[curmudgeonII]

The Ainu-related samurai achieved such power and prestige in medieval Japan that they intermarried with royalty and nobility...

I was under the impressionn that the "pure" Japanese considered the [hairy] Ainu to be considerably inferior to other Japanese.

[blam]

"I was under the impressionn that the "pure" Japanese considered the [hairy] Ainu to be considerably inferior to other Japanese."

That came later. Today, the Japanese call the Ainu, 'The Hairy Ainu' with distaste. (There are about 10,000 Ainu left in Japan)