Ainu Heads, and their Physiognomy.
The faces of the Ainu are far from ugly, and their heads are singularly
picturesque, though of course there are the finer types as there are the
meaner; by which we come to gradation and comparison. The general idea
that all Ainu are hideous has arisen from the accounts of the few who
have travelled in the more civilised parts of Yezo, and have seen and
studied only a limited number of half-breeds and actual Japanese,
mistaking them for Ainu. In one of the last publications on the Ainu,
photographs of Japanese and half-breeds are given as typical specimens
of the Ainu race; and one or two real Ainu are given as phenomena and
exceptions. That the Ainu are disgustingly filthy is undoubted; that in
many ways they are monkey-like is certain; but also that on a close
examination many are not devoid of good features is undeniable. As
regards looks, it is a great mistake to compare savages with ourselves,
and to judge of them from our own standpoint. This is no more fair than
to compare a thoroughbred fox-terrier with a thoroughbred poodle-dog, to
the disadvantage of the one or the other. Passing off half-breeds as
pure types of course makes things ten times worse, and complicates
matters for those who care for accuracy, and are interested in
anthropological researches.
Ainu physiognomy is an interesting study. When seen full-face the
forehead is narrow, and sharply sloped backward. The cheek-bones are
prominent, and the nose is hooked, slightly flattened, and broad, with
wide, strong nostrils. The mouth is generally large, with thick, firm
lips, and the underlip well developed. The space from the nose to the
mouth is extremely long, while the chin, which is rather round, is
comparatively short and not very prominent. Thus the face has the shape
of a short oval. The profile is concave and the mouth and eyebrows are
prominent, though of course the nose projects more than the lips, yet
without being too markedly projecting. The chin and forehead recede, as
has been said, and in the supraorbital region the central boss is
extremely well marked; also the brow ridges, which, however, are
slightly less conspicuous than the central boss. The ears are usually
large, flat, and simply-developed, with long lobes; but unfortunately,
owing to the heavy weight of their enormous earrings this part of their
ears is generally much deformed. Sometimes I have seen children with a
hole in their lobes large enough for me to pass my finger through; with
others, where the skin was not so elastic, the lobes were torn right
through and the two sides hung down. In older people one does not see
this so much, as their long hair entirely covers their ears. The average
length of a man's ear is two and three-quarter inches; of a woman's, two
and a half inches.
People have classified the Ainu as Mongolians, notwithstanding that they
possess no characteristics whatsoever of the Mongolian races.
The colour of their skin is light reddish-brown, and not yellow and
sallow, like that of Mongolians; they are very hairy, and the Mongolians
are smooth-skinned; the features of the one race are diametrically
opposed to those of the other; the mouth is strong and firm in the Ainu
and weak in the Mongolian; and the Ainu eyes, the strongest
characteristic of Mongolian races, do not slant upwards, nor are they
long and almond-shaped, as with the Chinese or the Japanese, but with
their long axes are in one horizontal plane, as in most Europeans.
Indeed, the Ainu have a much greater resemblance to the northmen of
Europe in their prehistoric stage than to any modern races, and least of
all to the Mongolians.
But let us examine the eye more carefully. The iris is light brown,
sometimes tending towards dark grey. One seldom sees black or very dark
brown eyes save in half-breeds; and they are deeply set, as with
Europeans. The eyelids are no thicker than those of Caucasian races,
though they droop, as is common among people exposed to the full glare
of the sun. The broad ridges being very heavy and prominent, cover part
of the upper eyelid over the outer angle of the opening. The eyelashes
are extremely long, and the eyebrows are shaggy and bushy. The eyes are
full of animal-like expression and emotional warmth, a thing very rare
with their neighbours the Japanese or Chinese. The long eyelashes
shading the large eyes and rendering them soft, together with their
pathetic and slow way of talking, make men and women singularly
interesting. Like most animals, the Ainu can "speak" with their eyes.
The hair in Ainu adults is for the most part black, wavy, and easily
breaking into large curls. Among children, however, one sees brown
shades, which darken with years, until the hair turns quite black. Along
the north-east coast of Yezo I came across several Ainu adults who had
reddish hair and beard; and in the Kurile Islands, at Shikotan, several
of the children had light auburn hair hanging in large loose curls and
rather flaxy in texture, while the hair of adults was even darker than
that of the Yezo Ainu.
The hair, which is coarse and strong, is uniformly and thickly planted
over the whole scalp, and reaches well down over the forehead, where, as
my readers will remember, a space is cut out or shaved off. It grows
long in men as in women, but when it exceeds ten or twelve inches it is
generally trimmed in the shape of a half-circle at the back of the head,
and is cut off level with the shoulders at the sides. The men have a
luxuriant beard, whiskers, and moustache, which grow to a great length.
The hair of the beard often begins directly under the eyes, and covers
all the lower part of the face. Many of the natives also have a few
short coarse hairs on the nose (especially noticeable in natives of the
north-east coast of Yezo). The beard, whiskers, and moustache begin to
grow in the Ainu when they are fairly young. A man at about twenty can
grow a good beard, and at thirty his beard is very long. Ainu women,
whom nature has not provided with such a luxuriant growth of hair on the
lower part of the face, make up for it by having a long moustache
tattooed on the upper and lower lip, which in their idea makes them
look "very manly" (_see_ Tattoos). Baldness is not common among
thoroughbred Ainu, even at a very old age, when, however, they generally
turn grey and then white, which gives a patriarchal appearance to the
hairy people.
