The indigenous people of Hokkaidō, Sakhalin and the Kurils — hunters, fishers and traders whose culture crystallized from the Satsumon world around the 13th century.
A living people: after centuries of Matsumae domination and Meiji assimilation policy, Japan recognized the Ainu as indigenous in 2008 and by law in 2019.
The standard history of Ainu-Japanese relations 1590-1800.