Archaeologist Takuro Segawa has been awarded for his new theory that the Ainu, an indigenous ethnic group concentrated in Hokkaido, traded with Honshu and even Northeast Asia more closely than previously believed.

In his book "Ainu Gaku Nyumon" ("Introduction to the Study of Ainu People"), Segawa denies the fixed public image that the Ainu had little contact with Japanese in Honshu.

"Ainu people had not shut themselves up (in) Hokkaido," said Segawa, also director of the Asahikawa City Museum in Hokkaido.