The Ainu of Japan are often referred to by Japanese anthropologists as the Ainu race of peoples. They are found primarily on the second largest island of Japan called Hokkaido. Archaeological, anthropological, and genetic studies have determined that the Ainu people emerged out of the Tobinitai culture of the tenth century, a hybridization of the Okhotsk and Satsumon cultures of eastern Hokkaido 550-1200 AD).

It was believed at one time that there was some Caucasian influence in the Ainu based solely on their appearance. In recent times, genetic testing has determined that there is no Caucasian influence and that the only places where any genetic similarities to the Ainu can be commonly found are in Tibet and the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean.

Interestingly, in Steve Olson's book "Mapping Human History", studies of 10 thousand year old fossils showed that the Ainu more closely resemble those of the indigenous peoples of New Guinea and Australia - the Jomon. A wave of immigration of Yayoi people from Korea about 2,300 years ago pushed the Jomon north. It is believed that modern day Japanese people are descended from the Yayoi and Jomon, based on genetic data. It is for this reason that the Ainu can be considered to be a unique ethnic group.

The farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering culture of the Okhotsk and Satsumon people was firmly established by 1200 AD. Their assimilation through marriage formed the predominant Ainu culture by 1400 AD. The Ainu occupied the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin then as well but most modern day Ainu now live in Hokkaido. At various times the Japanese sought to conquer the area and engaged in warfare with the Ainu, most notably during the Battle of Kosyamain in 1457, the Battle of Syaksyain in 1669, and the Battle of Kunasiri-Menasi in 1789. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Ainu were completely under the control of Japan.

From 1822 to 1854 the Ainu population fell drastically due to the spread of diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis as well as through forced labor which broke up families. During the Meiji Restoration Period of Japan (1868-1912) the Ainu were encouraged to assimilate Japanese daily customs and they were prohibited from observing their own. In 1899, ten years after Japan received its first European style constitution, the Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act was passed. This was a patronizing document that really only served to clarify the distinction between Ainu and Japanese

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