北海道地域의 文化的特性과 아이누(AINU)人 - 아이누의 淵源을 중심으로 -

A Study on the culture of Hokkaido and AINU Tribes - focusing on the origin of AINU -

Hokkaido, the huge island which is located at the far most northern part of the Japanese Islands has made its own history and was perceived as the place where the different people called Ainu have lived for a long time. But there has been no definite answer where Hokkaido Ainu people had come from. While searching for the origin of the recent Ainu, it can be reached to the problem of Emisi and Ebisu which are related to the Ezo-Ainu people. On the basis of the terminology used in the historical events, Emisi and Ebisu are the term indicating the determined brave people who had lived on the northeast and had been against the rule of Japanese dynasty. So some asserts that they are not different from the Japanese on the mainland and others does that mid-century concept of Emisi and Ebisu are different from Ezo-Ainu on the northern Hokkaido. From the recent studies of archaeology and physical anthropology, Ainu people and the original Japanese share the same Mongoloid since the physical constitution of Ainu people had not experienced the adaptation of the cold northern district. Therefore it can be strongly asserted that they are the people who had lived in the warm southern region for a long time. In this paper, it has been concluded that Ainu people are not the northern race but the Mongoloid who had not adapted to the cold climate and the ancient concept of Emisi and Ebisu is not different from the mid-centry Ezo. It has been confirmed that the originality of Ainu people should be excluded from the various northern elements of Ainu culture. Various characteristics of Ainu culture of clothing, like the one-piece and open-style which is never northern, could be analysed from this pint of view in further studies.