I did a video recently on my channel called "Exploring Japanese Ancestry(from the Jomon & Beyond, going from "Hafu" to "Rainbu") if you are interested in watching or taking a look; hope you are doing well 🔥🌧🌈🌊⛵

Disfrute viendo y aprendiendo sobre los nativos Ainu Hokkaido. Me recuerda las historias que me contaban mis padres cuando crecían en Mexico y que todavía hay algunas personas que hablan lengua Maya. Puedes saber si algunas personas tenían sangre de Maya por su apellido o por su apariencia. Así como en el video donde dijeron se puede saber si las personas eran Ainu por sus características faciales o por sus apellidos que estaban escrito en letras katakana.

Hello Kinko, I was watching a video from the KZbinr Takashi regarding the Japanese being more open to foreigners now recently and wanting them to learn the language; he also does many videos interviewing "hafus"(I watch a KZbinr named Nina La Japonesa who speaks Spanish very well like you(which I'm impressed lol); she spent two months in El Salvador with a family); I want to let you know that I was looking at DNA samples of the indigenous Japanese Jomon from a couple to several thousand years ago(I also have a wee bit of indigenous Japanese Jomon in my ancestry as well most likely through some of my Native American ancestry lol; Patagonian Native American Kawesqar and the Ainu from Hokkaido may have a link), and I noticed that although they shared the "East Asian" population found in the modern day Japanese(with it coming from the Yayoi(a population thought to have been connected to the Yangtze River), Amur River Populations connected to Nivkhs and Ohkotsk, as well as Han+), they also had a considerable amount of "Basal East Eurasian"(which may have a connection to some of the Jomon having descended from Early-Late Bronze Age or before Malaysian Hunter Gatherers; some of them also had Sub-Saharan African due to Haplogroup D connected to both the Malaysian Hunter Gatherers, Jomon, and even Tibetans being connected back to the Haplogroup DE around 70,000 years ago, with Haplogroup E eventually becoming Black Africans, Ancient Egyptians, and Amazingh/Berber/Canaries/Libyans+); a population that struck to me for both the Malaysian Hunter Gatherer and the indigenous Japanese Jomon was "Anatolian Farmer"; there's a video where a person was trying to share the Mycenaean Greek language from over 3500 years ago(his channel is "I love languages", and it sounded like a mixture of "Spanish and Japanese" to some; I think the "Anatolian Farmer" connection is important to note(that may be the connection between the Spanish and the Japanese, breaking the stereotype of "all Asians are the same" as a Vietnamese contact named "Otaro" tried to tell me originally, even after the connection through Haplogroup DE(with some saying Haplogroup D potentially reached Japan 40000-20000 years ago) and Haplogroup C1a with Aurignacian Prehistoric Europeans from 40000 years ago and those who went to Japan around the end of the Ice Age 13000 years ago); it may also point to the beginnings of the Mayan and Peruvian Civilizations that may even go beyond the Shang Dynasty/Sanxingdui Shu State in China(more than just "an Ancient Chinese connection"); when people say some of the Ainu Japanese look "White/Caucasian" or even "Greek", although the Prehistoric C1a haplogroup from 13000 years ago could be one factor(with C2 eventually becoming more connected to "Mongols/Mongolians, particularly in Eastern Mongolia and a fair bit of the North Native America"), I'm thinking "Anatolian Farmer"(Haplogroup G; Neolithic Iranian J2/J2b2) may have also had a connection of some sort(it seems the Jomon at least had anywhere from 4%-2% "Anatolian Farmer" even until the Late Jomon Period, which may have intersected with the Early-Late Bronze Age Malaysian Hunter Gatherers, who carried Haplogroup D as the Jomon and modern Japanese do); what I would like to remind Kaya when she said I have a "Yayoi look" & "I'm not sure if I am related to Jomon, but I would like to know if I am" is something my Uncle German would say: "The Jomon never left" or "The Jomon are still here through the migrational DNA Map" lol; I would say "Japan wouldn't have been Japan without the Indigenous Japanese Jomon"; "In Addition To;Además De") makes me think of Miyamoto Musashi("Intersection of Jomon, Yayoi, Fujiwara, & "In Addition To"): " Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye"("Rainbu/Reinbo/Regnbue/Niji/Akiepena/Acroiris/Iris🌈beyond "Hafu""; Uncle German would say: "my cup is not half full or half empty, for it's already full"; I would say "Can you see the fullness of the cup; can you see what's already there? Can you see the Rainbu beyond Hafu?") 🔥🌧🌈🌊⛵

