Women keep pet bears and tattoo their faces around the lips. They eat with spoons.

Men are among the hairiest on the planet. They eat with chopsticks.

Together, they practice Arcolatry (the worship of bears), call salmon “Sak Ipe” (summer food) and use arrows poisoned with Dog’s Bane root.

The Ainu are the native people of Northern Japan and the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands.

Ainu villages were built near shore or on the banks of salmon-bearing streams. The Ainu were hunter-gatherers with Fish and Ezo Deer as staples.

The Ainu language is a language isolate and is not related to any known languages. Listen to the unique sound of Ainu at 8: 01 in the video below. Today’s Ainu is spoken with Japanese prononciation, unlike the old lady in the video. The first 8 minutes of the video are a good introduction to Ainu culture based on Wikipedia articles.

Also of note are the originality of Ainu textiles.

I found these Ainu robes on the excellent Local Style Blog :

By John Batchelor (missionary) – http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/jp/batchelor/yezo1902/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61561792

By New York Public Library – https://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/3109863739/, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53550250

By National Museum of Denmark from Denmark – Aino in the opening of a window in his house. No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29790675

By Kwamikagami – , CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13262173

By Yanajin33 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27955982

By タクナワン – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134670514

By タクナワン – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134670514