Ainu Housing and Food

A village is called "kotan" in the Ainu language. Kotan were located near rivers of the sea so a supply of food was available. Kotan houses were made of cogon grasses, bamboo grass, barks, etc. The house had three windows, one of these was a sacred window that gods and spirits entered and exited from. The Ainu people were not allowed to look through this window as it was sacred. Outbuildings included separate lavatories for men called "ashinru" and for women called "menokoru", and a "pu" (storehouse) in which food was stored. 

The diet of the Ainu people mainly consisted of fish and they cooked this fish. They also ate bear and deer. They ate some wild vegetables. They would cook this food into soup. A side dish was "sayo" (porridge).