An elderly Ainu woman with a facial tattoo shows a shaved spirit stick to two young Japanese boys visiting an Ainu tourist village in Hokkaido, Japan.
An elderly Ainu woman with a facial tattoo resembling a mustache and wearing traditional dress shows a shaved wood spirit stick to two young Japanese boys visiting a mock Ainu village on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. There were only 300 pure-blooded Ainu (pronounced I-noo) still living when this historical photograph was taken in 1962. Since that time the Ainu have assimilated into Japanese society and their age-old customs, ceremonies and crafts are only kept alive in special villages for tourists. The Ainu were officially recognized as indigenous people of Japan in 2008.
Size: 3370px × 5159px
Location: Hokkaido, Japan, East Asia
Photo credit: © Michele and Tom Grimm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1962, aboriginal, aborigine, aborigines, ainu, ainus, attus, boys, clothing, coat, costume, costumes, culture, curly, dress, education, educational, elderly, embroidery, ethnic, ethnicity, headband, headbands, historical, history, hokkaido, indigenous, japan, japanese, living, mustache, mustaches, native, natives, necklace, necklaces, people, peoples, photograph, shaved, spirit, spirits, stick, sticks, tattoo, tattooed, tattooing, tattoos, tourism, tourists, tradition, traditional, traditions, travel, vertical, woman, wood, young
