the Ainu

There's not so much diversity in Japan. Probably 99% of the population is ethnic Japanese. There are a few minority groups thrown in... such as Koreans, Okinawans (who weren't "Japanese" until fairly recently) and Ainu. When I was in Hokkaido, I went to a museum about the Ainu, the indigenous people of the island. No one knows for sure where they came from, but I'll guess Mongolia.

Most of the museum was actually a recreated Ainu village. Although there wasn't much to see (I spent a little over an hour there), it was interesting to learn how the Ainu used to live. I was able to see some traditional dancing. There was a guy who explained a bit about Ainu customs (in Japanese), and I understood bits and pieces of what he said. I learned that the Ainu built their houses so that the window faced a certain direction. And that the women (or girls really) would get tattoos on their hands, arms, and around their mouths before they got married. There was also an indoor museum exhibit that explained (bilingually!) about different aspects of Ainu life.

Overall a really interesting museum. It's in a town called Shiraoi, about an hour by train from Sapporo. And it smelled really good because of the fires burning everywhere. Smelled like camping. Mmmm.