Hello again, Kinko; I watched a video by a KZbinr whose name is Kaya(she did a video regarding Japanese DNA); she broke down the paternal lineage of the Japanese into four groups: The Ohkotsk, Chang Jiang(Yayoi), Han, and Jomon; out of the 4 groups, most of the Japanese were a majority of both Jomon and Yayoi, with some Han admixture and sometimes Ohkotsk; The Ainu were majority Jomon and a bit of Ohkotsk; I learned through my Native American ancestry that I was related to Malaysian Hunter Gatherers from the Bronze Age(who had the same paternal y-dna haplogroup D as the indigenous Japanese Jomon(the Hokkaido Ainu, particularly one of the male elders, strongly remind me of the Native American Kawesqar in Patagonia(e.g. Chile, "Tierra Del Fuego" or in Japanese "Hi no Kuni" or "Land of Fire"); it scaled with native Americans in Mexico who seemed to be related to different groups in Central asia such as Uyghurs, Hazara, Uzbek, Karakalpak, Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Serrano Native American Indians, and Kazakhs(it matched with Ancient Japan Okinawa, Sanganji Jomon, & Ancient Yohiido Korea(maybe around or before Mumun culture?); I was also connected to the prehistoric Aurignacian culture in Europe(Spain being one of the locations; it seems that an additional wave of Jomon came to Japan around the end of the Ice Age through the Haplogroup C1a 13000 years ago, which was also connected to some of the prehistoric Europeans; some Japanese still carry this lineage today); I also had a match with the Yayoi people("Fujiwara Clan; Miyamoto Musashi no Fujiwara") from a match I had in Protovillanovia Italy from around 3000 years ago; The Ohkotsk(related to the Nivhi people) I believe I am related to them in the sense that I have some Arctic Native American connections, not only to the Inuit, but also("in addition to") to the Kets in Saqqaq Greenland from 4000 years ago(reminds me of the film "Seven Samurai", with the inclusion of Selkup & Koryak+) as well as other groups; I had a Vietnamese American friend/contact named Otaro who tried telling me "all Asians are the same", but my Uncle German's famous words(he has lived with the Cherokee Native Americans in North Carolina for over 40 years) is "not everyone wears a red shirt"(I say "not everyone wears the same shade of yellow Beijing shirt"; some may wear an orange shirt saying "Shinto Shrine" lol); I help them break the stereotype, including other Asians, that Asians are not all "Han Chinese"(they can be Han Chinese, but they can also be "in addition to"); I was telling my Uncle German that In Japan they use the word "Hafu" for "mixed race"("Wasian" or "Blasian"); I would tell them I'm "Rainbu"("Watashi Wa Nijidesu"(Kawesqar word for rainbow is "Akiepena"; "they had a son and they named him Rainbow"); "Soy Arcoiris/Regnbue"; felt like sharing("Tenía ganas de compartir/Kyōyū shitakatta") 🔥 🌧🌈🌊⛵

Amazing video Dr ito! It’s Fletcher…. You did a great job as a researcher on this journey! I think you captured the Ainu society nothing short of spectacularly. I loved hearing the story of the boy stepping on the snake, and I’m fascinated with how skillful this community is in the form of nature survival. Also thought it was funny how they were saying you have an Ainu face again if you’re born half Ainu and full Ainu😂

