Talk:Mugen/@comment-76.115.252.161-20160607034522

Is Mugen Ainu?

I apologize in advance - this is really long.

With Miyako’s proximity to Taiwan, and Ryukyu’s long history of trade with China, it’s far more likely that Mugen is some mix of native Miyako, Okinawan, Japanese, and/or Chinese. He is definitely not 100% mainland Japanese.

Nowhere in the official sources does it state that Mugen is of Ainu descent. One folk song is not enough evidence to make a conclusive determination. It's not unusual for multiple cultures in a similar geographic region to share folk songs and lore, each with their own take on it. It’s no different than similar songs and stories being spread across different regions in Europe. The melody to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” comes originally from a French song, but the fact that I know it doesn’t mean that I have French heritage, or that I would naturally identify with people who do.

Mugen’s style of clothing is most definitely not Ainu, and his features don't look Ainu at all. He’s tall, thin, and dark skinned. Ainu, as a broad generalization, are stocky and have paler skin and a heavy brow. Compare Mugen to Okuru. They don’t look anything alike.

It is true that genetic studies have confirmed some level of common ancestry between the Ainu and the Ryukyuans, or at least they are more similar to one another than either of them are to the mainland Japanese. However, these people were interbreeding way back in the Yayoi period, 1000-1500 years before the time of Samurai Champloo (possibly earlier than that), resulting in three distinct modern populations - the Ainu, the Ryukyuans, and the Japanese. By the 17th century, these populations had become very much separated in terms of culture, customs, language, and religion. Any significant cultural exchange between the Ainu and the Ryukyuans would have ended long before the time of Samurai Champloo.

Much like the folk songs… I could have east Asian ancestry from 1000 years ago, but that doesn’t make me “Asian” now. We can only go back so far into the past to find a common cultural heritage that is still relevant and meaningful today (or in the 17th century).

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.89;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">(Side note - the discovery of shared genetic ancestry between the Ainu and the Ryukyuans wasn’t made until the 2010’s, years after Samurai Champloo was created. It was also based on a sampling of fewer than 40 Ainu and fewer than 40 Ryukyuans. It’s an interesting study, but further research using a larger sampling of DNA is definitely called for. I can't wait to see what they come up with over the next few years.)

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.89;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Apart from the differences between the Ainu and Ryukyuans, there was also a considerable degree of diversity within the Ryukyu Islands themselves. Miyako had (and still has) traditions, a religion, and a language not found on the other islands. So did Yaeyama. So what might be true for Okinawa is not necessarily true for Miyako or other islands in Ryukyu.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.89;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">For example, when Mugen "dies", he is surrounded by the pantu (sometimes called the crow men by fans), and they begin to guide him to the afterlife. The pantu come from the native religion of Miyako. To this day, there is a yearly festival where the pantu walk around the village to chase away evil and bring good fortune... and get everybody <span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">muddy <span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">. They literally grab people and smear them. It's considered to be a blessing among the locals, but tourists hate it. Children are afraid of the pantu and they cry, yet parents bring their children intentionally, sometimes to put the fear of "god" in them so they'll behave. Seriously. Look for videos on YouTube and watch the little kids cry and run away from the pantu.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.89;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nowadays, because the entire Ryukyu Island chain is called Okinawa, when we talk about “Okinawans” as a group of people, it’s sometimes hard to tell if we’re talking about people from anywhere in Okinawa Prefecture, or specifically the people from the Okinawan group of islands. There are different degrees of political correctness when referring to this group of people, depending on your perspective, and I won’t pretend to understand the nuances there. As a whole, they’ve mostly been assimilated into Japanese culture over the last 100-150 years through aggressive campaigning on Japan’s part, but they still maintain some semblance of their own culture.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.89;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Miyako's native language is still spoken by older people, but it's in danger of extinction. I read that they still teach it to young people, but most everybody speaks Japanese in a dialect very similar to Okinawan.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.89;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:13.333333333333332px;font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Out of all of this, one thing is certain: when Jin calls Mugen “the lowest of the low”, it’s true on multiple levels. Being from Miyako, he was the lowest of the low within Ryukyu. Being a foreigner in Japan was an automatic a strike against him. The fact that he’s a criminal and an unemployed vagrant means that he would have completely fallen out of the bottom of the rigid social heirarchy enforced by the Tokugawa shogunate. So really, no matter how you slice it, Mugen is at the bottom of the barrel everywhere he goes. Poor guy.

It never stops him from being a badass though. :)

... And now I'm done posting really long comments with my overly analytical research. Thanks to all who paid attention. I'd love to hear your feedback, especially if anyone has their own research to contribute. I love this stuff!