Masao Nishida (Elder of Lake Akan Ainu Kotan)

Masao Nishida is the great-grandson of Ueyoshi Nishida, a man who was forcibly moved from Kushiro to the upper reaches of the Seturi River (currently Tsurui Village) back in 1885. From the founding of the Lake Akan Ainu Kotan (village) in autumn 1954, Masao Nishida learned about Ainu culture from his adoptive father, Sanzirou Akibe, and his mother, Katsumi, while living the Ainu lifestyle. In 1973, Masao inherited a house in the village. And while running a folk art store there, he began engaging in Ainu cultural activities in earnest as a member of the Akan Ainu Culture Preservation Society and of the Lake Akan Ainu Association.
Active both in Japan and overseas, Masao Nishida is a performer of Ainu ancient ceremonial dance, yukar drama, and Ainu folk-tale puppet shows. And in recent years, he has also held the role of priest for the kamuynomi (an Ainu ritual in which prayers are offered to the gods) for his local region as well as further afield. In that role, while caringly guiding those junior to him, Masao Nishida has strived to foster heirs to the culture and promote aware awareness of it. His contribution to Ainu culture is enormous

Akira Toko

Akira Toko is Ainu through and though. He was born to Ainu parents, Suketaro (his father) and Tami (his mother) in the Chiyonoura district of Kushiro City in Hokkaido’s far east. And his older brother, Nuburi Toko, was a well-known woodcarver. Akira dedicates much time to his heritage alongside running an Ainu restaurant, café, and folk arts store called “Poronno”. He served as head of the Akan Ainu Culture Preservation Society. As a master of Ainu dance, he is active on the stage where he teaches the younger generations. And, viewing the world through the lens of Ainu culture, he has abundant experience as a nature guide, an activity he engages in on Anytime, Ainutime!, a website dedicated to Ainu culture

Singers and dancers of Lake Akan Ainu Kotan (village)

Lake Akan Ainu Kotan is home to fuchi (Ainu women elders) and ekashi (Ainu men elders). These elders have passed down rituals and festivals by performing ancient upopo (songs) and rimse (dances). There are also a group of men in the village who provide support for and carry on traditions. And in the Iomante fire festival and Lost Kamuy performed at Ainu Theater , new ways to express Ainu culture have been created that mix tradition and creativity, with Ainu dance at the core. All of these people living in Akan are heirs to Ainu culture.

Kanto no Heya

Kanto no Heya is a three-member band that was formed by Kanto (guitarist and vocalist), a Tokyo-born Ainu who grew up near Lake Akan. Kanto, who currently lives in Kushiro City to attend senior high school, was eager to explore music. He reached out to Manau (drummer), who is the son of OKI, the eponymous Tonkori player in the OKI DUB AINU BAND. And with Kanto as guitarist and vocalist and with Daichi (bassist) from the band GREEN Bou GRINBO joining, Kanto no Heya dived into creating music. The band members live far from each other—Kanto and Daichi live near Lake Akan in Kushiro, which is around 200km from where Manau lives in Tōma in Kamikawa Subprefecture. Do have a listen to the music created by this trio of young Ainu, who utasa (connect) over great physical distances to make their tracks.

OKI

OKI is a musician who was born in Kanagawa in Japan in 1957. His ancestors are the Ainu of the Ishikari River in Hokkaido.
OKI creates and plays the tonkori, a traditional stringed instrument of the Sakhalin Ainu. Centering his musical creations on Ainu traditional music, he has pioneered a unique style that uses novel sounds. OKI leads the Oki Dub Ainu Band and has performed with the band at festivals around the world. He runs the music label Chikar Studio and is the producer for the legendary Ainu singers Umeko Ando and Marewrew.

Kapiw＆Apappo

Kapiw and Apappo are sisters from Lake Akan Ainu Kotan who perform upopo (Ainu folk songs). Their names are Ainu words: “Kapiw” means “seagull”, and “Apappo” means “flower”.
Since childhood, these singing sisters have shared the magic of Ainu songs by using traditional Ainu instruments such as the mukkuri (a bamboo instrument similar to a Jew’s harp) and the tonkori (a plucked instrument) to play local Akan songs and songs handed down from their grandmother.
They started performing in 2011. And since then, they have performed all over Japan, sometimes performing together with other musicians.

Akan Jew’s Harp Association

Established in 1992, Akan Jew’s Harp Association promotes Ainu culture by hosting mukkuri (a traditional Ainu bamboo instrument similar to a Jew’s harp) performances and lecturing about the instrument. The association’s members pour their efforts into preserving ancient Ainu dances and Ainu songs as well as into training young people in them. The association has participated in various International Jew’s Harp Festivals (Austria in 1999, Norway in 2002, Netherlands in 2006, and the Sakha Republic in Russia in 2011). And it has received high critical acclaim internationally—the association was invited to perform at the third “Meeting of UNESCO Masterpieces on Olonkho Land”, an international festival that is held in the Sakha Republic in 2016.

GREEN Bou GRINBO

Formed on October 14, 2017, GREEN Bou GRINBO are a Hokkaido band mainly made up of members living near Lake Akan Hot Spring.
The band came to life when Pete (the band’s founding member) wanted to form a band at Lake Akan after moving there. He invited local elementary and junior high school students to make some music with him, and the rest is history. The band’s curious name originates in the green algae balls found in Lake Akan that are called “marimo”. The band apparently came up with their name in a moment of desperation during a band meeting. GREEN Bou GRINBO is currently made up of two junior high school students and four senior high school students as well as one person in his forties, making them an inter-generational band. All members are either Ainu or have Ainu descendants. In their musical repertoire, the band perform original songs in the Ainu language that have been translated from Japanese.