The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections (UWDC) is pleased to announce its recent collaboration with Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, the William F. Vilas Professor of Anthropology and the 2009 Kluge Distinguished Chair of Modern Culture for the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.
The UWDC scanned Ohunki-Tierney’s collection of books on the Ainu people by the Japanese. The Ainu, who lived on Sakhalin, Hokkaido and the Kuriles, are earliest known occupants of these islands.
The books focus on the Sakhalin Ainu and were acquired by Ohnuki-Tierney at the time she was studying them.
These books are extremely rare and are either hand-written, with illustrations hand-drawn, or are wood block prints.
Many of these early documents were authored by explorers and scholars at the order of the Bakufu or the Matsumae clan. These documents often include a number of detailed maps, including the topography and Ainu place names.
The Ainu Komonjo (18th & 19th century records) — Ohnuki Collection can be viewed at: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/EastAsian.JapanRice