Hokkaido, one of Japan's four main islands, is 32,247 square
miles (83,520 square kilometers)—comprising one-fifth of Japan.
Hokkaido is twice as large as Switzerland. A small number of Ainu live
on southern Sakhalin. Earlier, the Ainu also lived in the southern Kuril
Islands, along the lower reaches of the Amur River, and in Kamchatka, as
well as the northern part of the Northeast region of Honshu. Their
ancestors may have once lived throughout Japan.
Hokkaido is surrounded by beautiful coasts. The island has many
mountains,
lakes, and rivers. Its land was densely wooded with ancient trees into
the twentieth century. Two major mountain ranges, Kitami in the north
and Hidaka in the south, divide Hokkaido into the eastern and western
regions. The Saru basin area in southeastern Hokkaido is a center of
Ainu ancestral culture.
An 1807 survey reported the Hokkaido and Sakhalin Ainu population as
23,797. Mixed marriages between Ainu and mainland Japanese became more
common over the last century. In 1986 the total number of people in
Hokkaido identifying themselves as Ainu was 24,381.
In the late nineteenth century, the Japanese government created a
colonial office for Hokkaido's economic development and
encouraged settlers from other parts of Japan. A similar government
office now continues to promote Hokkaido's development. With the
loss of their land, their livelihood, and their traditional culture, the
Ainu had to adapt to a rapidly industrializing society.
