Ainu Officially Declared The Indigenous People of Japan

One goal of mine during all my Japan photography workshops is to introduce clients to authentic Japan, and I include the Ainu performances, that are designated by UNESCO.  My team and I will escort you to the Ainu Kotan villages.  There you can can part in the lomante fire festival in the Ainu Theater ‘Ikor’.  The rarity and exclusivity of this experience makes this a once in a lifetime opportunity, and now that Japan has opened to Ainu traditions and culture, their traditions and ancient artifacts are surfacing once again, giving visitors one more entry point to appreciate Ainu cultural traditions.

One tradition that I am drawn to is Ainu traditional woodworking and crafting.  As with Ainu dance, their weaving of Nibutani attus, bark-cloth textiles and Nibutani ita, wooden trays adorned with intricate carvings are both ‘Officially Designated Traditional Crafts’, the only two on Japan’s most Northern island Hokkaido.  Nearly all of the traditions and cultural practices are only known to a handful of Ainu elders and passed down orally in an attempt to keep them out of the hands of invaders, treasures that represent all of the Ainu Kamuy, spiritual beings, are being re-discovered and can be viewed in the Ainu Kotan villages that along Hokkaido’s countryside.  Since their tribal origins, the Ainu have established a mutually reciprocal relationship with nature.  Their closeness to the land and its energy means that they have gravitated toward abundances of nature such as the fishing and wildlife for which Hokkaido is well-known.  The Ainu natural attunement also means knowledge of power points over which many Ainu settlements are constructed.  All of this cultural richness and natural awareness is communicated in their lifestyle and acutely in Ainu dances, performances, and craftsmanship.