Language

The Ainu language is from Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. It is distinct from Japanese and although some aspects of word order are similar, there are numerous grammatical differences. Formerly a purely verbal language, it is now transcribed using katakana, a Japanese syllabary, with the addition of some specialized characters. The use of the Ainu language declined rapidly due to policies to promote the modernization of Japan, starting during the Meiji era (1868-1912), and was listed as an endangered language by UNESCO in 2009.