Abstract
The assimilation policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate (Japan or Bakuhu) attempted to change the culture of the Ainu to the Wajin (traditional Japanese) style, such as hairstyles, clothing, and individual names. However, this acculturation process among the Ainu has not been studied in detail. The purpose of this study was to clarify the spatial and social acculturation process among the Ainu living on Iturup Island in the Kurile Islands of the northern Pacific from 1799 to 1801. The main findings can be summarized as follows.
Ainu who had adopted the Wajin culture were found only in Shana settlement in 1799. However, by 1800 and 1801, 95.8% (23 of 24) of Ainu settlements had at least one person who used a Japanese name. At the household level, the number of households that included at least one person who used a Japanese name increased from 136 to 211 during 1800 and 1801. The percentage of individuals who used Japanese names among the Ainu population of Iturup Island was 18.5% (209 of 1,127) in 1800 and 35.4% (398 of 1,124) in 1801. There was a tendency for the percentage using Japanese names to be higher in settlements where offices for political and economic management were located than in settlements without such facilities. The percentage of individuals using Japanese names was the lowest in the north near the area under the political control of Imperial Russia.
A majority of the children of household heads used Japanese names in 1800, most of whom were less than 10 years of age. However, by 1801 those adopting Japanese names in addition to Wajin customs and manners were mainly household heads, their spouses, and their children older than 16 years of age. The percentage of Japanese name users was 0% (0 of 33) among household heads who held managerial positions and 3.0% (9 of 300) among general household heads in 1800. However, by 1801, the percentage had increased to 64.1% (25 of 39) and 32.3% (94 of 291), respectively. The first users of Japanese names in a household were not always the heads but in many cases were the children of household heads in 1800. However, a trend was noted in the adoption of Japanese names among household members: the rate was higher among household members whose head used a Japanese name than among household members whose head used only an Ainu name. Ten influential Ainu, 35 subordinates, and 39 household members of subordinates were recorded on Iturup Island in 1801; nine of those 10 held managerial positions. There was a tendency for their subordinates and subordinates' household members to use only Ainu names when their superiors used only Ainu names and to use Japanese names when their superiors used Japanese names.
