A traditional Ainu house with entrance/storage room attached to a larger room. The house shown here is based on a model at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka.

      The chise house shown in the drawing on this page has walls and roof consisting of bundles of reeds or bamboo grass attached to poles tied horizontally to the main frame. Smoke holes are left at the top. The ridge is covered with a cap weighted down with wooden poles that are tied to the rafters. To the left of the main building are two toilets, one for males and one for females. To the right of the building is a cage where a bear cub was raised until it was large enough to be killed in the most important of the Ainu ceremonies. The slain bear was eaten in a ritual feast and its skull adorned and honored. To the right of the bear cage is a small, elevated storehouse, reminiscent of Jōmon kura. In the foreground is a garden, behind which is a drying rack. Vegetables were supplemented by salmon and wild meat such as deer.

Winter houses, called toi-chise, "house of dirt," were built by erecting a roof over a pit and covering it with earth to retain the heat. This type of house was observed in Sakhalin as late as 1946. Dwellings in spring and summer villages were built with less substantial materials, such as poles covered with reeds or grass.

      Decline of Traditional Culture

      The traditional way of life of the Ainu continued until around the end of the Edo Period (1868). In 1899, the government enacted the Hokkaido Ainu Preservation Law, encouraging the Ainu to live in permanent villages and to cultivate the land. There was little land available, however, as Japanese (Wa-jin) had been immigrating to Hokkaido since the fifteenth century. Laws prohibiting traditional customs and food-gathering practices led to the decline of traditional culture and language, as well as to a lower standard of living than for the Japanese population as a whole.

      In the twentieth century, the Hokkaido prefectural government established housing programs for the Ainu, but the houses were so small and poorly built that the Ainu preferred to live in traditional style houses next to the government buildings. In 1997, the Diet passed a new law advocating research on Ainu culture and supporting the preservation of Ainu language, customs, and traditions. It remains to be seen if this law will improve the situation of the Ainu. Ainu leaders are attempting to revitalize traditional culture by teaching the Ainu language and traditional customs to young people. There are only a few elders, however, who possess this kind of knowledge, so the task is daunting and the outcome is uncertain.

      There are around 24 reconstructed chise in Hokkaido, and three more in other areas. However, none are actually used as living quarters at present. The way of life of contemporary Ainu is not that much different from that of the larger population, into which they have, for the most part, been assimilated.

      Construction of a Poro-chise Building

      Poro-chise (large house) building under construction at Shiraoi in 1996. The floor and walls of the finished house have been covered with mats. The roof beams remain exposed. The shelf on the wall is for holding ceremonial objects. A large spark deflector hangs over the recessed fire pit.

      When the poro-chise (large house) at the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, burned in 1996, the museum staff undertook its reconstruction using traditional building principles they had learned from elders over the years. First, vertical posts were buried in the ground, and purlins were attached to the top to create the walls. Ceiling beams were used to connect the two side walls to create a solid framework. For the roof, two tripods were erected on top of the frame and connected with a ridgepole, leaving smoke holes at both ends. Rafters were run from the wall purlins to the ridgepole, and small poles were attached horizontally across the rafters. The finished roof was covered with fishnets, and overlapping reed bundles were tied vertically to the roof frame, starting with the bottom row. Reed bundles on the top row were bent over the ridge and covered with additional small bundles to create a unique ridge shape. Small horizontal poles were fastened on the outside of the vertical wall posts for attaching reed bundles to build the walls. More small poles were attached horizontally over the reeds to help hold them in place. Window holes were cut and fitted with coverings that are pulled by ropes from inside to close the openings.

      Influences from Korea and China

      Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century from the Korean state of Paekche. The sophisticated new religion was welcomed by the Yamato Court as a way to help promote a stronger centralized government. A great flowering of architecture ensued as magnificent temples, filled with statues and other works of art, were built to impress people at home and abroad.

      Asuka Period (538-645)

      The traditional date for the introduction of Buddhism to Japan is 538, although the date 552 is often used as well. The period between the arrival of Buddhism and the Taika Reform of 645 is known as the Asuka Period. The Asuka Period takes its name from the Asuka area near Nara, the site of the first real capital. During the Asuka Period, Japan was thoroughly transformed as it came under the influence of continental civilization.

      When Buddhism was introduced, controversy erupted between the Mononobe and Soga clans concerning whether the new religion should be adopted officially or whether Shinto should retain a dominant position. This debate came at a time when Japan was evolving rapidly from a federation of influential clans into a nation under a centralized government known as the Yamato State. The Soga clan, which favored the official adoption of Buddhism, prevailed and the Yamato Court decided to use Buddhism as a political tool to help consolidate its power.

      Prince Shotoku, who was appointed Regent by the Empress Suiko in 593, was more interested in the religious and philosophical aspects of Buddhism than in its use as a political tool. He became a devout follower and actively promoted the new religion. Under his patronage, a great numbers of Korean craftspeople came to Japan to build Buddhist temples and furnish them with sculpture, paintings, and the decorative arts. The two main compounds constructed by Prince Shotoku were Hōryūji Temple near Nara and Shitennōji Temple in the present city of Osaka.

      The first temple, however, was Hōkōji, later called Asukadera (tera, or dera, means "temple") by local residents because of its location. It was constructed in 596 by Soga-no-Umako, with the help of the Korean king of Paekche. Most of the buildings were moved to Nara in 718 and renamed Gangōji, but the central object of worship, a statue of the historical Buddha (Shaka), was left behind, where it still exists in a newer building. Though badly damaged and in poor repair, the image is of great historical interest since it was the first Buddhist statue in Japan.

      This storehouse at Tōdaiji, from the Nara Period, consists of triangular logs that expand in the summer to keep moisture out and contract in the winter to allow air circulation.

      Hakuhō Period (645-710)

      The Taika Reform of 645 created a central government with a legislative structure based upon the model of Tang China. Official interchange with China was established

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