The Ainu of Japan
10/10/2020 8:28:00 PM/telesurenglish.jpg)
Do you know?
- The Ainu or Aynu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island.
- The Ainu may be descendants of an indigenous population that once widely spread over northern Asia.
Let's explore more about this group of Japanese people!
/wiki the ainu.jpg)
Listen and answer the questions.
- Ainu are different from other Japanese people because they have ____.
- After many Japanese people moved to Hokkaido in the 1800s, the Ainu ____.
- Is that possible that the Ainu language and traditions continue?
- black hair
- large hands
- round eyes
- taught them their language
- lost much of their land
- stopped going to school
Is that possible that the Ainu language and traditions continue?
- No, most Ainu people died.
- Yes, the government gives them that right.
Complete the text you are listening to by dragging the correct word to each blank.
The Ainu of Japan
The Ainu live in northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. They do not look like other Japanese people. They have round, dark brown eyes and wavy hair. Their skin is not dark but light. The men have beards and mustaches. Where did these people come from? Did they come from Europe across Russia to Japan? Did they come from Indonesia? Are they different from all the other people in the world? Nobody knows the answers to these questions.
The Ainu are and farmers. They eat fish and grow rice and vegetables on their farms. The men hunt for brown bears in the forests. They eat the meat and sell the skins. The bear is also important in their .
The Ainu people make their houses from a kind of grass. There is only one room inside. It has a dirt floor with an open fire in the middle. Their religion tells them that the house must have one window on the east side.
The Ainu were on Hokkaido 7,000 years ago. In the 1800s, many Japanese people moved north to Hokkaido. They brought new diseases to Ainu villages, and many people died. The Ainu people also lost much of their farming and hunting land. Their children had to Japanese schools and speak only Japanese. Over time, the Ainu people began to forget their traditions and language.
In the 1990s, the Ainu their rights. In response, the Japanese government made a new law. Now the government has to Ainu culture and traditions. The people can listen to Ainu language lessons on the radio and read a newspaper in the Ainu language. They can also take classes to learn Ainu traditions.
Today there are less than a few hundred thousand Ainu people left. Will their language and traditions ? There is a better chance now that they will.
Read the passage and answer the questions.
The Ainu of Japan
/slowfood.jpg)
The Ainu live in northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. They do not look like other Japanese people. They have round, dark brown eyes and wavy hair. Their skin is not dark but light. The men have beards and mustaches. Where did these people come from? Did they come from Europe across Russia to Japan? Did they come from Indonesia? Are they completely different from all the other people in the world? Nobody knows the answers to these questions.
The Ainu are hunters and farmers. They eat fish and grow rice and vegetables on their farms. The men hunt for brown bears in the forests. They eat the meat and sell the skins. The bear is also important in their religion.
The Ainu people make their houses from a kind of grass. There is only one room inside. It has a dirt floor with an open fire in the middle. Their religion tells them that the house must have one window on the east side.
The Ainu were on Hokkaido 7,000 years ago. In the 1800s, many Japanese people moved north to Hokkaido. They brought new diseases to Ainu villages, and many people died. The Ainu people also lost much of their farming and hunting land. Their children had to attend Japanese schools and speak only Japanese. Over time, the Ainu people began to forget their traditions and language.
In the 1990s, the Ainu demanded their rights. In response, the Japanese government made a new law. Now the government has to promote Ainu culture and traditions. The people can listen to Ainu language lessons on the radio and read a newspaper in the Ainu language. They can also take classes to learn Ainu traditions.
Today there are less than a few hundred thousand Ainu people left. Will their language and traditions continue? There is a better chance now that they will.
Source: Facts and Fingures, 4th edition.
- In Russian and Europe
- In Hokkaido
- In many parts of Japan
- They came from Russia.
- They came from Indonesia.
- Nobody knows where they came from.
Japanese people grow rice and catch fish. What do Ainu and other Japanese people have in common?
- Having grass houses
- Having wavy hair
- Eating fish and rice
- Many Ainu people died of diseases.
- The Ainu demanded their rights.
- The Ainu fought for their land.
- to let in sunlight
- because of their religion
- to look for bears
- Their traditions will be forgotten.
- Japanese people will take over them.
- Ainu traditions will be kept unchanged.
Put the right word in each blank. The sentences are from the text.
- Are they different from all the other people in the world?
- The Ainu are and farmers.
- The government has to Ainu culture and traditions.
- The bear is also important in their .
- Will their language and traditions ?
- Their children had to Japanese schools
- In the 1990s, the Ainu their rights.
Put the right word in each blank. These are new sentences for words in the text.
- The students finished the book. They did every page.
- The followed the tracks of the deer for hours.
- Where did you high school?
- We did not have time to finish the lesson. We will tomorrow.
- Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity are kinds of .
- A new program has been started to safe driving.
- They are the release of all political prisoners.