the Ainu

There's not so much diversity in Japan. Probably 99% of the population is ethnic Japanese. There are a few minority groups thrown in... such as Koreans, Okinawans (who weren't "Japanese" until fairly recently) and Ainu. When I was in Hokkaido, I went to a museum about the Ainu, the indigenous people of the island. No one knows for sure where they came from, but I'll guess Mongolia.

Most of the museum was actually a recreated Ainu village. Although there wasn't much to see (I spent a little over an hour there), it was interesting to learn how the Ainu used to live. I was able to see some traditional dancing. There was a guy who explained a bit about Ainu customs (in Japanese), and I understood bits and pieces of what he said. I learned that the Ainu built their houses so that the window faced a certain direction. And that the women (or girls really) would get tattoos on their hands, arms, and around their mouths before they got married. There was also an indoor museum exhibit that explained (bilingually!) about different aspects of Ainu life.

Overall a really interesting museum. It's in a town called Shiraoi, about an hour by train from Sapporo. And it smelled really good because of the fires burning everywhere. Smelled like camping. Mmmm.

Yuki Matsuri

While Okinawans are celebrating cherry blossoms, the folks on the island of Hokkaido are still in the middle of winter. I went to Sapporo for a few days to see the snow festival. The weather was warmer than I expected, dipping only slightly below freezing during the day. The biggest attraction was a park full of giant snow and ice sculptures. Some of these were gigantic, and I have no idea how people made them. Really quite impressive. (If you want a closer look, try clicking on the photos. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.)

In this photo, you can see just how big the sculptures are.

Sakura Matsuri: Part 2

I took a video of these guys dancing in a parade at Nago City's Sakura Matsuri. If you look carefully, you can see the man dressed as a French maid on the float. A little bit later, the maid's friends on the stage stripped down to their animal-print underwear. Sorry, no video of that!

Many kinds of organizations participated in the parade. Youth groups, schools, bank employees... I'm not sure who these guys are though.

Let's Enjoying Sakura Matsuri.

Here are some photos from cherry blossom festivals in Nago, Motobu, and Nakijin. Okinawan cherry blossoms bloom in January/February, but cherry blossoms on the mainland don't usually bloom until about April or so. And oddly enough, the cherry blossoms bloom during the coldest part of Okinawa's winter. But on the mainland, the cherry blossoms are supposed to indicate the coming of spring.

People at work have started asking me if it's my first time seeing cherry blossoms. And I tell them that there are cherry blossoms where I am from too. In fact, Washington, D.C. has a very famous cherry blossom festival! And then they say, "But Japanese cherry blossoms are more beautiful, aren't they?" Hmmm....

look at the kiddies

Look at some kindergarten students doing a frog dance.