In “Rare Tongues,” she explores languages teetering on the brink of oblivion, including Ainu, now spoken by a handful of elderly people in northern Japan, as well as languages such as Hawaiian ...

I hope people try the Ainu recipes in the book — they’re accessible and tasty. Published in Issue 26 (winter 2024) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

The story of Ainu, Japan’s indigenous language, is not just a tale of words and grammar—it’s a testament to resilience, identity, and the sheer power of cultural memory.

It was the first book to be written by an Ainu and it gave insight into their unique view of nature. Dr. Kindaichi Kyosuke, a linguist who encouraged Chiri, described the work as an "eternal gem." ...

The book is deemed as the first Ainu folklore put into print directly by a member of the ethnic group, which does not have its own written language system. In the work’s preface, ...

The ranks of the Ainu have shrunk so low that in the last official survey, taken in 2017, only 13,118 people identified as Ainu in Hokkaido, which has a total population of about 5.2 million.

There are inevitably more serious moments in Ainu Puri.Amanai questions why he must get a special permit from the authorities to fish, a centuries-old practice on land taken from his people by ...

Exploring the presence of her traditional Ainu culture in contemporary life is central to the work of Mayunkiki (born 1982), an artist, language teacher, musician and cultural worker from ...

The Air Self-Defense Force is facing pressure to jettison its new aircraft logo amid criticisms from Ainu people indigenous to Hokkaido that it appropriates their culture.

The Penn Museum, in collaboration with the Penn Libraries, hosted various Ainu-themed programming. Credit: Chenyao Liu The Penn Museum, in collaboration with the Penn Libraries, recently launched ...

On Japan’s second-largest island, the traditions of the Indigenous Ainu people are kept alive through craftsmanship, says renowned wood sculptor Toru Kaizawa.