In the 1930s some anthropologists visited and photographed the Ainu people of far northern Japan. Ainu are a very distinct ethnic group who do not resemble Japanes much at all. The fellow above
had a nice happy trail leading down to that wraparound cloth. The man below has short hair and a fundoshi style loincloth, both likely borrowed from encroaching Japanese culture.
The Ainu, like indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere, faced a lot of discrimination and pressure to conform to the dominant society. I haven't looked lately, but last time I checked they were still struggling to preserve their culture-Dee Exx
ReplyDeleteThey still struggle, but they're holding on.
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