Official

The Ainu people Cultural Foundation not only operates a physical facility called the Cultural Exchange Center, but also provides a huge amount of information on the history and culture of Ainu and the nature of Ainu language, Hokkaido and surrounding areas through its website.

You can also search the collections of the Cultural Exchange Center on this site.

My favorite is the archive of Songko de Songko (the popular corner "Yuko Miyuki's Songko de Songko" serialized in the travel information magazine "THE JR Hokkaido" published by JR Hokkaido. Songko means "news").

I guess there are pros and cons that the Ainu people drawn in the illustrations are all modern-style handsome men and beauty, and that they are like gag comics.

However, I feel like an appropriate approach in the sense of "sharing the image landscape" with the old Ainu people. (For example, it is said that the beauty of the Heian period is quite different from the beauty standard for modern people, but it is easier to sympathize with the romantic circumstances of the time when the illustrations of The Tale of Genji were modern than those that were faithful to those of the time.)

※The image is from "Yuko Miyuki's Songko de Sonko"

Golden Kamui (written by Satoru Noda, Young Jump serialized) is a famous work that has won the Manga Grand Prize (2016) and the Manga Grand Prize (2018) of the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, so many people may already know it.

And this work is a comic (probably the only) lined up on the bookshelf of the Cultural Exchange Center. It is a rare manga that includes the supervision of Ainu language, the supervision of Russian, and the supervision of Willta. In TV anime, Japanese subtitles appear in Ainu language's conversation and the sound of Ainu musical instruments are also played.

Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa, a linguist who supervises Ainu language, has been attracting attention since Professor Nakagawa himself published a commentary book titled "Golden Kamui Understanding with Ainu Culture". (The image above)

Ainu in Golden Kamui appears somewhat despised by some Kazuto, but in general it is "strong, wise and love peace."

In fact, it was the second time that I was surprised to see a strong (strong) Ainu. The first time I saw a series of paintings called "I Chief Statue". In the latter half of the 18th century, Hakyo Kakizaki, a painter of Matsumae clan's elder, painted the chief of Ainu, and the image above shows the chief Tsukinoe on Kunasiri Island.

Matsumae clan is a clan that was entrusted with the management of Ezochi by the Shogunate, and has a conflict of interest with Ainu, and in short, it is the side that ruled Ainu, so the paintings they drew are "real portraits" rather than "we have followed such strong guys", but it seems strong.

In fact, Tsukinoe seems to have been a charismatic leader, and there is a story that he traded on an equal basis not only with Kazuto but also with Russia. The clothes you wear are also Western-style.

If Hokkaido is a little smaller, there is also a delusion that a chief like Tsukinoe may have been able to unify all over Hokkaido, such as Kamehameha I, a charisma who unified the Hawaiian Islands.

(The image is from wikipedia)

The Ainu society in my image is a society that has a small but rich and beautiful culture centered on hunting and fishing, and a sustainable society that has continued to preserve the environment in the form of faith and trust in Kamui.

On the other hand, there is a sad reality that most of Ainu's history has been told by the rulers because the small society itself was forced to do unreasonable obedience against Kazuto and Russians, who were rankless in military and economic power, and because they did not have letters. As a result of recommending marriage with Kazuto to escape discrimination, it is said that no one can now be said to be pure blood Ainu.

As a result, 1 "ancestrals (ethnics?) The descendants of the Ainu whose important theme is "resurrection of dignity." ②The Japanese government wants to come up with the stance of "a country of high civility that respects ethnic minorities." ③Local governments and tourists who deal with Ainu culture as a "dol box tourism resource" by riding these times. ④A tourist like me who is simply impressed by the former Ainu appearance while being included in various PR activities.

・・I feel that the composition of the four Tomoe is occurring. Also, there is an "anti" for each of 1 to 4, and it is complicated to talk about occasionally raising loud voices.

In the past, there was a similar situation in Hawaii. Despite the fact that pure blood no longer exists as a result of the visit of whites while the Hawaiians were dominated by the Hawaiians in the Hawaiian Islands (only in a few cases), the culture and history of ancient Hawaiians such as hula have become extremely important tourism resources in Hawaii.

And what I came up with was a book called "gun, pathogens, iron" (Jaled Diamond). It is a masterpiece that quotes many examples of small ethnic groups that have been destroyed or degraded by strong power in the long history of humankind, and the causes of the destruction and the causes are calmly analyzed.

Of course, I don't think it's just because you read it, but I think it's a good book to get a bird's-eye view of the situation surrounding Ainu culture and history. 。 。