Just a little more research

Today was my last day in Hokkaido. This morning after breakfast, I went to the Hakodate Northern People’s Museum with my host mother and her two children (who had the day off of school). Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures of this beautiful collection of artifacts as they had some particularly nice specimens of carved-wood ritual ornaments and tools and woven elm-fiber clothing. We were also able to watch a short, but very interesting and informative movie about the efforts going on today to preserve and spread Ainu culture (as there are no longer any Ainu remaining that live in the traditional way of life – all have assimilated to mainstream, modern Japanese lifestyles).