Neil Gordon Munro
Encyclopedia
Neil Gordon Munro was a Scottish
physician and anthropologist. Resident in Japan for almost fifty years, he was notable as one of the first Westerners to study the Ainu people
of Hokkaido
.
Educated in Edinburgh, he traveled in India and Japan before settling in Yokohama
as director of the General Hospital in 1893. From 1930 until his death he lived among the Ainu in Nibutani
village in Hokkaido. Film footage he took of the local people survives.
Between 1909 and 1914 he sent more than 2,000 objects to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh. He authored several volumes, among them 'Coins of Japan' (1904), 'Prehistoric Japan' (1908), and 'Ainu Creed and Cult' (with H Watanabe & BZ Seligman, 1963).
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
physician and anthropologist. Resident in Japan for almost fifty years, he was notable as one of the first Westerners to study the Ainu people
Ainu people
The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
of Hokkaido
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
.
Educated in Edinburgh, he traveled in India and Japan before settling in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
as director of the General Hospital in 1893. From 1930 until his death he lived among the Ainu in Nibutani
Nibutani
The Nibutani , Niputay in Ainu, district is part of the town of Biratori in Hokkaidō, Japan, a particularly large proportion of the population of which is of the indigenous Ainu ethnicity. It is the site of the Nibutani Dam, and the hometown of Shigeru Kayano. Nibutani is also the site of two Ainu...
village in Hokkaido. Film footage he took of the local people survives.
Between 1909 and 1914 he sent more than 2,000 objects to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh. He authored several volumes, among them 'Coins of Japan' (1904), 'Prehistoric Japan' (1908), and 'Ainu Creed and Cult' (with H Watanabe & BZ Seligman, 1963).