Ainu Education

Culture

Hunting/Fishing

Hunting and fishing are important to Ainu culture. The Ainu hunted bear, deer, rabbit, fox, and tanuki (japanese raccoon-dogs). Hunting was done primarily using arrows and spears covered with poison tips, harvested from aconite plants. They also fished using spears called marek.

Religion

The Ainu could be described as "animists", and believed that every component of nature had a god or kamuy associated with it. Of the kamuy, bear were considered among the most important, and animals that were killed were blessed with honoring ceremonies. For example, orphaned bears were raised in Ainu villages until they were a few years of age, and then were killed in a ceremonial fashion.

Conversely, bears who killed a human were known as Wen Kamuy, or evil gods, and were considered unfit for consumption.

Housing

The Ainu lived in villages known as kotan. They averaged from four to seven families each and were usually located along water sources. The individual houses were known as cise and were made of grass or bark.