What are the indigenous people of Japan called?

Answer 1

The Ainu are a people with a cultural and racial background which is different from that of the ethnic Japanese. They have been populating Hokkaido, northern Tohoku, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin, but today only a small population remains mainly in Hokkaido.

Answer 2

Genetically speaking, the DNA obtained from the bone of the Jomon people (lived in Jomon period, more than 10,000 yrs ago) was close to the indigenous people of the Northern Siberia, Russia.

In the Yayoi period, after B.C. 500, it is said many people came to Japan from the China continent. Some northern ppl came via Korea peninsula, some were the southeastern Mainland Chinese. There is also a possibility some portion of ppl came from the southern pacific islands.And these ppl had intermingled with the Jomon peoples.

There is a word "Yamato race" to designate Japanese. However, today Japanese people doesn't call themselves as a race. They say "Japanese people".
I have once watched one Japanese TV program, and the show was asking people in Tokyo, like "Are you Japanese race?" "What race are you?".
The answers were 100%, "Race? what are you talking about?? I am Japanese people." "I don't know what you mean the 'race'. I am Japanese."
Actually they can't mention who is their obvious ancestor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_people

There is Ainu people, a minority, in Hokkaido, Japan. However, they also intermingled Japanese. Probably finding 100% Ainu is very difficult today.
And the people in Okinawa islands, Okinawan, have been assumed as a different ethnic group from Japanese.
They both have their own language and culture.

Answer 3

When I asked some of my Japanese friends about the genetic origins of Japan, I was told that Japan was originally inhabited by the Ainus to the north, and the Yamato people, from the main island, Honshu. Today, the word "Yamato-damashii" means Japanese spirit. However, in Japanese, the word for Japanese (people) is "Nihonjin," "Nihon" being Japan, and "jin" being person or people. Japanese language would be "Nihongo," "go" being language.

Answer 4

You better refer the links for detail information. Usually they are called Ainu people. Recently I have met with the I can say so called President who represent them in Hokkaido in a forum. Their story is also very sad. If you look around American natives, Australia, New Zealand and Japan what is going on with these natives?

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Answer 5

It depends who you ask. The koreans claim that the japanese are decended from them and therefore the koreans were the 1st people in japan. The chinese make a similar claim. And since none of these eastern (or indian) cultures EVER could master the art of writing things down (!), we don't know who is right. But I am guessing that monkeys probably inhabitated the islands 1st.

Answer 6

the Ainu

Answer 7

dam mongones

Answer 8

they are called japanese

Answer 9

japanese