Kanto Productions™ LLC Presents

Kanto Productions™ LLC Presents:

JAPAN: AINU PEOPLE OF HOKKAIDO

documentary - 22 minutes

Available for US and international licensing.

After a brief intro to the modern and crowded side of urban Japan, we totally change gears to visit the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, Hokkaido, which is Japan's second largest island, yet accounts for only five percent of the country's population. On the outskirts of the island's largest city, Sapporo, the capital, and most famous for hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics, we visit the Hokkaido Ainu Center, to be introduced to Japan's original inhabitants, the Ainu people, the country's only indigenous culture. Here we meet anthropologist Christopher Loy, who explains many details about this diverse group of people, whose beginnings can be traced back over 7,000 years. We are welcomed into the Shiraoi Ainu Museum by Yamanaru Ikud, an Ainu elder, where we learn about their traditional dance, music, dress, myths and beliefs; also we gain further insight visiting the Nibutani Ainu Cultural Center, which was established to help preserve Ainu culture for future generations.

Return to the Atophill™ Home Page.