#shigeru kayano

[paandaan]

I think it was about that time that Nitani Kunimatsu (Ainu name Nisukrekkur, born 1888), Nitani Tarō (Uparette, born 1892), and my father Kaizawa Seitarō (Arekaynu, born 1893) gathered for a conversation. They were the last three Nibutani residents who spoke fluent Ainu. As they agreed, “The first among us to die is the luckiest. The remaining two will perform iyoitakkote [guiding the passage to the other world] in Ainu, according to traditional ritual, so he will be certain to return to the realm of the gods. Whoever dies first is the lucky one.”

“Whoever dies first is the lucky one”—I repeated it again and again in my heart. I was saddened by their words. Their import cannot possibly be grasped by those who have not been robbed of the very roots of their culture and language.

It is said that when people age, their fear of death diminishes. There is still, however, a wish to be led to the other world in an appropriate manner. The desire to die early simply for the sake of a meaningful funeral shows the extent to which culture and language are important to us Ainu.

The “luckiest” among the three turned out to be my father. Realizing that time was running short, my father sent for Nitani Kunimatsu in February 1956. Gaunt with illness, he made the following plea to Kunimatsu: “Elder brother [an appellation used as a sign of respect, even with a younger person or one without blood ties], I am seriously ill, as you can see. I cannot even dream that I will recover my strength. I would like you to perform the deathbed rite so that when I die I can return to my parents without losing my way.”

Kunimatsu responded with onkami, the formal Ainu greeting. Then he spoke to my father slowly, in Ainu: “I accede to your request for the rite. Rest in peace, as I will recite the lines without fail. Now, although it’s difficult to do this at your final moment, there is one thing I must ask you. Please answer my question fully.” Our neighbors, my mother, and I held our breath in anticipation, not knowing what question Kunimatsu would pose.

“You have always been an outstanding orator. I have heard that you once threatened someone, claiming you could use your oratorical skills to place a curse of death on others. I believe it was a mere rumor, but I would like to learn, directly from you, the truth or falsity of the incident. If true, you must first apologize to the gods before I can perform the rite with a clear conscience. Also, if you threatened someone in jest without thinking, I need to intercede on your behalf. Whatever the case, I want you to answer honestly in your last hour.”

We waited for my father’s words, secretly fearing his answer. He answered in Ainu in a quiet, though steady, voice: “Elder brother, please don’t worry. It is indeed a mere rumor. I know no such evil words as would cause others to die. In my youth, I certainly used to get carried away and pretend to know what I did not, and both my words and conduct might have misled people. But nobody taught me such evil words, nor have I ever wished to curse another to death. In the old days the lineage of one who learned such words was said to die out. I, however, have sons and their children. After I die, my children will have at least enough to eat. Elder brother, you need not worry about this. There is no need to ask the gods for forgiveness, nor do I need special intercession on my behalf.”

Hearing this reply, Kunimatsu looked relieved. “I see. I’m glad I asked, though it was difficult. I am not the only witness to your reply; your wife and sons are, too. Humans with their ears aren’t the only ones who heard you; all the gods in the house, especially the goddess of fire, also heard. Be at ease now.” No sooner had he said this than big teardrops rolled down his cheeks, and he added in Japanese, “Seitarō, you’re so lucky to be able to go first. Who will send me off when I die?” Clasping my father’s slender hands in his, he could say no more. Imagining how the two old men felt, not one of us could hold back tears.

The funeral of my father, the “luckiest” because he died first, was held on February 19, 1956. As he had sworn, Kunimatsu performed a completely traditional sending-off ceremony.

Our Land Was A Forest : An Ainu Memoir, Shigeru Kayano (trans. Mark Selden)

[shu-of-the-wind]

The Ainu have not intentionally forgotten their culture and their language. It is the modern Japanese state that, from the Meiji era on, usurped our land, destroyed our culture, and deprived us of our language under the euphemism of assimilation. In the space of a mere 100 years, they nearly decimated the Ainu culture and language that had taken tens of thousands of years to come into being on this earth. ~Kayano Shigeru (1926-2006) Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir

[studentofetherium]

Favorite book you read this year?

that's pretty tough, actually. there's a lot of great stuff i finished this year. for example:

i read all the post-anime Monogatari novels! Oroka, Nade, Musubi, and Ikusa are all some of the best in the series, so naturally, all of those are in contention for the best novels i've read all year. i'm not sure which one of those comes out ahead of the others, because they're all great in their own ways

i also reread Hana and that was pretty great too but i'm not sure if rereads count

speaking of Nisioisin, i finally finished the last two Zaregoto novels this year, and while they're not as good as the earlier novels, the conclusion to the series was pretty great, so it deserves a shoutout

moving away from Nisioisin, i recently finished The Most Gorgeous Situation by tim rogers, the second volume of his autobiography. tim is another one of my favorite authors and The Most Gorgeous Situation was no exception to his exceptional output

Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died is another fantastic autobio. it's a hard read a lot of the time, but the way the story is written helps it to stay enjoyable throughout

Our Land Was A Forest is yet another autobio, this time by Ainu activist Kayano Shigeru, recounting the recent history and his personal experiences as an Ainu man throughout the 20th century. it's a great read on the topic of Ainu issues, really gives some good insight into this side of Japan which is easy to otherwise miss

and finally, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook by Gananath Obeyesekere is an interesting post-colonialist revisionist take on what really happened with Captain Cook in Hawai'i, and how the myth of him being revered as a god is deeply tied to colonialist ideas around non-white people and how they think

all of these are good in completely different ways, so any of them could be labeled my favorite. can't choose just one!

