Ethnological Perspectives for the Ancient Emishi and Siberian Studies

Abstract

This presentation explores the contemporary significance of works by Professor Obayashi Taryo (1929-2001) and his ethnological methodology and knowledge by revisiting the comparative ethnology of the North, focusing on Ancient Emishi and Ainu. In 1957, Professor Obayashi published an article on the cultural-historical perspective of the Ainu house. He argued the Ainu's position in relation to the ancient hunter-fisher culture, which had fewer nomadic tendencies, and pre-dated the formation of reindeer herding in Siberia. In a paper written in the late 1970s, Obayashi attempted to identify the ethnographical descriptions of Emishi writing in ancient Japanese historical archives and compare them with Siberian indigenous peoples. His perspective expanded the context of historical, ethnic relations once defined by Japanese national history. The contemporary scholarship has rebuffed many of Obayashi's conclusions critical of diffusionism. The author has reconsidered the significance of Obayashi's methodology and how anthropologists have approached and analyzed ethnographical material and the related framework of scientific questions. We have nearly missed Obayashi's approach after the emergence of post-modern anthropology emphasizing colonial history, the global economy, and politics of culture in interpreting ethnographical information.