Rinzo Mamiya, a Japanese explorer, reached the Siberian
continent via Sakhalin island in 1809. He is famous for his rediscovery
of the Tatar strait. He also gained immortal fame for
his ethnographic survey of the Gilyak living on the lower Amur,
and of the native population of Sakhalin. He described the
above-mentioned peoples in Totatsu Kiko (Travels among the East
Tatar), and Hokui Bunkai Yowa (The Story of the Northern Tribes)
written in 1910. These works were translated into German and
included in Nippon, Ph. Franz von Siebold's book, written in 1832.
Mamiya's ethnographic descriptions have contributed to the
academical world. Leopold von Schrenck, who did research on
the lower Amur region from 1854 to 1856, and published Die
Volker des Amur-Landes, consulted Mamiya's work. Later, at the
beginning of the twentieth century, Shternberg carried out his
field trip among the Gilyak of the lower Amur region, and contributed
much to the study of the Gilyak society and religion. He
too appreciated Rinzo Mamiya's work.
Under the present soviet regime, Chuner Taksami, a Gilyak
scholar, and Anna Smolyak, a scholar from Mosco,w, are carrying
out a systemetic study of the Gilyak people.
I have tried to pursue the ethnographic value of Mamiya's
work and studied it critically referring to work done by later
scholars. This is a first attempt in Japan. There is no doubt
that Mamiya's work has immortal classical value in the field of the
ethnographic study of the lower Amur people and the native
people of Sakhalin island.
間宮林蔵の見たギリヤク族（1）
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