File:Bjs48 02 Ainu.jpg

English: A GROUP OF AINOS. THE Ainos are a people inhabiting the Northern island of Yesso. They differ from the Japanese in language and race. Their origin is lost in a wild and fabulous tradition. The legend runs thus—“That the race owes its preservation to a doll which swam across from Corea to the uninhabited island of Yesso.” They were conquered some three hundred years ago by the Japanese. The people are employed during the summer months in felling trees in the forests, or collecting Kombo (a species of sea-weed) for the Government, and they may be said to be veritable hewers of wood and drawers of water. They are superstitious and have great belief in the supernatural. Their women are stout and handsome, though their beauty is somewhat marred by the habit of tattooing their upper lip.