A Cultural Anthropological Database on the Ainu of the Saru River Region

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A Database Containing an Ainu Bibliography and anthropological information within each text has been compiled. The Adaptable Database System (ADABAS) of the Hokkaido University Computer Center was used. For the current project, 443 records on the Ainu of the Saru River Region were analysed and fed into the computer. In each record 36 topics were defined, including the years of research, the years of reconstruction and the anthropological categories for the outline of cultural materials (OCM).Using a sorting program, a list of records on Ainu culture of the Saru River Region during the period 1300 to 1987 was presented. It is revealed that the number of publications has been continually increasing up to the present time,though many researches focused on the reconstruction of Ainu culture during 1850 to 1950. So, much information on Ainu culture, including food quest, social organization, and religious beliefs and practices,was available during these years. However, this type of information decreased after 1900 due to destruction of the Ainu culture. After that, new types of data increased including exploitative activities, business and industrial organization, social problems, health and welfare, and education providing evidence of the changing culture of the Ainu.