These New Uchina Series Are an Introduction to Okinawa

These new Uchina series are an introduction to Okinawa's culture and history from a different viewpoint. Our previous issue focused on the gusuku castles registered as World Heritage Sites. In this new issue, we will bring to you the aura and contours seen in the pottery and textiles that Okinawa has nurtured within its history and environment. We hope you enjoy the unique tint and form these crafts display.

First Series: Textiles on Okinawa IslandSecond Series: Textiles on Surrounding IslandsThird Series: Okinawan PotteryFourth Series: Ryukyu Lacquerware and Glass

History plays an important role on the birth of textiles found in Okinawa. Once known as the Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawa flourished as an independent kingdom by actively engaging in trade. Establishing a tributary and trade relation with the Ming dynasty enabled Okinawa to act as a trading hub for Japan and Southeast Asia during the Great Age of Trade in the late14th century. Bridging the nations, Ryukyu Kingdom was filled with products and treasures from many countries. The elements of the diverse dyed and woven textiles were introduced to Ryukyu during this period and prospered into beautiful crafts through many generations.

The Craft of Dyeing

The process to dye fabric and paper developed in India, Southeast Asia, Japan and Central America. This craft is represented by beautiful fabrics such as sarasa (printed cloths or batik), gold inkin fabrics, Yuzen (silk prints) and Okinawa's Bingata (stencil-dyes).

Bingata is identified by its beautiful array of radiant colors. Dyes used in the coloring process are special and include vegetable dyes taken from a local Ryukyu indigo plant and fukugi tree. The vegetable dyes are combined with vermilion, dark red, orpiment, lamp black, and ultramarine pigments imported from China and Southeast Asian nations. Designs are applied to fabrics with stencils and a dye-resistant paste or by designing with the paste in tubes. The production of this highly recognized craft was strictly for the royal family and the families who were commissioned to produce them were considered noble. History states that the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom declined the production of Bingata in the Meiji era but was revived by dedicated craftsmen after World War II. Enhancement has been made in the Bingata designs through many generations. The flower, bird, mountain, water design in the Ryukyu Kingdom era represents the strong influence of Yuzen, silk textiles seen in mainland Japan. The designs which we see today display a freedom of colors and designs, making improvements in many ways.

While Bingata enhances a strong image of formality and value, a new production by the name of Uuji Zome (sugarcane dye) at Tomishiro Village is becoming popular with its usage of natural colors and its ready availability.

Weaving has a much longer history than dyed fabrics and a fine collection of goods, spun and woven by various ethnic groups, can be found all over the world. The Bashofu in Kijoka, Ogimi, the Yuntanzan Hanaui in Yomitan, the Shuri Ori and the Ryukyu Kasuri from Haebaru are only part of the various styles and patterns which exist in Okinawa. During the Ryukyu Kingdom era, these textiles were produced by women as tributary cloths or for daily wear. In the Meiji era, modernization swept through this tradition, bringing along machines to weave these textiles. However, the strong passion of the weavers enabled this significant tradition to survive to this day.

Bashofu, woven from basho (banana) fibers, is very light in weight and smooth to the touch. The intense summer heat of Okinawa made this cloth suitable to wear in the daily lives for both commoners and the ruling class. Forty basho trees are necessary to make a standard roll of fabric. The trees are stripped, sterilized, and softened for fibers. The extracted fibers are then joined together to create yarn. This traditional craft is produced at Kijoka in Ogimi Village.

This style of weaving, similar to embroideries, beautifies geometric features by weaving colorful threads into a fabric woven horizontally and vertically. It originated in the 15th century through trade relations with China and Southeast Asian nations. In the Ryukyu Kingdom era, it became a goyofu, a fabric woven with precise designs enforced by the government. Villagers living in Yomitan Village were the only ones permitted to wear this design. When royal patronage and protection was denied in the Meiji era, the distinctive style of this handicraft faded for a period of time till a devoted craftsman from the village revived the tradition after World War II.

All the refined textiles originating in the capital of the Kingdom was referred as Shuri Ori. The textile was exquisitely woven by the wives and daughters of nobles who produced yarn from silkworms to create diverse designs. Shuri Ori is categorized as Shuri Hana Ori, Shuri Tsumugi, Tejima, Rotan Ori and Hanakura Ori.

