It’s a not a question guides at a museum would usually be asked, but it’s happened to those at the outdoor Ainu Museum and cultural village in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost and second-largest island.
The museum is dedicated to the culture of the Ainu people, an ethnic group that not many — even in Japan itself — know much about.
For weary guides at the museum, who live close to the museum in Shiraoi, an hour’s drive from the city of Sapporo (but not in primitive huts on the hillside), being able to tell visitors about their unique heritage and language is worth the occasional muddleheaded question.
Brutal hunting methods
The Ainu people are the indigenous inhabitants of Hokkaido.
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According to Honda debate continues over the emphasis of the new center.
“Should it continue to highlight the Ainu culture in a historical context and be in danger of appearing irrelevant or should it do what the Smithsonian has done for Native Americans and show the situation for Ainu today?” he asks.
For now visitors to Shiraoi’s Ainu Museum can get a glimpse into the rugged life lived by the area’s indigenous inhabitants while modern Japan tries to find a comfortable place for their cultural legacy.
Ainu Museum, 2-3-4, Shiraoi-cho, Shiraoi-gun, Hokkaido, Japan; +81 144 82 3914; daily 8:45 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed December 29-January 5); tickets JPY800 ($7) per adult