Dr. Ito, Your documentary uncovering the aspects of the Ainu was an insightful and terrific endeavor. You covered how these Indigenous people of Japan, mainly in Hokkaido, are natural and simplistic people who value many of the same things that we all hold dear to our hearts, e.g., family, community, and leading a good life. I especially like that you immersed yourself in your research by being invited to stay with Kazunobo Kawanano and his wife. This allowed you to see their everyday lives and learn much of the rich history of the Ainu straight from credible sources during personal interviews. The interviews you conducted felt professional yet personal. It made it more relatable for me as the viewer. Your filming method on a digital camera brought a more intimate feel to the documentary. By doing this, I think it made it easier for the audience to connect and relate to the stories that Kazunobo, his wife, Tomeji Kaizawa, Sachiko Kibata, Tamotsu Nabesawa, Sohichi Kawanano, and Shiro Kayano had to share. I am always interested in learning about new cultures, history, and how things work. I mostly enjoy doing this by watching documentaries rather than reading. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading, but stories documented like the ones from Kazunobo are where real fascination and appreciation take place for me. I am constantly watching documentaries on KZbin as a way to learn with visuals that relate to the content. So, your documentary fits right into my watchlist! I also have various tastes and enjoy eating food from multiple cultures. So, I also liked seeing some of the food you ate! Some key takeaways from your documentary: The Ainu were Indigenous people who were forced to assimilate with the rest of modern Japan in 1871. Kazunobo told us that the Ainu thrived on hunting deer and bear, growing millet, and fishing. However, as part of the assimilation, the Japanese government encouraged the Ainu to give up on these ways and take up farming instead. During this upheaval, the Ainu were forced to adopt a new language, writing, and citizenship. They previously had their own language unrelated to Japanese and did not have writing as their history was transmitted orally. That is why it is so essential that there are groups like the Ainu Cultural Preservation Association to keep the knowledge of the Ainu people alive. An interesting fact I learned is that the Japanese government forced the Ainu to adopt Japanese surnames to indicate that they were of Ainu origin. However, according to Kazunobo, the Ainu people live better lives now and persist in keeping their heritage and traditions alive. Watching your documentary was a rewarding experience. It not only provided me with insights into the Ainu culture but also sparked my interest in conducting further research on their culture. You indeed honor Kazunobo’s request to make a movie about the Ainu. I am glad I could learn from your well-put-together documentary, and now I know about the Ainu! Thank you, Chase

This is so interesting. I wish schools at least in Japan would teach more about Ainu people. It’s very tragic to see such a beautiful culture almost erased and most of the world is unaware of their existence

Many thanks to the elders of the Ainu in this video who were willing to share their heart and soul of the Ainu values and beliefs. It is a unique perspective. For me, the most interesting perspective shared was that when the Wajin settled in the Hokkaido area and found that it was a hard life. Many Wajin left the Hokkaido area due to the hardships and they left their children. The Ainu without hesitation brought them into their homes, adopted and raised them as their own. They lived what they believed.

Ainu used to Look very caucasian.

Remind me of Taiwanese aboriginal

it's scary how recent this all was...

I know about the ainus

Cool video

Amazing documentary to let the whole world know about the precious elders. You've shared a treasure with the world

The invader Japanese DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT BEFORE THEY INVADED THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF CURRENT DAY JAPAN WAS OCCUPIED BY THE AINU. Even m*r*n American children know who the Native Americans are and were. F the Japanese invaders.

The lengths you went to to tell the Ainu's people story is so admirable. It's absolutely amazing their stories and legacy will live on thanks to your film.

I’m glad I watched this video because it introduced me to a group that I didn’t know existed. I like how the video showed different people speaking the Aini language and their culture. It’s amazing how much you learned on your trip and the interest that led you to return for research. I think that builds a great connection with you and the Ainu people. This just shows that opportunities can happen very unexpectedly. The Ainu people were very welcoming which was an advantage for learning more about their culture. From the video, I can see that the Ainu people are very hard workers and have the dedication to support their families.

I really appreciated the first part of this documentary. I think that it presented more of the positive things about the Ainu whereas part two seemed to reveal many of the more negative realities such as the way that the Wajin took the homeland of the Ainu from them and then continued to oppress them in various ways. I am glad that part two revealed these things because it is important to understand the history in order to better understand the current state of the Ainu. It is a good thing that the story of the Ainu is being told so that they are not forgotten like so many other cultures have been.

In my university we have a aynu language course this semester, today was the first lession. It is a really fascinating language, and I hope we can preserve it. Greetings from Germany!

It is always amazing to me to learn about rare languages such as the language of the Ainu. A language is one of the most intimate parts of a culture and learning the language of another people helps you to understand the culture in a way that nothing else can. This is because the language is shaped by generations of people and so acts as a sort of indirect recorded history of those people. This is especially true for a people like the Ainu who did not have a written language for most of their history. Because of this it is extremely important to preserve the language in order to preserve the culture, so I am glad that the Ainu language is being taught and preserved today. Another thing that was interesting to me in this film was when the Ainu elders were talking about hunting and farming. It sounds like they were always very concerned with the sustainability of their methods, such as only harvesting half of the produce, and they always gave thanks.

