Yes, the Ainu people still exist. They are an indigenous ethnic group centered in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, with a population estimated at roughly 25,000 to 30,000, though the true number is likely higher because many Ainu do not publicly identify as such due to a long history of discrimination. In 2019, Japan formally recognized the Ainu as an indigenous people for the first time, a legal milestone that came after more than a century of assimilation policies.
How Many Ainu Are There Today
The most commonly cited figures come from Hokkaido prefectural government surveys. A 1999 survey counted approximately 23,767 Ainu living in Hokkaido and about 5,000 in the Kanto region (the greater Tokyo area). These numbers rely on self-identification, and researchers widely agree they undercount the actual population. Generations of pressure to assimilate into mainstream Japanese society mean many people with Ainu heritage choose not to disclose it, and there are no comprehensive national census figures that track Ainu ethnicity across all of Japan.
A smaller, historically significant Ainu population once lived on Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, territories now administered by Russia. The Russian government does not formally recognize the existence of Ainu at all. Soviet officials excluded them from the official list of minorities in the 1930s, viewing them as too closely aligned with Japan. Any remaining Ainu descendants in Russia have effectively been erased from official records.
A Century of Forced Assimilation
The Ainu’s near-invisibility in modern Japan is not accidental. In 1899, the Japanese government enacted the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act, a law that seized Ainu land, restricted traditional hunting and fishing practices, and pushed Ainu children into Japanese-language schools. The law treated the Ainu as a population to be absorbed, not preserved. It remained on the books for nearly a hundred years, not replaced until 1997, when Japan passed the Ainu Culture Promotion Act. That law acknowledged Ainu culture but stopped short of recognizing the Ainu as indigenous people with distinct rights.
The social effects of that century are still visible. Many Ainu faced discrimination in employment, marriage, and education well into the late 20th century. Some families hid their heritage entirely, and knowledge of the Ainu language, spiritual practices, and oral traditions eroded with each generation.
The 2019 Law That Changed Their Legal Status
The Ainu Policy Promotion Act of 2019 was the first Japanese law to identify the Ainu as an indigenous people of Japan. It created government subsidies for community development and tourism initiatives centered on Ainu culture, providing an economic foundation that Ainu advocates had sought for decades. The Ainu Association of Hokkaido, the community’s primary representative organization, played a central role in pushing for this recognition, arguing that people and groups identifying as Ainu will continue to exist and deserve a “new partnership” with the Japanese state.
The law has limits, though. A recent court case tested whether indigenous recognition would translate into concrete rights. Ainu plaintiffs sued for exclusive fishing rights to salmon, a species deeply tied to Ainu cultural and spiritual life. They lost. The court’s rejection illustrated a gap between cultural recognition and economic or political self-determination. Japan’s government has proven willing to support language classes and museum exhibits but far more reluctant to grant the kind of land and resource rights that indigenous groups in countries like Canada or New Zealand hold.
The Ainu Language Is Critically Endangered
UNESCO classified the Ainu language as “critically endangered” in 2009, the most severe category before extinction. The number of native speakers has dwindled to a handful of elderly individuals, and several dialects, including Sakhalin Ainu and Kuril Ainu, have already been lost entirely. The language is unrelated to Japanese or any other known language family, which makes its disappearance an irreplaceable cultural loss.
Revitalization efforts are underway but face steep odds. Language classes exist in Hokkaido, and researchers are experimenting with machine translation tools to help document and teach Ainu. Radio programs and online resources offer basic instruction. Still, there is no community of everyday Ainu speakers left, meaning learners have limited opportunities to use the language in natural conversation.
Upopoy and Cultural Revival
In 2020, Japan opened Upopoy, a national museum and cultural park in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, dedicated entirely to Ainu history and culture. Billed as a “Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony,” the complex houses exhibits on traditional Ainu crafts, music, food, and spiritual practices. It functions as the national center for reviving and developing Ainu culture, and is funded through the government’s Ainu policy framework.
Upopoy draws mixed reactions from Ainu communities. Some welcome the visibility and the resources it brings. Others see it as a government-controlled narrative, a way of presenting Ainu culture as a museum piece rather than a living tradition. The tension reflects a broader question facing the Ainu today: whether official recognition will lead to genuine self-determination or simply a more polished version of the same paternalism.
What Ainu Life Looks Like Now
Modern Ainu people live ordinary lives across Japan. Many are in Hokkaido, concentrated in towns like Shiraoi, Biratori, and parts of Sapporo. Others live in Tokyo and surrounding cities. Some are deeply involved in cultural preservation, practicing traditional woodcarving, embroidery, dance, and ceremonial rituals. Others have little connection to Ainu traditions, having grown up in families that left those practices behind under pressure to assimilate.
A younger generation of Ainu is increasingly visible and vocal. Artists, musicians, and activists are reclaiming Ainu identity in public ways that would have been rare a generation ago. Social media and popular culture have helped, too. The manga and anime series “Golden Kamuy,” which features Ainu characters and incorporates detailed depictions of Ainu language and customs, introduced millions of readers to a culture most Japanese people knew almost nothing about. That kind of visibility does not solve systemic problems, but it has shifted public awareness in a country where many people once believed, incorrectly, that the Ainu had simply disappeared.