{"id":3871,"date":"2009-10-07T22:46:28","date_gmt":"2009-10-08T02:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/?p=3871"},"modified":"2009-10-07T22:46:43","modified_gmt":"2009-10-08T02:46:43","slug":"the-ainu-museum-porotokotan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/2009\/10\/07\/the-ainu-museum-porotokotan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ainu Museum (Porotokotan)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Sept 16) There are no Ainu “reservations” where the Ainu can live together and practice their traditions. The Ainu today live in Japanese cities and towns, speak Japanese and work at regular jobs.<\/p>\n

The Ainu Museum in Shiraoi is dedicated to preserving what is left of Ainu culture.
\n
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

The museum preserves thousands of artifacts and has exhibits illustrating traditional cultural practices.
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

These hunters have trapped a hibernating bear and are preparing to kill it with poisoned arrows. If the bear had cubs, they would be captured alive and raised for sacrifice.
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

\"Ainu<\/p>\n

Ainu women made cloth from tree bark.
\n\"Bark<\/p>\n

Cotton obtained from Japanese traders was also used to make traditional garments.
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

Ainu women were tattooed around the lips and on the hands and forearms. (This practice was stamped out over a century ago.)
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

\"Ainu<\/p>\n

The Poroto Kotan<\/em> (big lake village) is an outdoor recreation of a traditional Ainu settlement.
\n\"Poroto<\/p>\n

\"Carving<\/p>\n

A cheerful Ainu guide named Nomoto will graciously pose for pictures with anyone who asks.
\n\"Nomoto<\/p>\n

\"Nomoto\"<\/p>\n

Nomoto-san acts as MC for a demonstration of traditional Ainu music and dance.
\n\"Nomoto<\/p>\n

The mukkuri<\/em>, a mouth harp traditionally played by women.
\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

The tonkori<\/em>, a stringed instrument.
\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

An Ainu lullaby.
\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Translation:
\nGo to sleep quickly,
\nGo to sleep quickly,
\nIf you do not go to sleep
\nScary animals will visit you.<\/p>\n

No, I’m not kidding. The Ainu don’t mess around!<\/p>\n

A clapping song.
\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

A dance used at weddings and other celebratory occasions.
\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

The least pleasant part of the village is the area where Ainu dogs and Ezo brown bears are kept in cages.
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

\"Caged<\/p>\n

According to the museum’s web site<\/a> “In order to promote transmission and preservation of Ainu culture, traditional ceremonies are being carried out, including iyomante<\/em> (sending back the spirit of bears),…”<\/p>\n

It also says that “Iyomante<\/em> is observed between January and February when the fallen snow is heavy. A I to 2 years bear, which is captured in a hibernation den during winter, is sent back to the divine world by offering a splendid feast.” But of course we also know that the traditional end to the ceremony is to kill the bear with poisoned arrows.<\/p>\n

I’m going to indulge in a bit of cultural insensitivity here. I understand that iyomante<\/em> is the most important and sacred of the Ainu rituals. Nevertheless, if they actually kill the bear, I think that’s horrible. If they wanted to hunt a wild bear with bow and arrow, I guess I would admire their courage, but the idea of killing a captive bear that way turns my stomach.<\/p>\n

The shops associated with the museum feature some of the finest and most elaborate wood carvings that I have ever seen.
\n\"Ainu<\/p>\n

All posts from this trip.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Sept 16) There are no Ainu “reservations” where the Ainu can live together and practice their traditions. The Ainu today live in Japanese cities and towns, speak Japanese and work… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,174],"tags":[309,308],"class_list":["post-3871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan-vacation","category-photos","tag-ainu","tag-hokkaido-trip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3871"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12496,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions\/12496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}