Ainu Cultural Festival in Asahikawa, 2011

Turn up the volume, a lot. I apologize for the bad sound quality, I was sitting somewhat far away. :x

I went to see the Ainu Cultural Festival in Asahikawa City. This video shows clips capturing the Ainu language (with Japanese translations), traditional music (instrument and songs) as well as traditional dances. I meant to include Japanese (and English) subtitles but given the sound is so far away and hard to hear (sorry!), maybe I'll add them later...

Below is more information:
- If you want to learn more about the Ainu, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainu_people

- The traditional instrument heard towards the end is called mukkuri(ムックリ), and even though it looks easy, it's quite a challenge (they did teach the audience the tricks). Here's a simple overview: http://www.asza.com/ijmukkuri.shtml

- Although I didn't include the short clip of the musical, here's the website (Japanese) of the group that performed: http://www.kodomo-musical.jp/scm/news.htm

- And last but not least, the website (Japanese, but Enligsh, Korean and Chinese available) about Asahikawa City if you're interested: http://www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ainu
• Culture
• Festival
• Hokkaido
• Japan
• International
• History