Transcriber’s Note Italic text displayed as: _italic_ [Illustration: THE AINU GROUP (AT TOKIO).] THE AINU GROUP At the Saint Louis Exposition BY FREDERICK STARR CHICAGO The Open Court Publishing Company 1904 COPYRIGHT BY THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO. 1904. This book is dedicated to W J MCGEE, Who made my Ainu trip possible, and to JOHN BATCHELOR, Who made it a success. PREFACE This book does not pretend to be a study of the Ainu. It is a simple narrative of my journey in Yezo and a description of the group of Ainu that I brought to this country. It is true that I sketch some features of Ainu life and suggest some questions regarding this peculiarly interesting people. Readers who wish fuller information will find much in Rev. John Batchelor’s books. THE AINU GROUP The most characteristic feature of the St. Louis Exposition is life, action. To a greater degree than in any preceding Exposition the buildings are full of action—machinery is in motion, artisans are at work, things are being done. This characteristic is found in the Department of Anthropology as well as in those of Machinery and the Liberal Arts. While it is true that it presents cases filled with objects, diagrams, maps, pictures, models, the usual dead material of Ethnographical and Archæological Museums, it is also true that it has lavished its main effort upon the outdoor Ethnological Exhibit, where representatives of upwards of thirty living tribes are to be seen in native dress, living in houses of their own construction, cooking and eating the food to which they are accustomed at home, and practising those simple arts and industries, which they have, themselves, developed. Among these many groups, from North and South America, from Africa and Asia, is a little group of the Ainu from Northern Japan, a people who are, for many reasons, of exceptional interest.