Korobokgur (English spelling)

Japanese: コロボックル（英語表記）Korobokgur

They are also called Koropokkuru. They are a small ethnic group that appears in Ainu legends. In Ainu, the name means "people under butterbur leaves," and they are so small that several people can gather under a single butterbur leaf when it rains. According to legend, they were a people who lived before the Ainu, and initially lived peacefully with the Ainu, but later fought and left for the north. The pit dwellings that remain in various parts of Hokkaido are the remains of their homes, and it is said that they used stone tools and earthenware. During the Meiji period, anthropologist Shogoro Tsuboi considered the Koropokkuru to be the indigenous people of all of Japan and to be a part of the Jomon culture, which sparked considerable controversy, but this theory is now rejected.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

コロポックルともいう。アイヌの伝説に現れる矮小民族。アイヌ語で「ふきの葉の下の人」の意で，雨が降ると1本のふきの葉の下に何人かが集ることができるほど小さかったという。伝説によれば，アイヌ以前に先住していた民族で，初めアイヌと平和に交際していたが，のち争いを起して北方に去った。北海道各地に残る竪穴は彼らの住居跡で，石器や土器を使用していた，とされる。明治年間，人類学者坪井正五郎は，このコロボックルを日本全土の先住民とみて，縄文文化のにない手であるとし，かなり論争を呼んだが，現在，その説は否定されている。

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