Ryukyu Kasuri is said to have originated in Haebaru Town around 1918 or 1919. Navy blue cotton kasuri were woven in the beginning but advanced to silk woven kasuri over the years. The production of this craftwork has increased immensely, making this textile widely known.

Why Okinawa?

Craftwork / Performing Arts

In the Ryukyu Kingdom era, various cultures were integrated into the Okinawan culture which flourished through trade with China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asian countries. This period is regarded as the founding of the cultivation of Okinawa’s unique culture. Okinawan culture can be experienced through its abundant craftwork including lacquerware which has a beautiful contrast between red and black, as well as its festivals and dances such as the Ryukyu dance in colorful costumes.

Craftwork

Gorgeous “Ryukyu Bingata” finished with various patterns and colors are representative of Okinawa’s dyed products. The woven goods of each area demonstrate originality and ingenuity, and typical examples are the refined "Shuri Ori" and cool looking "Bashofu" weaving. "Ryukyuan lacquerware" created in Okinawa's high temperature and humidity climate is known for its bright red lacquer and intricate decorations such as chinkin gilt line engraving and a mother-of-pearl inlay technique called “Raden” which brings out the color of the lacquerware. "Ryukyu Glass" created from discarded glass bottles following World War II has a simple allure and warm aura. In addition, Okinawa is well known for its "Tsuboya" pottery. The glazed "Joyachi" are magnificent and are used for tea and sake cups, while the dynamic and unglazed fired "Arayachi" are mainly used for storage jars.

Performing Arts

”Ryukyu dance” is performed in elegant costumes to the relaxing sounds of the “Sanshin” (three-stringed guitar-like instrument) which is an integral part of Okinawa’s performing arts. Ryukyu dance is mainly divided into three styles of "Classical dance", originally performed in the royal court to welcome guests in the Ryukyu era, "Zo-odri" (popular dance) which appeared following the Ryukyu era and displays the feelings of the ordinary people through its lively choreography, and "Creative dance" which is modernized Ryukyu dance. Eisa is an Okinawan ceremonial dance performed in every region in Okinawa to welcome and console the souls of one's ancestors. For those watching Eisa, the energetic fervor of the dancers is an overwhelming feature. There are also various forms of music in Okinawa including classical music from the Ryukyu era to “Shima uta” (island songs) songs passed down through the generations among the general public and Okinawan folk songs fused with hints of modern pop. Music seamlessly blends into daily life in Okinawa.

This new Uchina series is an introduction to Okinawa's culture and history from a uniqueviewpoint. Our previous issue focused on the gusuku castles which will be registered as World Heritage Sitesin this future. In this new issue, we will bringyou the aura and contours seen in the pottery and textiles that Okinawa has nurtured within its history and environment. We hope you will enjoy the unique tint and famm these crafts display.

First Series: Textiles on Okinawa IslandSecond Series: Textiles on Surrounding IslandsThird Series: Okinawan PotteryFourth Series: Ryukyu Lacquerware and Glass

The techniques for using the sap of the lacquer tree and processing it for use in lacquerware arts developed in Japan, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Aof these countries the lacquer of were is renowned. Dried lacquerware has great adhesive strength, is rot and water resistant, and can be used with many types of base materials such as wood, bamboo and paper.

The origin of lacquer in Okinawa is unclear, but records indicate Chinese Ming emperor Senso dispatched envoys to the Ryukyus to buy raw lacquer in 1427. It is also known that in the 15th century persons related to the royal household used vermilion lacquer on their coffins with gold comma shaped decoration. Later on, the Ryukyuan royal government put efforts into the production of lacquerware products for use as presents and trade items for the Chinese emperor and as tribute items for the Japanese shogun and the various feucal lords of Japan. A magistraterial office called the kaizuri bugyo (office of shell polishing) was established to manage production and the lacquerware artisans. In the magistrate workshops work was done with great care, and the production of some pieces might have taken a number of years to complete. The term Kaizuri (shell polishing) refers to the mother-of-pearl inlay technique called raden. Production consists of cutting out a design in thinly polished turban or abalone shell and applying it as inlay on the lacquer, a technique highly valued in the

rlacquerware paper-including boxwith mother-of-pearl inlay

time.Other typical techniques used in Ryukyuan lacquer includechinkin gilt line engraving and tsuikin applique.

This technique involves carving designs on the surface of the lacquer piece, which then has gold leaf applied into the design.The beauty of vermilion lacquerware pieces with chinkingilt line engraving are rightly praised, along with radenmother-of pearl inlay, as one of the flowers of Ryukyuan dynastic culture.

chinkin engeve lacquer tea caddies

The tsuikin method of applique is unique to Okinawa but was inspired by the Chinese lacquer technique calledtsuishu in japanese. Lacquer is mixed with pigments and rolled out into a thin sheet. The sheet is then cut with a small knife and the decoration is applied to the main lacquerware piece. Because it is solidly made and can be produced in large quanfities,tsuikin is currently the most popular technique in Okinawan lacquerware.

tsuikin applique lacquerware lidded thay for holding lacwuer and ceramic plates

The distinctive features of Ryukyuan lacquer are said to be its vermilion color as well as the tsuikin applique and radeninlay techniques, but all of these qualities are intimately related to the climatic conditions in Okinawa.

Suitable drying conditions for lacquer are a humidity level of 80% and a temperature above 20 degrees Centigrade. Okinawa has ideal natural conditions for lacquer production. The strong ultraviolet rays of the sun

bring out the vividness of the vermilion red pigments. Since the late 19th century pig's blood has at times been used as primer and was said to be the reason for the deep vermilion color achieved, but it is now believed the primer base has very little to do with the vivid colors of the finished lacquer.

The techniques of tsuikin also use the advantageous natural conditions here and it is said that tsuikin techniques probably would not have been developed elsewhere. In the case of the raden technique, the shell used for inlay does not require a glue for attachment to the lacquer so considerable delicate craftsmanship is possible. At present, excellent quality Ryukyu lacquer items can be seen in the Lacquerware Hall of Urasoe Art Museum, inside Shuri Castle,in the Okinawa Prefectural Museum, and in many other fine shops in Okinawa.

The history of Ryukyu Glass is much shorter than other traditional arts and crafts in Okinawa, dating back only to the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Up until WWII the production consisted largely of daily items such as lamp chimneys and medicine bottles. As one of the traditional arts, it was not until the postwar era that it came into the limelight. The large quantity of soft drink bottles brought in by the U.S. forces on Okinawa were cut and reused as cups by the locals. Finally, they began to be used for glassblowing and many utilitarian items came into production. The old empty bottles brought by the American servicemen were turned into glass products with impurities and bubbles left in the material. It was the Americans, who first recognized the allure of such handmade glass products.

Lampshade vase

large glass dish incorporating many smal air bubbles

After okinawa was returned to Japan, Ryukyu glass gained popularity as souvenirs for tourists and has become fixed as a familiar traditional craft in daily life. Recently, in addition to using empty soft drink bottles, regular glass making materials are being added and items more refined, both technically and design-wise.Uchina Series: Colors and Forms of OkinawaTextiles -Okinawa IslandTextiles -Surrounding Islands

These new Uchina series are an introduction to Okinawa's culture and history from a different viewpoint. Our previous issue focused on the gusuku castles registered as World Heritage Sites. In this new issue, we will bring to you the aura and contours seen in the pottery and textiles that Okinawa has nurtured within its history and environment. We hope you enjoy the unique tint and form these crafts display.

First Series: Textiles on Okinawa IslandSecond Series: Textiles on Surrounding IslandsThird Series: Okinawan PotteryFourth Series: Ryukyu Lacquerware and Glass

A wide array of distinctive weaves such as the Kumejima Tsumugi, Yaeyama Jofu, Minsa of Taketomi, Kohama and Yonaguni Islands and Yonaguni Hanaui bloomed on the beautiful islands surrounding Okinawa. The plants growing on the islands played a significant role in the creation of these beauties. Fibers of ramie, tonbiyan (agave) and basho (banana) are used along with indigo plants, fukugi trees and hawthorns for dyes. These textiles were woven by the delicate hands of women who passed down the tradition to their daughters. Each design on kasuri and hanaui fabrics were given names such as tuiguwa (bird) or buribusa (numerous stars). These names reflect the surrounding environment in their everyday lives and emphasize the women's strong bond with these textiles.

The history of Jofu hemp textiles was full of oppressive regulations. Documents state that ramie was presented to the Ming dynasty as a celebratory gift from the Ryukyu Kingdom government in the 14th or 15th century. It is believed that regulations of tributary cloth productions were enforced in this era. The invasion of the Satsuma clan in 1609 brought an expansion in the production of tributary ramie and bashofu textiles. A list stating the tributary items given to theSatsuma clan in 1611, is as follows: 3,000 rolls of bashofu, 180 kg of sweet potatoes, 6,000 rolls of jofu (finely woven hemp) and 10,000 rolls of gefu (coarsely woven hemp).

Miyako Jofu is a navy blue woven textile using ramie as raw material. Light like a feather, this delicate jofu emphasizes its sheerness, intricate designs and dark gloss. Beauty turned its fate into a tributary cloth and the strict regulations enforced on the production demanded perfection. The agony and severity of this period are proved in existing songs. The textiles were woven under strict Satsuma supervision by women gathered in a hut. These textiles journeyed the seas to Edo (Tokyo) and Osaka. They were labeled as Satsuma products and were called Satsuma Jofu.

Although the same fibers were used, the jofu of Yaeyama was enforced through regulations to use white whereas the jofu of Miyako was indigo blue. Dyes extracted from the yam family in the mountains were used in a special rub-on method. Indigo blue and light brown colors of kasuripatterns are arranged on the white to create an airy textile.

The origin of the tsumugi in Kumejima Island is believed to have come from the south. It has the longest history out of the 200 tsumugi weaves made in Japan. Weaving techniques from Hachijojima Island were introduced through the Satsuma clan after their invasion and the textile eventually became a tributary cloth. A major production of the textile, from sericulture to looms, involved the whole island. Indigenous plant dyes and mud dyeing method produces the perfect hue for this textile. The coloration combined with the texture coming from handweaving makes it special and distinctive. The basic black-brown coloring of the textile is developed by soaking it in a Chinese root dye (Smilax China L.) for 15 times, in hawthorn extract for 25 times and in raw mud 8 times.

Left: Yaeyama Minsa Right: Yonaguni Minsa

Minsa is a sash woven by cotton threads in indigo blue. These sashes were once presented to men to express women's love. The history of this beautiful sash goes back to the Afghanistan region via Tibet and China. Patterns and thread dyes depend on the region it is produced. Well-knownminsas have two distinctive designs of five-squared and four-squared patterns. These patterns are woven alternately and express the feeling, "love me forever". Minsa sashes produced in Yonaguni include patterns depicting married couples.

Yonaguni textiles includes dimensional figures such as the Hanaui Tisaji(hand cloth) and the Yonaguni Hanaui. Techniques are believed to have come on trade ships in the 15th century. The Hanaui Tisaji hand cloths were once given from women to man to pray for safety voyages. And theYonaguni Hanaui with designs woven on kimono cloths uses similar techniques as the Shuri Hanaui.

Uchina Series: Colors and Forms of Okinawa/Textiles in Okinawa-Okinawa Island

Woven Identities of Japan: Ainu and Okinawa Textiles, Sept 4 – Oct 29

Bingata kimono, Okinawa, 19th century, 123.2 x 188.8 cm, cotton with katazome stencil-dyeing. Collection of Thomas Murray.

(Courtesy of Clark Center)

Textiles are an intrinsic part of life across all cultures throughout history. Whether used as clothing, containers, or mere decoration, textiles literally bind communities together. No other medium at once communicates social standing, cultural values, and aesthetics while also carrying out a functional purpose.

This fall, the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, California, returns from its summer break withWoven Identities of Japan: Ainu and Okinawan Textiles.

The first of two rotations, this exhibition will showcase articles of clothing made using different weaving, dyeing, and decorative techniques. This rotation focuses on the clothing of two unique ethnic groups; the indigenous Ainu of Northern Japan and the Okinawans of Southern Japan.

