Professor at Hokkaido University, Doctor of Literature, linguist
Chiri was recommended by Kyosuke Kindaichi to study at Dai-ichi High School after his graduation from Muroran Junior High School. After graduating from the high school, he continued to study linguistics at Tokyo Imperial University and its graduate school. He pursued a research career in Ainu language under Kindaichi.
He became a teacher at the Sakhalin government’s Toyohara Women’s School in 1940, and also worked for the Sakhalin Government Museum as a temporary employee. He was employed on a short-term contract at the Research Institute for Northern and Arctic Culture of Hokkaido Imperial University in 1943. From 1947, he worked at the Faculty of Letters, a new addition to Hokkaido University.
During that time, he published a number of books including An Introduction to Ainu Language and A Classified Dictionary of Ainu Language to establish a unique area of Ainu studies. He was awarded the Hokkaido Shimbun Press Social and Cultural Prize in 1949 and the Asahi Cultural Prize in 1955.
The Chiri collection mainly consists of literature on Ainu language, linguistics and ethnology, and also includes publications on Hokkaido history.