Ainu

American  

[ahy-noo] / ˈaɪ nu /

noun

plural

Ainus,

plural

Ainu

1. a member of an aboriginal population of northernmost Japan.

2. the language of the Ainu.

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Ainu British  

/ ˈaɪnuː /

noun

1. a member of the aboriginal people of Japan, now mostly intermixed with Mongoloid immigrants whose skin colour is more yellowish

2. the language of this people, sometimes tentatively associated with Altaic, still spoken in parts of Hokkaido and elsewhere

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Etymology

Origin of Ainu

Ainu: man

Example Sentences

The Ainu lived in self-governing communities across the island and maintained their own traditions under Japanese imperial rule.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2025

Mr Sydenham said Dr Munro's fourth and final wife was a Japanese national who helped him in his understanding of the Ainu culture.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2025

Although Watanabe documented Ainu women hunting, often with the aid of dogs, he dismissed this finding in his interpretations and placed the focus squarely on men as the primary meat winners.

From Scientific American • Oct. 17, 2023

For example, Hitoshi Watanabe focused on ethnographic data about the Ainu, an Indigenous population in northern Japan and its surrounding areas.

From Scientific American • Oct. 17, 2023

The Ainu called themselves the Sky People because they said their ancestors came from the sky, just like my ancestors came from Tokyo.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata