The Ainu word upopoy means “singing together in a large group.” The complex houses the National Ainu Museum, a cultural exchange hall, workshop, craft studio and a model of a traditional Ainu village.

Japan’s indigenous people, the Ainu, were the earliest settlers of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. But most travellers will not have heard of them. Our coverage during coronavirus While travelling ...

The Japanese film industry has made movies featuring the Ainu, indigenous people who now live mostly in Hokkaido, but with Japanese actors in the Ainu roles. In his second feature “Ainu Mosir” (2020), ...

The ringing telephone broke the evening silence. It was the fall of 1983, and my research partner, Professor Masakazu Yoshizaki, was calling from Japan. "Gary, I have some news," Yoshi said. "We have ...

A new documentary from the director Fukunaga Takeshi follows an Ainu family in Hokkaidō, shedding light on questions of culture and the path traditions take in a modern world. A talk with the director ...

Growing up in Japan, musician Oki Kano never knew he was part of a “vanishing people.” His Japanese mother was divorced and never told Kano that his birth father was an indigenous Ainu man. Kano was ...