Featuring the dramatic, plant-fiber robes of the Ainu and the brightly colored kimono of the Okinawans, this exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the world of Japanese folk textiles.

Before 1879, the islands that today comprise Okinawa Prefecture formed the Ryukyu Kingdom. Established in 1429 by King Sho Hashi, the kingdom was a major maritime trading power in Asia. Okinawa’s independent history and religious, social and artistic traditions result in textiles that are truly singular.

Whether produced for trade, tribute or for the islanders’ own use, Okinawan fabrics were intimately related to the cultural and political identity of the people who made them.

The textiles of Okinawa reflect the tropical climate through a range of airy, plant fiber cloth and vivid decoration. One such robe featured in the exhibition is a striking bingata kimono from the 19th century that would have been worn by a noblewoman. Made of cotton, a material reserved for the upper echelons of Ryukyuan society, this robe features a pale blue background with a deep red latticework and stylized snowflakes, plum blossoms, and pine trees.

The elements that typified Ryukyuan clothing are evident including the triangular gussets under the sleeves, a long neckline, and the use of the decorative technique of bingata.

This paste-resist stencil dyeing technique was reserved exclusively for the use of the Ryukyuan court. Such painstakingly decorated textile art offers a glimpse into a culture that, while sharing elements of Japanese style, is uniquely Okinawan.

The clothing worn by the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan, stands in sharp contrast to that worn by members of Japanese society. The Ainu are a highly diversified cultural group that lived primarily by hunting and gathering.

The way of life, beliefs, and material culture of the Ainu are distinct from those of the mainland Japanese. Accordingly, their textiles, while sharing some similar characteristics, are quite unique and visually express their religious beliefs.

The robes of the Ainu, usually woven from plant fibers, were meant to serve as protection against evil for the wearer. The sweeping abstract designs of these textiles focus on the hems and necklines of the robes, as openings in clothing were thought to serve as entrance of evil spirits into a person’s body.

This expression of religious beliefs is beautifully shown through the attush, a ceremonial robe made from elm tree fiber and featuring the ornamentation that is an essential characteristic of Ainu dress. These embroidered patterns are purely Ainu, but may have evolved as a synthesis of archaic Japanese patterns with the scrolling arabesques found on archaic Chinese bronzes.

Woven Identities of Japan: Ainu and Okinawan Textiles offers a glimpse into the clothing of two cultures that, while part of the same country today, were in the past truly distinct from mainland Japan.

Viewers will not only have the opportunity to see different types of Japanese textiles, but will also learn more about how these wearable works of art were originally produced.

This exhibition features outstanding works from the private collection of Thomas Murray, a dealer of Asian and Tribal arts and an enthusiastic collector of Japanese textiles.

This exhibition is curated by Virginia Soenksen, Curatorial Assistant. It will open on September 4 and will run through October 29, 2011. The curator will give an opening lecture at 2:00 pm on September 4.

The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture is located at 15570 Tenth Ave, Hanford, CA 93230. The gallery is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 12:30 to 5:00 pm. The gallery is closed in the entire month of August. For more information, call (559) 582-4915 or visit www.ccjac.org

Ainu EmbroideryJune 27-October 7, 2012

Work of Yoshimi Kato. The guest curator for both exhibits is renowned Japanese quilter Miwako Kimura.

The Ainu race lived in a wide area ranging from the Sakhalin Islands to the Island of Hokkaido in Japan.   The history of the Ainu people may be as old as 4,000 years. Today the Ainu people have assimilated into Japanese culture but they have prided themselves into preserving their language and their rich culture and life style.

Yoshimi Kato and I have focused on their textiles, garments and stitchery for this show at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, in which most of the embroidery was made by Kato and her students.   Kato encountered this unique stitchery in Hokkaido ten years ago and learned from an Ainu lady who was handed down the traditional stitching techniques as well as its historical and cultural backgrounds. The Ainu garments are no longer for practical, daily use but they are worn for festive occasions or for tourist events and are displayed in museums. In order to preserve this

tradition and give a life to it, we believe the beauty of the textile and the stitching technique must further be understood by the new generation and it will stimulate them to interpret and create new things for various practical uses.

