Fourth-Hand Ainu Legends
Legendy Ajnów z czwartej ręki
Keywords: Ainu; Ainu people; ethnic group; Bronisław Piłsudski; Japan
This publication presents Ainu people, a mysterious culture of the Far East. Ainu people have long inhabited the Japanese island of Hokkaido, hence the chapter is concerned with the social context and status they have in Japan. An important chapter of this publication presents Bronisław Piłsudski, who lived among the Ainu people for a long time. He studied their culture and language thoroughly, which was preserved on Edison’s phonograph, and this made him known to the Japanese (in fact, only after almost a century) and Ainu. A list of memorials and memorabilia associated with Piłsudski is also included in this publication. However, the most important aim of the study is presenting the legends of the Ainu people. The legends have been translated into Polish (from Russian, into which they were translated from Japanese) and annotated with linguistic and cultural commentary.
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