Warfare in Ainu Culture

Traditions of Warfare in Hokkaido Ainu Culture

For much of their history, the Hokkaido Ainu were not a military people. Their small villages never unified politically, though they did form local alliances. While fighting occurred, like any human society, it was mostly limited to conflicts over land and fishing rights. The cold forests of their islands, laced with poisonous bow traps, for the most part protected them from foreign invasion. When the Japanese did gain a foothold on Hokkaido, they did so mainly through trade. Rather than conquering the island with soldiers, they promoted Ainu dependence on rice, saké, and other commercial goods.

Over time, settlers colonized the island and slowly depleted its ecosystems. The Hokkaido Ainu, facing the loss of their culture and livelihoods, rallied several times to reclaim their independence. Unfortunately, their lack of experience in large-scale warfare led to a series of costly victories and resounding defeats. By the 19th century, they had fallen under the full control of Imperial Japan. Forbidden from carrying swords or hunting with their poison arrows, they settled into lives as farmers and fishermen.[1][2]

Warfare Among the Sakhalin and Kurile Ainu

Ainu families in search of more land are thought to have pushed north from Hokkaido around the 11th century. They spread into Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands, already home to other cultural groups. The Okhotsk people of the Kurile Islands appear to have disappeared, likely merging with the Ainu settlers. On Sakhalin, however, the Ainu remained mostly distinct from the Nivkhs to their north. The two cultures appear to have traded and intermarried as often as they went to war.

Tensions within the region escalated with the arrival of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in 1264. The Nivkhs joined the Mongol forces, but the Sakhalin Ainu resisted. Their resistance continued until 1308, when the Ainu finally surrendered. Their island would later become a point of conflict between Japan and Russia. The Ainu there either blended into Russian culture or were forcibly evicted to Hokkaido at the end of World War II.[1][3]

Ainu Weapons and Tactics

The Ainu used their weapons primarily for hunting. They tended to craft short bows from a single piece of Japanese yew. These ranged in size from 36 to 53 inches, averaging around 4 feet and wrapped with strips of cherry bark for strength. Traditional strings were made from sinew or attush fibers. More recent bows came equipped with cotton or hemp strings. Typical Ainu arrows consisted of three segments. A fragile middle section of bone connected the poisoned bone or bamboo arrowhead to a reed shaft.[4]

Besides their bows, men owned swords and knives traded from the Japanese. They kept only the blade, replacing the hilt and scabbard with their own designs.[5] Both men and women are described as engaging in combat. Villages tended to fight together, but without much coordination. Their deadly traps and archers held off invaders for centuries, but they couldn't stand up to trained soldiers with firearms. As Japan developed its military into a global power, the Ainu had neither the technology nor the numbers to repel them.[6]

Bibliography

1. Brett L. Walker, The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), 81-84.

2. Richard Zgusta, The Peoples of Northeast Asia Through Time: Precolonial Ethnic and Cultural Processes Along the Coast Between Hokkaido and the Bering Strait (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 61-68.

3. Ann B. Irish, Hokkaido: A History of Ethnic Transition and Development on Japan's Northern Island (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009), 264-265.

4. J.K. Goodrich, "Ainu Houses and Their Furnishing," Popular Science Monthly 33 (1888), 497-508.

5. John Batchelor, The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore (London: Religious Tract Society, 1901), 152.

6. J. K. Goodrich, "A Study of the Ainu of Yezo," Popular Science Monthly 33 (June 1888).

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