During the week, I came across an ad in the newspaper for an Ainu Cultural Festival, held today. Ainu are Japan's Aboriginal peoples, centred mostly in the north, originally. They have experienced similar discrimination and issues as Australia's first people.
Ainu have a their own language, a lot of which we heard today, in speech and song. And the afternoon was a highlight of dance, song, craft...a short few hours but really very much worth the trip to the city.
There were some displays and exhibitions outside the hall...
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| Wood carver, Takano-san |
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| Focussed |
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| with some of his pieces |
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| Carving |
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| Craftswoman, Mamiya-san |
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| Works of tapestry and embroidery |
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| Explaining her traditions |
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| with some of her works |
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| Traditional Ainu coats |
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| Tools of trade |
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| 'irankarapte' and the mukkuri |
...but we couldn't take photos inside the hall where the song and dance demonstrations were held. And I guess I don't mind that really. It did mean we could just focus on the sound and movement...and that was worth it alone.
By the end of the day, we learnt a new word, 'irankarapte', for hello, the gestures you make when thanking people (an upward wave of hands towards the chest) and, an interesting moment learning to play the 'mukkuri' a wooden string/percussion instrument. I'll keep giving it a go...
And finally, they got us up on stage to join the last dance...just as well there weren't any photos.
[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 12.42pm-12.48pm; 10 September 2016]
