Overview: The Ainu people are indigenous to Japan, and the Ainu community is now concentrated in Hokkaido Prefecture, the northernmost main island. The Ainu have long maintained a distinct culture and language, but very few speakers of the language remain. In a Japanophiles interview, Peter Barakan meets Anna Bugaeva, a Russian linguist who has spent 2 decades recording and analyzing the Ainu language. She shares some of the insights she has acquired through her long association with Ainu culture.