The history of art in the Ainu tribe, which inhabits mainly Hokkaido Prefecture and has a culture of its own, is sometimes discussed separately from what is called Japanese art history, and this is the same as the history of the art from Ryukyu (today's Okinawa Prefecture).
おもに北海道に住み、特有の文化をもつアイヌの人々の美術や、現代の沖縄県にあたる琉球の美術については、いわゆる日本美術史とは別の文脈で論じられることがある。