate strengthened assimilation in the name of education and protection. They banned and ignored Ainu traditions to make them more like the Wajin, who were the name of the people in the mainland.
In the attempts to make them ‘Japanese,’ they forced assimilation of the Ainu. According to the Ainu Association of Hokkaido (*1), since WWII, the Ainu people have been continuously assimilated, with more people considering them as “disappearing” or “extinct people.” In 1991, the Japanese government finally acknowledged that the Ainu people are an ethnic minority, rewriting their claim that Japan is a “mono-ethnic” country. Still, however, this is far from recognizing them as indigenous people, which is the UN’s definition. In 2008, Japan's prime minister officially recognized the Ainu as an indigenous population, which was reinforced by the first law in 2019 (*6).