Beautiful and important documentary about an ancient and respected people. 😍

Hello Dr. Inko! I've always had an interest in Ainu culture, and have always wanted to live in an Ainu community and help spread awareness of their unfortunate situation. Would you be willing to tell me how I could go on a similar journey to Hokkaido? While there are a surprising amount of english and japanese resources on Ainu culture, I'd like to learn about it from the Ainu people themselves in person. I'd also like to learn their language so I can help preserve it and keep it alive.

That is sad, how do they not know this? In the US, people know who the indigenous people are, in Australia they know who they are.

One ancient skeleton found in Washington state that was believed to be an ancestor of modern Indigenous Americans was actually found to be more closely genetically related to the Moriori and other Polynesian peoples, as well as the Ainu, than he was to modern Indigenous Americans. And today a lot of indigenous Americans especially those is North America, are descended from him. So I guess Indigenous Americans, such as myself have some distant ethnic ties to the Ainu. Love your culture, stay strong brothers ❤️ Also the skeleton found in Washington was called the Kennewick man, named after the town of Kennewick, near the Columbia River, which his skeleton was found on the riverbank of. Just for anyone who wanted to do further research.

Love this documentary ❤ and ur voice is so soothing to hear 😍 like asmr love the sites and the send off they gave u at the foot of yukkuchikaushi

They are similiar face with eskimo people...i'm so respect for their culture...

I heard about abandoned kids in Hokkaido. Many of them were half Korean. Japanese parents specially left their half Korean kids but Ainu people raised them like their kids. Korean is related too with Ainu people. I am planning visit Hokkaido this fall to meet Ainu culture. There are only few informations for Ainu culture. Your video is very impressive. I can understand Ainu people more from videos. Thank you.

56:21 아이누어르신으로부터 한국인이야기를 다 듣네. 당시 대한인들의 위상이 최하위였구나. 군속이라는 말이 일본말이라는 것도 처음 알게된. 참.... 식민화의 영향은 알아갈수록 엄청나. 씁쓸.

Fascinating how they look like Native Americans. They don't look like most of the Japanese people I have met. They look like people from here in the Pacific Northwest in America.

Although the Ainu share the same nation, they have completely different origins from the Japanese. While the Japanese are descended from the Yayoi, a Japonic rice-farming culture that migrated to Japan from the Korean peninsula in the early Iron-Age, the Ainu are descended from the Jōmon, a Paleosiberian people who came to Japan from the northwest in the Stone-Age.

So informative video. Like many indigenous people around the world is similar where the Ainu people didn’t own the land but the land owned them. Interesting.🙂

Dr. Ito! Thank you for the video. It was informative and gave me a better understanding of the Ainu elders and organizations. I also appreciate the information on assimilation, which helped me understand the interviewees' experiences. Plus, it made Mr. Tomeji's statement, "we can proudly say that we are Ainu," even more meaningful. Thank you once again! 🤗💖

Tautoko tou mahi tou awhi tou kaumatua kuiawhaea korua ka mihi Atearoa

Thank you for this informative video

Hello Dr. Kinko Ito, I watched this video on my TV the other day in bed and I have been thinking a lot about it, so I wanted to login just so I could comment. I hope this reaches you! Firstly, I just want to say that I think videos like this are very important in preserving these small and indigenous cultures. I appreciate the work you put into this and it was so interesting hearing these stories first hand from the Ainu people. Additionally I think what is really interesting about many of these stories is that they are so similar to other indigenous groups who were historically oppressed or assimilated into another more dominant culture in their respective regions. I couldn't help but think of the Sami people when I heard some of the stories from the Ainu in this video. If you don't know them, they are another indigenous people who live in the northern parts of what are today the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Much like the Ainu, they were assimilated into the cultures of those respective countries, forced to speak the languages, etc. I was also heavily reminded of the Indigenous Americans of the US and Canada, it's really sad that this phenomenon seemingly has been so common across the world. I'm glad that you covered the Ainu for that reason, I think it's important that their experiences are shared and preserved. Thank you for this video!

I come from Greenland 🇬🇱 And I have always been interested in Ainu People. Inuk means Human 🙏❤️Thank you so much for making this very important documentary ❤️

They’re all indigenous. Anti-Japanese prikk!!