Yoshimi Kato and I are pleased to have this opportunity to exhibit the works of Ainu stitchery at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum.  I hope you will enjoy the show and it will give some inspiration to your creations.

                                                                          Miwako Kimura                                                               Curator of Japanese Quilts

Ainu Tales in Tapestries: Shizue Ukaji at the Philia MuseumAlan Gleason

Kamui Chikap Kamui, the owl god, above an Ainu pattern

embracing the island of Hokkaido. Embroidery on fabric by Shizue

Ukaji, 2008.

An old woman sings out her warning of a tsunami. From The Song of the Cicada by Shizue Ukaji, published by Fukuinkan Shoten, 2008.

The shimafukuro or island owl is a species of fish owl that dwells only on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido. With a wingspan that can reach two meters, it is the largest owl in the world. To the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, the shimafukuro is a god -- a guardian deity who figures in many of their legends.

It is a miracle that these orally transmitted tales can even be heard today. The campaign by the Japanese government to develop Hokkaido and make it a permanent part of Japan did not begin in earnest until after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, but in mere decades the native Ainu population and its culture were nearly eradicated. In the early 1970s, however, an Ainu rights movement emerged, demanding, among other things, that the government recognize the Ainu as an indigenous minority. The activists' efforts culminated in passage of the Ainu Cultural Law in 1997.

The old woman is swept out to sea, but returns to land as a singing cicada. FromThe

Song of the Cicada by Shizue Ukaji, published by Fukuinkan Shoten, 2008.

The owl god watches over his little sister in a tapestry based on the Ainu legend Tokina-to. Embroidery on fabric by Shizue Ukaji,

published in Tokina-to: Song by a Little Sister of the God Owl by Fukuinkan Shoten, 2008.

One of the leaders of this movement was an Ainu poet named Shizue Ukaji. Born in Hokkaido in 1933, she moved at age 23 to Tokyo, one of many Ainu who migrated to the capital to escape the poverty and discrimination they faced in Hokkaido. In Tokyo Ukaji fought not only for Ainu rights and recognition, but also to preserve Ainu culture. In the 1990s she began to study traditional Ainu embroidery. Applying Ainu patterns and needlework to scraps of old kimono fabric, she invented her own distinctive medium of expression: kofu-e, or "old cloth pictures."

Ukaji places her art in the service of giving form to the ancient myths of the Ainu -- the oral tradition of epics known as yukara. Her pictures are like small tapestries, which she produces in series to tell a story. Humans, gods, and monsters figure prominently, but pride of place goes to animals of all sorts -- salmon, snakes, cicadas, and most notably, owls -- big owls, with piercing eyes. Her creatures fly, swim and crawl across the fabric in what seem like free-form improvisations of needlework, but they are anchored by the repetition of traditional Ainu patterns: wave- or cloud-like curls and spirals that remind one of the totem pole motifs of indigenous people on the other side of the ocean, in the Pacific Northwest.

It makes sense that Ukaji's kofu-e would be compiled into picture books, a literary medium that has achieved something of an artistic zenith in Japan. In just the last five years the venerable children's publisher Fukuinkan has produced three beautiful books of Ukaji's art, each volume telling one of the yukara legends.

And it makes equally good sense to display these pictures in narrative sequence on the walls of an art museum. This is what the Philia Museum in Yamanashi Prefecture has done, and one cannot imagine a more sympatico environment for Ukaji's work.

Two tapestries of traditional Ainu patterns by Shizue Ukaji hang next to the pipe organ in the main gallery of the

Philia Museum. Photo by Alan Gleason.

The pastoral setting of the Philia Museum, opened in 1990 in Kobuchizawa, Yamanashi Prefecture.

All images courtesy of the Philia Museum

The Philia overlooks a broad alpine meadow on the lower slopes of Yatsugatake, a volcanic massif in the center of Japan's main island of Honshu. Beyond the meadow tower the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps. It is probably as close an approximation of Ukaji's northern homeland as one is likely to find anywhere on Honshu.

