A Museum that Embodies Ainu Culture アイヌ文化を体現する資料館

Official explanation

The history, spirituality, and legends of Ainu culture are embodied in the design and architecture of the Kussharo Kotan Ainu Museum.

Twenty-three wooden pillars inside the building represent the nusasan (altar), a sacred place of worship erected outside of Ainu homes. The pillars also symbolize the forest and mountains surrounding the village. An audio recording of yukar, music-accompanied epic Ainu poetry, streams from speakers inside the pillars. Visitors can ask to watch a 10-minute slideshow, projected on the museum wall, about iomante, a ceremony that returns a bear’s spirit to the divine realm of the kamuy.

Read the full explanation

Outside the museum, in the open-air space next to Lake Kussharo, visitors will find a nusasan and an eperset—a cage that Ainu used to raise small bears.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.