The Ainu face seldom undergoes the marked changes common to civilised
nations, as they are not subject to large emotions; but different
expressions are as easily discernible by anyone who really knows and has
studied the natives, as the different expressions in the eyes of animals
by one who is familiar with them. When the Ainu is pleased he seldom
wrinkles his face and draws back his mouth at the corners, as we do, but
he shows it by a peculiar sparkle in the eyes and by an almost
imperceptible wrinkle in his eyelids, which contract and diminish the
opening. The corners of the mouth turn slightly upwards. The smile is an
accentuation of this expression, with the additional lowering of the
eyebrows, especially in the middle near the nose, causing the forehead
to wrinkle.
Laughter Ainu know not. During my long stay among them I never once saw
a _real_ Ainu laugh heartily, for the hero of the dab of blue paint
laughed less than he roared with pleasure; and I do not remember even
direct crosses doing so; hence travellers have reported the Ainu to be
"dull," "sad," "expressionless."
Certainly, the first thing that strikes one on coming in contact with
them is, how depressed they look, and how, even in their work, their
games, their festivals, sadness is greater than joy. In fact, the Ainu,
with their sentimental nature, enjoy sadness.
Astonishment and surprise are expressed by a perplexed look in the
wide-opened eyes, by raising the eyebrows, and by the contraction of the
mouth. The hands are not raised nor directed towards the object or
person causing astonishment; but if the arms be hanging down, the
fingers are widely separated. With the Ainu sorrowful emotions are more
marked than the more pleasing, the more joyous. Thus, when in low
spirits the head is bent forwards, the eyes are staring and drooping,
and the mouth is drawn downwards. In greater grief howling is added to
these signs. Ainu men occasionally indulge in quiet tears without
sobbing, but women weep copiously at the death of their children when
these are young.
When an Ainu stands very erect, with one hand in the other in front,
and, turning his head on either shoulder, throws it back and looks down
at you with expressionless eyes, in the meanwhile raising his eyebrows,
you may be sure that he means to show contempt. If, however, his eyes
are restless and his lips quiver, if the eyebrows are rapidly brought
down over the eyelids, while he opens his eyes wide showing the whole of
the iris; if the nostrils are inflated and he breathes heavily; if the
head is thrown forward and he is slowly arching, and, as the French say,
"making a round back," you may be certain that he is in a very bad
temper, and means to go for you, if he sees his way to it.
When obstinate, the pose of the arms and legs is similar to that by
which he wishes to show contempt, but the expression of the face is
absolutely stolid, the eyes are firm and frigid, meaning in that way to
impress you with the certainty that, come what may, he will not move
from his decision.
When actively angry, the Ainu sneer and snarl at one another, frowning
ferociously, and showing all their front teeth, but specially uncovering
their fangs or dog teeth; the arms are stretched out, but always with
the fist open--if no knife or other weapon be held in the hand. Shame
and disgust are two expressions which one does not often see on Ainu
faces. The former I cannot describe, for I never saw an Ainu who was
ashamed of anything he had done; the latter is manifested by an upward
movement of the corners of the lips, and a curling of the nose, with a
sudden expiration almost like a snort.
Shyness, which is the nearest approach to shame, is shown by women when
meeting a stranger, and gives them a submissive look. They bend their
heads and look down until the first emotion has passed, when they gaze
at the new-comer with a certain restlessness and curiosity, again, as in
so many of their gestures and ways, reminding one of monkeys. I never
found any shyness whatever in Ainu men; neither could I detect in them
any signs of fear for objects, animals, or powers with which they were
familiar. Things which they do not understand of course frighten them,
like eclipses of the sun or moon, or as my revolver did when I was
attacked by them at Horobets; and also when I appeared as a black-winged
rider on the north-east coast. In the latter case, unfortunately, I was
too far off to see their faces clearly, and in the former, after the
attack they showed more sensible submission to the inevitable than true
cowardice. What I chiefly saw then was here and there a face with
wide-open, undecided eyes heavily frowning; while some of the others
shrugged their shoulders and closed their eyes, waiting for the loud
report of the revolver, which unpleasant noise, heard before from
Japanese guns, always gives a shock to their nerves.
When an Ainu wishes to show that something cannot be done, or that he
cannot prevent someone else from doing it, he neither shrugs his
shoulders like a Frenchman, nor shakes his head laterally like an
Englishman; nor does he throw out his hands like a Neapolitan, but,
quietly standing erect, and with his head slightly bent forward, he
gently lifts it up, and slowly winking his eyes, says that he cannot do
it.
When children are sulky or displeased they frown and protrude their
lips, making a nasal noise similar to this--"Ohim"--without any of the
vowels clearly pronounced.
Our way of nodding the head vertically in sign of affirmation and
shaking it laterally in negation is not known to the thoroughbred race.
Those, either Ainu or half-castes, who practise it have learned it from
the Japanese. The right hand is generally used in negation, passing it
from right to left and back in front of the chest; and both hands are
gracefully brought up to the chest and prettily waved downwards--palms
upwards--in sign of affirmation. In other words, their affirmation is a
simpler form of their salute, just the same as with us the nodding of
the head is similarly used both ways.
It is quite enough to look at an Ainu's eyes to see at once whether he
consents or not, just as it is quite enough to look at a monkey's face
to know if it will accept the apple you offer it. Slyness and jealousy
are well marked in the Ainu face, and the former is seen in the
glittering, restless eyes, the latter in the sulky glance and protruding
mouth. Slyness is a very common characteristic among Ainu men; jealousy
is recognised and frequent in women.
I could give a large number of other characteristic expressions, of less
ethnological importance, but in the present work I shall limit myself to
the principal ones which I have attempted to describe, leaving out
altogether "expressions" of half-castes, so as to avoid confusion.
I must beg my reader's forgiveness for the "dryness" of the imperfect
description I have given of the Ainu physiognomy, as many will agree
with me that it is a great deal easier to notice unfamiliar expressions
on faces than to describe them accurately in so many words.
[Illustration: AINU MAN WALKING WITH SNOW-SHOES.]