The museum itself is also an excellent fit, albeit in unexpected ways. The Philia has nothing remotely "ethnic," artsy-craftsy, or even traditionally Japanese about it. In fact, it resembles a medieval European chapel, complete with high wooden rafters and a pipe organ in the main gallery. This cloister-like ambience resonates most serendipitously with the tapestries, large and small, that make up Ukaji's exhibition. Two of her largest works, covered in geometric Ainu patterns, hang on the gallery wall next to the pipe organ: the juxtaposition is curious, but somehow perfect. 

Along the other walls and in the mezzanine upstairs one can view, in sequence, the original embroidered-fabric pictures that illustrate three of Ukaji's picture books: The Owl God and a School of Salmon, The Song of the Cicada, andTokina-to: Song by a Little Sister of the God Owl. By poignant coincidence, The Song of the Cicada tells the story of an old woman who warns the people in her fishing village of the imminent arrival of a tsunami, but to no avail.

An even more gut-wrenching association with Ukaji's work -- and life -- is provided by one of the museum's special collections in a room off the main gallery: a series of drawings by the Polish painter Mieczylaw Kosceilniak of life in Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp where he was imprisoned from 1941 to 1945. Viewing Kosceilniak's works in tandem with Ukaji's, it is impossible not to contemplate the parallels between the Holocaust and the fate of the Ainu, and their common origin in man's casual dehumanization of those perceived as Other. As tragedies continue to unfold to the north in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, Ukaji and the Philia Museum offer us some timely perspectives, at once playful and sobering, on the caprices of the gods -- and on human hubris and folly.

Late spring is the perfect time to visit the Philia Museum and its bucolic environs. Ukaji's exhibition will be on view there until June 26.

Experience Ainu culture

THE AINU MUSEUMThis facility, which includes the largest Ainu museum in Japan, aims to deepen understanding of Ainu culture through its preservation and continuation.

2-3-4 Wakakusacho Shiraoi Hokkaido TEL 0144-82-3914

The Ainu Museum Homepage

Business hours: April to October, 8:45 - 17:00 / November to March, 8:45 - 16:30

The mukkuri is known as the Ainu musical instrument for

"conveying thoughts to the beloved."

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Mukkuri makingAlso known as a mouth harp, the mukkuri is a traditional musical instrument of the Ainu. Learn how to make and play the mukkuri , and take home your instrument as a souvenir.

Range of participants: 1 - 300, Fees: 500 yen(Child 350 yen),   Time required: 60 min, Reservations necessary,  Available throughout the year 

Playing the MukkuriThe mukkuri can then be taken home as souvenirs.

Range of participants: 1 - 300, Fees: 500 yen(Child 350 yen),   Time required: 30 min, Reservations necessary,  Available throughout the year 

Ainu-design carving and embroideryHands-on carving (carve an Ainu design onto a coaster). Hands-on embroidery (embroider a coaster or bookmark-size piece of cloth made from tree bark). Finished products can be taken home as souvenirs.

Range of participants: 1 - 300, Fees: 1000 yen(Child 1000 yen),   Time required: 60 min, Reservations necessary,  Available throughout the year   

Sampling traditional dishesSample traditional Ainu cuisine, including everyday dishes such as chepuohau (salted salmon and vegetable broth) and chimachep (spit-roast salmon) or special ceremonial and celebratory dishes such as menkuruchisassue (millet rice), shito (dumplings), as well as medicinal kakidoshi (ground ivy) and sugina (horsetail plant extract) teas.

Range of participants: 10 - 250, Fees: 1000 yen(School student 800 yen),   Time required: more than 30 min, Reservations necessary,  Available throughout the year 

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Experience traditional Ainu danceFourteen songs and dances have been handed down from generation to generation in the Shiraoi region. Experience the representative iyomante rimse while wearing traditional Ainu dress.

Fees: 200 yen (Child 200 yen),   Time required: more than 30 min, Reservations necessary,  Available throughout the year 

Lectures by a Traveling CuratorLectures given on Ainu culture, customs, history and the like.

Fees: More than 30,000 yen,   Time required: The venue and theme of the lecture can be varied according to requests. Reservations necessary,  Available throughout the year