200 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A STUDY OF THE AINU OF YEZO. 



By J. K. GOODKICH. 



FOR many years I have been very mucli interested in tlie 

 Ainu * of Japan and Saghalien, and have read carefully 

 everything upon which I could lay my hand containing infor- 

 mation about them. Finding that Mr. Batchelor says, "Miss 

 Bird's remarks upon the Ainu are perhaps the best that have 

 been written in English/' f I came to the conclusion that any- 

 thing like a satisfactory knowledge could only be obtained by 

 visiting, as she did, some of the Ainu villages of Yezo. My desire 

 to see them for myself has always been stimulated by the rather 

 conflicting statements about them which are found in differ- 

 ent books, and I have always had a sort of a forlorn hope (as I 

 thought it) that fortune would some time turn me back to the 

 shores of Asia, which I left nearly twenty years ago. 



This long-wished-for opportunity has at last been granted. 

 I landed in Japan the second time in the spring of 1886, and 

 after waiting only long enough to get a slight working knowl- 

 edge of the language, I spent a good part of the summer of 1887 

 in roaming about the northern parts of the empire, and have 

 been permitted to see, live with, and study the Ainu in their 

 homes. The Japanese officers have made special efforts to afford 

 me facilities, and have enabled me to do much more than I could 

 have done without their aid in so short a time. 



I have learned of the Ainu history, of their habits and cus- 

 toms, of their myths and_ superstitions, from tlie man in Japan 

 who is admitted to know this people better than any other per- 

 son ; and I here wish to thank the Rev. John Batchelor, Church 

 Missionary Society, Hakodate, for his kindness, and for the pa- 

 tient way in which he submitted to my cross-questioning ; for 

 the advice he gave me how to make the best use of the limited 

 time at my disposal, and for the assistance he rendered in mak- 

 ing what is at the best a rough, hard trip as easy as possible. 

 To Mrs. Batchelor my thanks are due for creature comforts which 

 supplemented the trying fare of Japanese inns most acceptably. 



I do not hesitate to say that all the valuable information con- 

 tained in these notes has come originally from Mr. Batchelor ; 

 and that I have only confirmed what he has told me by my own 

 observation, or by questioning the people themselves, when I 

 found some who understood Japanese. Perhaps it would be 



* I adopt the spelling of the name which the Rev. Mr. Batchelor favors, as I yield 

 precedence to him in all matters of exact knowledge concerning this people. 

 f " Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," by Isabella L. Bird. 



