Time Travel with the Ainu - 1 Day Hiking & Culture Tour

Ainu (pronounced as Aynu) are the indigenous people of Hokkaido, who developed their own distinctive culture and language in Hokkaido long before the arrival of Japanese people to the island. Ainu people were hunter-gatherers who survived mainly by fishing and hunting up until the mid-19th century, when the island was officially named Hokkaido and the Japanese Government started administering it as part of Japan‘s territory. Under the Hokkaido Development Commission, the island became a part of Japan and unfortunately, the Ainu people were forced to give up practicing their customs and culture; which included unique tattoos and speaking their own language.

In 2018, however, the “Kamikawa Ainu” were recognised with Japan Heritage status, which identified more than 20 sites relating to the Ainu and their legends in the Kamikawa Region. On this tour, we will visit two of these sites of cultural importance, Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Museum and Mt Arashiyama. The museum is the only private Ainu museum in Japan today, and is named after a tribal chief of the Kamikawa Ainu, who have lived in the area for generations. Today the museum is run by his son and daughter-in-law, who will be our hosts and will share their stories and a special lunch with us. In the afternoon we will hike to Mt Arashiyama together with our Ainu hosts. Join us on this unique experience to discover the past and present of Ainu indigenous life and culture.