However, the emergence of assimilation does not mean the disappearance of Ainu people. According to statistics, there are still about 25,000 Ainu people living in Danzhen and Nikko, Hokkaido.
(3) Ryukyu people
At present, there are about 6.5438+0.2 million Ryukyu people, most of whom live in the Ryukyu Islands where Okinawa Prefecture is located in Japan. Although the Ryukyu people belong to the Mongolian race as well as the Yamato nationality, they are slightly shorter, thicker eyebrows and higher cheekbones than the Yamato nationality. In ancient times, Ryukyu people lived in groups based on tribes. /kloc-in the 4th century, three small countries were established. 1429, the Shang Eight Branches were unified into the Ryukyu Kingdom, forming a tribute relationship with China. /kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, Ryukyu was invaded by Japanese Samoans and began to be controlled by them. 1879, Ryukyu was formally incorporated into Japanese territory. Ryukyu people have their own language-Ryukyu language. Although Ryukyu belongs to the same language family as Japanese, its pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are quite different from Japanese. Ryukyu people don't have their own writing. /kloc-After the 6th century, some upper-class people began to record with Chinese characters and Japanese pseudonyms. A hieroglyph called "Qiu Si Code" is very popular in the lower classes. Some people keep records by tying ropes. After Ryukyu was incorporated into Japan, the Meiji government pursued the assimilation policy, forcing Japanese to be widely used in Ryukyu Islands. Now many young people in Ryukyu can't speak Ryukyu. The culture of Ryukyu people is deeply influenced by China and Japanese mainland. From a religious point of view, there are Buddhists, Shintoists and many Taoists among Ryukyu people. Like the Han people in China, they have the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day. They also like to place a statue of a stone lion on the roof and a stone beast named "Shi Gandang" at the intersection of major traffic routes, which is similar to the customs in some areas in southern China. In terms of diet, Ryukyu people like to drink a kind of white wine called "Paosheng", eat greasy vegetables and eat pig's trotters. These customs are different from Yamato nationality.