Ainu people costume and jewelry

Ainu people costume and jewelry

Ainu wearing their traditional costume, photo courtesy  Roderick Eime

Have you ever heard about Ainu? Well, in case you haven't, they are indigenous people of Japan who used to live all over its territory in ancient times but not much of them are left now and nowadays they live mainly on Japanese Hokkaido and the Kuriles and southern Sakhalin Island of Russia. I decided to dedicate a post to this small ethnic group because the main element of their traditional costume, a robe worn by women and men alike, is considered one of the most unique and distinctive pieces of clothing in the world of ethnic dress. First, interesting were materials which Ainu originally used to create these robes: they could be made of plant fiber - bark of elm trees, for example; of animal fur/skin - dog's, bear's, seal's; of bird skin and feathers and even...of fish skin. Can you imagine a wearable robe made from fish skin? Honestly, I can't. But it turns out that garments made of fish skin are strong, light, durable and waterproof. Amazing, isn't it? It seems Ainu used all the nature resources available. Of course, nowadays nobody makes clothes from such unusual "fabrics" any more, with time cotton and silk started to be used, though traditional "bark" robes are still can be found.
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