THE AINOS OF YEZO, JAPAN. 433 



customs of the present Ainos and Japanese. But ou the other hand, 

 if we seek to discover Japanese influences changing the habits and im- 

 proving the condition of those Ainos who have lived in close conti- 

 guity with Japanese in Yezo for the last hundred years, we must con- 

 fess that the signs of it are scarcely noticeable. The Aino in close 

 contact with Japanese civilization remains, intellectually and other- 

 wise, as much a savage in culture to-day as he ever could have been. It 

 is true that some Japanese tales have found their way into Aino folk-lore, 

 and a Japanese hero, Yoshistuue, is reputed to have taught them use- 

 ful arts. They number among their household treasures old Japanese 

 swords and curios, which have been handed down from past genera- 

 tions. They now use Japanese knives instead of stone implements 

 and metal arrow-heads in place of flint. But it is scarcely a century 

 since they emerged from the stone age, and otherwise they have not 

 passed beyond it. 



We have here a remarkable instance of the close association of two 

 distinct races, one superior and powerful, the other degraded and weak, 

 working together day by day, living in contiguous villages, intermar- 

 rying more or less, and yet, after a century of such intimacy, as distinct 

 in their character, habits of life, superstitions and beliefs as though 

 they had never come together. The Aino has not so much as learned 

 to make a reputable bow and arrow, although in the past he has had 

 to meet the Japanese, who are famous archers, iu many battles. It is 

 a most remarkable example of the persistence of distinct types together, 

 when the conditions are apparently favorable for the absorption of one 

 by the other. The Ainos, being unable to affiliate more closely with 

 the Japanese, remain distinct and apart, and are therefore doomed to 

 extinction from the face of the earth. 



As regards the evidence of place-names of Aino origin in Japan, a 

 reference to Professor Chamberlaiu's valuable monograph shows that 

 they are very widely distributed, even so far south as Kiushiu. Only 

 a few examples will be quoted here to indicate the character of the 

 evidence, the full strength of which can be brought out only by careful 

 philological studies, such as the author named above has most ably 

 carried out. Japanese geographical names are written with Chinese 

 characters, which even the learned can not pronounce correctly without 

 the aid of a geographical dictionary. These characters have meanings 

 which may or may not throw light upon the origin of the name. For 

 example, Otaru is an Aino place-name, meaning " sandy road." The 

 reading of the Chinese characters is *' small cask." Many examples of 

 this kind show that the meaning of the Chinese characters may be very 

 misleading. Iu the following list will be found a number of names 

 illustrating the very absurd meanings in Japanese, and the Aino derir 

 vations proposed by Professor Chamberlain, 

 H. Mis. 129, pt. 2 28 



