Ainu people 阿伊努人
（重定向自Yesso）
![](/Images/godic/202502/21/AinuGroup3612.JPG")
![A group of Ainu people (between 1863 and early 1870s)](/Images/godic/202502/21/Bjs48_02_Ainu3612.jpg")
![Ainu bear sacrifice. Japanese scroll painting, c. 1870.](/Images/godic/202502/21/AinuBearSacrificeCirca18703613.jpg")
![The Oki Dub Ainu Band, led by the Ainu Japanese musician Oki, in Germany in 2007.](/Images/godic/202502/21/Oki_Ainu_Dub_Band_at_tff.Rudolstadt_20073613.jpg")
The Ainu or the Aynu (Ainu アィヌ Aynu; Japanese: アイヌ Ainu; Russian: Айны Ajny), and in historical Japanese texts Ezo/Emishi/Ebisu (蝦夷) or Ainu (アイヌ) are an indigenous people of Japan (Hokkaido, and formerly northeastern Honshu) and Russia (Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and formerly the Kamchatka Peninsula).