The Ainu group at the Saint Louis ExpositionStarr, Frederick
History
The Ainu group at the Saint Louis Exposition
Starr, Frederick
Ainu; Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.)
The physical characters of the Ainu and the Japanese differ
profoundly. The Ainu present a peculiar and strongly marked type. On
the whole they are short; Batchelor gives 5 ft. 4 in. as the average
stature for men and 5 ft. 1½ in. or 5 ft. 2 in. as the average for
women. It is true, however, that stature varies considerably with
locality—the men of Shiraoi being relatively tall and well built,
those of Piratori medium, and those of Ishikari smaller and badly
developed. The Ainu skin, though dark, is white, not yellow or
brown; the color appears darker than it really is because the Ainu
rarely bathe. The hair is abundant both on the body and the head, and
is wavy; the color is commonly black, though it may be dark-brown or
even reddish; like wavy hair everywhere, it presents an elliptical,
not a circular, cross-section. The beard in males is strong and
abundant. The features are those of the white race rather than the
yellow; the nose is prominent and well formed, the mouth is strong;
the lips firm. The eyes are brown, sometimes even light brown. Mark
these characters well; compare them with those of the Japanese. How
profound the difference. The white skin, abundant body hair and
beard, the hair wavy and of elliptical section, the horizontal eye
full of expression and fire, the features combined into a strong
relief—these are in strong contrast to the yellow-brown skin,
hairless face and body, straight and round hair, oblique eyes and
flat face of the Japanese. In all these respects in which the Ainu
differs so profoundly from the Japanese, he resembles us, the whites
of European race.
They are often called “the hairy Ainu” and we consider the term just.
It is true that their proximity to the smooth-bodied yellow Asiatics
has made their hairiness conspicuous by contrast. It is true that
many writers, who have spoken of “fur” and “missing links,” have
overstated facts; but it is also true that notably hairy bodies are
the rule among the males. Individual Russians are no doubt common,
who are as hairy as the average Ainu, but we believe firmly that
taken _en masse_ the Ainu are more hairy than the Russians, and
probably the hairiest people on the globe. Of course, the Ghiliaks,
living on the Asiatic mainland and undoubtedly related with them,
present the same peculiarity. Hitchcock gives a lot of excellent data
in regard to Ainu hairiness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account