Culture through English A: The Ainu・アイヌ

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at Japan's indigenous people (先住民族) - the Ainu. 

Look at the picture above. It's a group of Ainu, taken in 1904. Now here's a map of Japan showing the original area, plus the widest locations, of Ainu populations: 

As you can see, at one time they lived from the northeastern part of the Tohoku, all of Hokkaido, and up through Sakhalin Island (what many older Japanese call Karafuto「樺太」) and even into all of the Kuril Islands (千島列島). 

But now they only live in Hokkaido. Their numbers are small, and they have married regular Japanese people enough so that they do not look so different. But they are proud of their culture and traditions.

Genetic testing (遺伝子検査) shows that while most Ainu are related to Japanese, they are not closely related to any other modern ethnic group. 

Activity/homework

Since the Ainu have some characteristics that make them at least a little different from most Japanese, here's a little research: 

What do you think are the origins of the Ainu? Did they come from somewhere else? If so, where did they come from, and how did they get to Japan? 

Here are two maps showing two ideas where the Ainu might have come from (the numbers you see in the maps are not so important – they show some different genetic groups): 

Write out a mini-report about your ideas about where the Ainu came from - most importantly, give some reasons why they came from where you believe they did.

If you believe they came from elsewhere, draw a rough map - or find another map on the internet - of where you believe they came from. 

When you are finished, upload your document (or a clear picture of your mini-report on notebook paper) to Manaba. Name your document or picture file like this, with your own name (here is an example): 

t_suzuki_cteA_ainu

I hope you find this interesting.

Images: Top - by Official Photographic Company - Missouri History MuseumURL: http://images.mohistory.org/image/EC2888F4-26C5-258A-DF5F-9E6EBE7F704E/original.jpg Gallery: http://collections.mohistory.org/resource/143534, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61717410/Map - by Arnold Platon - This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this:  Japan on the globe (claimed) (Japan centered).svg (by TUBS). - Own work (Vectorization), based on this map, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25364093/Upper genetic map - by ABCEditer - Own work by reference to 崎谷満（2009）『DNA・考古・言語の学際研究が示す新・日本列島史 日本人集団・日本語の成立史』勉誠出版, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62921263/Lower genetic map - by Y-dna data file - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63590897 

Writing English 1A: A trip to Hokkaido・北海道の旅行

Hello!

How are you? I will tell you about a great memory (思い出こと) - a summer trip to Hokkaido I made in the summer of 2012 with my wife and her family. 

First, we went to Sapporo. 

We walked around Sapporo. This was me in front of the old Sapporo City Hall (元札幌市役所).

We went to Hokkaido University. This was me. This is the famous statue that says "Boys be ambitious" (ボイズ・ビ・アンビシャス). 

We took the train to Otaru. The man with the hat and backpack is my father-in-law (義理のお父さん). We walked around many places in Otaru!  

We ate a lot of great food in Otaru. We drank some great beer in Otaru. This was a big glass!

Then we went back to Sapporo and walked around more. We got very hot and we sat down. We were tired, but happy!

Activity/homework
Can you think of a memory (思い出こと) that is special to you? For example, a high school trip, or a family vacation? Who were you with on your trip? What did your mother or a sister (or brother) do on the family vacation? Think about things like these - then let's free write about a memory! 

Have fun!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

Our summers (Part 4)

Hello to all my students,

Here is Part 4 in our series of summer paragraphs! Let's look at these:

I went to Hakodate with my family for seven days. I went to Mt Hakodate and mother’s parents house and I ate Chinese noodles, a lot of seafood and melons. I saw the beautiful view and sea from Mt. Hakodate. Hakodate is a very beautiful city, so I liked it, and the view, very much.

After my trip, I started a part-time job at a drug store. It is a hard job, but I also really enjoyed it. Even with this work, I really enjoyed the summer vacation.

Okay! Now let's look at this one:

I went to an amusement park in Yamanashi with my friend. We went there by train. There were many roller coasters and everyone screamed when they rode on them. It was very fun! During the summer vacation, I also worked a part-time job in a bar. Many customers came and I had many chances to communicate with them. My place of work was very fun.

I returned to my family home and went shopping with them, and met my sister’s son for the first time. When I brought my hand close to him, he grasped my finger. He was very cute!

I watched a movie called Armageddon. It was a man’s story, who was an oilman. I was very moved by it, and I listened to its theme song many times. 

I also read many novels written by Mitsuki Tsujimura. I’m a big fan of her work. Her novels made me feel sad and painful, but they are interesting, so I can be absorbed by them. 

Check this one out too!

I had a part-time job during almost the whole summer vacation. I worked at McDonald's. From working so much, my skills have developed much better. I can do a lot of things much more than before, so it was a good experience.

Not all was work, however. I went to Tokyo Summerland too, even though I hate water that so many  people like to play in. It has an amusement park, however, so as a result I could enjoy the day, even being afraid of the water!

How about this one:

I went to Niigata with my friend by shinkansen. We got driver’s licenses there. We went to a driving school, studied driver’s education, and practiced driving everyday. We went to the beach after school and ate some nice dinners every night, mainly Japanese or Chinese food. some of the dishes we had were things like tenshinhan, tonkatsu, and hiyashityuka. We shared a room with both Japanese and Chinese students. One Chinese student we got to know was very smart. He could speak Chinese, Japanese and English fluently. Overall, it was a great trip and great summer. 

Great! Now here's this one:

I went to Yamanashi with my teammates for one week. We joined a training camp. It was very hard, tired and long, but full of precious, happy memories. We did many things there, and tried some new things. For example, I ate a camembert cheese parfait. It was delicious!! Near there, we could enjoy Mt. Fuji. It was beautiful and large. I enjoyed this summer vacation.

These sound like great summer memories!

I'll see you all after the university festival. If you participate in it, good luck. If you go there, have a great time!

See you later!