Unknown pages of history of the Ainu. Review of the book Ainu Through the Eyes of Japanese: An Unknown Collection by A.V. Grigoriev by Vasily V. Shchepkin

Abstract

The article reviews the book by Vasily Shchepkin Ainu Through the Eyes of Japanese: An Unknown Collection by A.V. Grigoriev (2022). The book is based on 18th and 19th-century Japanese manuscript materials and blockprints about the Ainu people, which for a long time remained without proper attention from the research community. It presents not only translations of the manuscripts, but also analyzes the history of their creation and examines the evolution of the image of the Ainu in Japanese society. Particular attention is paid to the personality of Alexander V. Grigoriev, who assembled the Ainu collection of rare materials in 1879–1880.

Keywords

• ainu
• ainu culture
• written sources
• tokugawa period
• ethnographic collection
• hokkaido
• russia-japan relations