A black and white landscape photograph showing 26 people, mostly children, standing or seated in front of the wall of wooden building. Most of the people pictured are Ainu; there is also one European man amongst the adults standing at the back. Two of the girls shown have facial tattoos traditionally worn by Ainu girls and women. These comprise a broad band around the mouth with a tapering curve extending to the cheeks. Original caption: 'Ainos. C.M.S. Converts'.

The Ainu are an ethnic minority of northern Japan who have a distinct culture and language. They were subject to discrimination from Japanese rulers during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Church Missionary Society, now the Church Mission Society, is an Anglican missionary group formed in 1799. Japan was one of their many zones of operation and the Ainu were one of the groups they targeted. Missionaries such as John Batchelor are known to have learnt the Ainu language, which is now endangered.