Grave-Posts of the Ainu

Abstract

Kuwa or grave-posts of the Ainu are considered by the Ainu themselves to be sticks for the dead. Their possible origin from the hoe (kuwa in Japanese) was also once suggested. But there is nothing in their forms, varying from village to village, which can support such a view. Nor can there be any influence of Christianity in their. T or Y forms and X signs upon them. The author, analyzing not only their forms, but also the way in which strings are bound around them, came to the conclusion that the Ainu gravepost represents a part of the arrow-trap amakpo erected originally to avert evil spirits. In the folkbelief of the East, a magical power to subdue evil spirits is attributed to tightly-bound strings. A further proof is offered by the Ainu word ku wa (bow). In the northeastern district of Honshu, Japan, we find also the custom of erecting a bow on the grave. The author assumes that the custom probably originated in Korea or China.