They’re all indigenous you woke freak

Arigato gozaimasu aunty! thank you for preserving our culture! this/ we will live on!

Any site of audio samples the filmmaker here can suggest for those of us wishing to learn Ainu and become fluent? I have noticed it is harder to find resources except in Japanese. I even went to the museum in Hokkaido.

和人としてアイヌの人達には申し訳なく思います。 ただ一方で、私の両親は縄文的形質が強く、アイヌの人達に親近感を覚えます。 私の母は茨城出身なのですが、縄文的形質が強く、彫りが深く、癖毛でほくろが多く縄文人っぽいです。私の父は佐賀県出身で、直毛で彫りが深くて渡来人と縄文人のミックス的な感じです。 アイヌ民族の美しい文化が守られていくことを願います。

I decided to rewatch some of the video(their story is similar to the Native/Indigenous Americans; it was also said that many of the Samurai were primarily of Jomon descent(this may be one reason why the Kainaiwa tribe of Alberta north of me in Idaho say Bushido is the same for them as the original Samurai); I would like to reiterate there may be a link indeed with the 0.5% shared ancestry I had with a sample from Rebun Island Hokkaido(dating into the late Bronze Age 3,000 to 4,000 years ago) as well as 0.3% Peruvian Hunter Gatherer around 9,000 years ago(I hear waves from Polynesia when I see it in a vision); it could be that some of the Native/Indigenous American ancestry I inherited indeed came from the Jomon people who sailed to the "New World"(not just via an Ice Bridge of Beringia like many scholars claim to be the sole source) as well as those from Polynesia potentially; thanks again for sharing this video(I have been doing what I can to bring healing with the indigenous Americans of this land of Anishinabe/Abya Yala(hopefully it can also bring healing to the Japanese with indigenous Jomon roots as well as others who wish to heal themselves); slan go foill/hasta luego(bye for now) 🔥🌧🌈⛵🌊🌬

How do the Ainu say they got to Japan originally before others? What is their story about their origins?

African features you can not miss

So cool you were able to go to Japan again and do even more research. What a fulfilling experience that must be to travel and discover more about a topic you love with great people and conversation as well.

I found out about the Ainu when I watched a video about the early migration patterns of humans and it is amazing to see how they have persisted all these years even under the brutal regime of the Japanese Empire. A truly remarkable people.

Thank you for documenting their experiences, Dr. Ito. It makes me wonder how similar Ainu were to the Jomon culture and how many elements of modern Japanese culture derive or take influence from these indigenous cultures. Do you happen to know of any recordings of native Ainu speakers? I can only find second-language learners of Ainu and I'd love to hear how it was originally pronounced.

thank you for the hard work! in my opinion, sooner or later, ainus and yamato people may be assimilated as they married each other, but the culture must go on and this documentary is one part to keep it live on

Glacia Kinkomon y Ainumon pol su selvicio

Hello, thank you for sharing this video; I am quite the rainbow when it comes to ancestry(Scottish, Irish, Spanish, French, German, Scandinavian, English(potentially also Cornish and Welsh), Finnish, Portuguese, North African(Moroccan/Canarian/Egyptian), Greek, Italian, Illyrian, as well as a wee percent of Sudanese/Ghanian/Northwest Indian/Pakistan; I do have Native American ancestry that is around 10 to 15 percent(with 0.9 seemingly being Arctic(Eskimo, Inuit, Greenlander), 5.8 Northern America(Haida, Tlingit, Athabaskan; I also feel connected to the Cree, one of the seeds of the rainbow prophecy), 6.15 Mesoamerica(Mayan/Hopi connection seemingly and potentially others), and 2.3 percent South America(Quechua/Inca descendants); out of the Native American ancestry, I was connected to peruvian Hunter gatherer(0.3%) 5000 to 10000 years ago I believe as well as a Japanese potter 2000 years ago(0.5% "Japanese Potter"; It says it connected to the Jomon/indigenous Japanese of Hokkaido, but I believe there may have also been a Yayoi influence before they left potentially; some of the Mayan temples/pyramids and the Kofun period temples/pyramids look very similar); a connection spanning from Ancient Egypt to Japan to Anishinabe/Abya Yala(Turtle Island/land of the Four Quarters), the setting sun and the rising sun as East meets West, crossing the Nile as we continue spreading the rainbow from within; slan go foill(bye for now) 🔥🌧🌈