In 1904, American anthropologist Frederick Starr went to Japan to recruit Ainu people and bring them to the United States for the Ethnological Exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition. Yazo Osawa, whose Japanized name was Fukotaro Osawa, was the first person selected to join the group. He had lived with the English Anglican missionary John Batchelor for 10 years, since he was 14, so Starr thought his familiarity with white people and their customs would help. Yazo’s wife, Shirake, joined the group, too. In St. Louis, Osawa and three other Ainu men took part in the “Anthropology Days,” competing in five events. After the 1904 Exposition and Olympics, the Ainu group returned to Japan safely. Starr went to Japan again in 1909 and met seven of the nine members of the group, but missing Yazo and Shirake Osawa.
Japan