View on the change of the
Ainu Population
As we can see in the following
table and graph, the change in the Ainu population clearly indicates the
evidence of Japanese exploitation of the Ainu which enforced them to give
up their tradition and culture. We can not overlook Ainu's physical and
psychological struggle over the abrupt change in their life style of which
has been suffered with low economic income as well as harsh discrimination.
I believe the struggle is one of the main causes of decreasing population.
The population of the Ainu rapidly decreased between 1822 and 1873; about
7000 Ainu died over 50 years. The reason behind the rapid decrease of the
population is thought to be the spread of epidemics, such as small pox,
measles, cholera and tuberculosis beside the enforcement of Japanese culture
and labor. Parallel to the uprising movement in 1960's, the Ainu population
also has increased about 6000. Today, the Ainu population seems to be stable
with small fracture in numbers.