[apkfanda]

Fate/Grand Order

Familiar on TV, TYPE-MOON's Fate RPG! You can enjoy a full-fledged RPG even on your smartphone. A story where you can enjoy an overwhelming volume of over 5 million characters! In addition to the main story, we have prepared a story for each character, and the content is enough to satisfy both Fate fans and those who are experiencing the world of Fate for the first time. 2015 AD. Chaldea, which observes the future of the Earth, has confirmed the fact that human history has collapsed since 2017. The "promised future" until 2115, which had certainly existed until yesterday, suddenly disappeared without warning. why. Why. who. how. A provincial city in Japan in the year 2004. "An unobservable area" that had never existed before appeared here. Chaldea hypothesized that this was the cause of human extinction, and decided to carry out the sixth experiment, which was still in the experimental stage. "It's time travel to the past." A forbidden ritual that transforms humans into spirits and sends them to the past, intervening in events to reveal or destroy singularities in space-time. "The name is Human Rights Protection Order, Grand Order." It is a general term for those who fight against fate and confront human history in order to protect humanity. An easy-to-use command order battle optimized for smartphones! The player becomes a master and manipulates the spirits to defeat enemies and solve mysteries. "Whether you fight with your favorite Heroic Spirit or a strong Heroic Spirit, the battle style is up to the player." ◆ Gorgeous voice actors participate one after another Shiki Aoki, Himika Akaneya, Kenji Akabane, Satomi Akesaka, Yu Asakawa, Maruka Asahina, Kana Asumi, Akina Abe, Sora Amamiya, Satomi Arai, Yuka Iguchi, Shiori Izawa, Kaito Ishikawa, Yui Ishikawa, Mai Iwami Naika, Haruki Ishitani, Mariya Ise, Ayasa Ito, Kanae Ito, Kento Ito, Shizuka Ito, Miki Ito, Toru Inada, Kikuko Inoue, Marina Inoue, Sumire Uesaka, Kana Ueda, Reina Ueda, Maaya Uchida , Yuma Uchida, Koki Uchiyama, Hiroo Egawa, Aya Endo, Rumi Okubo, Akio Otsuka, Yoshitada Otsuka, Sayaka Ohara, Hitomi Owada, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Ryotaro Okiayu, Yui Ogura, Ari Ozawa, Daisuke Ono, Chiaki Omigawa, Yumi Kakazu, Ai Kakuma, Jun Kasama, Yasuyuki Kase, Mai Kadowaki, Hisako Kanemoto, Shinichiro Kamio, Ai Kayano, Ayako Kawasumi, Kengo Kasai, Taketoshi Kawano, Nobutoshi Kana, Akari Kito, Ryohei Kimura, Takuya Kirimoto , Rie Kugimiya, Misaki Kuno, Takaya Kuroda, Yuki Kuwahara, Marika Takano, Aoi Koga, Ami Koshimizu, Chiaki Kobayashi, Yu Kobayashi, Mikako Komatsu, Takehito Koyasu, Rikiya Koyama, Rena Kondo, Mitsuki Saiga, Tadahisa Nishimae, Soma Saito, Chiwa Saito, Maaya Sakamoto, Ayane Sakura, Takahiro Sakurai, Satomi Sato, Rina Sato, Miyuki Sawashiro, Noriko Shimoya, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Yu Shimamura, Umika Shoji, Kei Shindo, Rie Suegara, Tomokazu Sugita, Noriaki Sugiyama, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Ryota Suzuki, Kenichi Suzumura, Ayaka Suwa, Junichi Suwabe, Toshihiko Seki, Tomokazu Seki, Yu Serizawa, Ayaka Senbongi, Mie Sonozaki, Ha Daichi, Rei Takano, Naoko Takano, Karin Takahashi, Rie Takahashi, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Ryota Takeuchi, Hana Takeda, Atsuko Tanaka, Minami Tanaka, Rie Tanaka, Kisho Taniyama, Atsumi Tanezaki, Risa Taneda, Yukari Tamura, Sakura Tange, Shigeru Chiba, Kenjiro Tsuda, Satoshi Tsuruoka , Yuka Terasaki, Takuma Terashima, Nao Higashiyama, Nobuo Tobita, Haruka Tomatsu, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kosuke Toriumi, Kazuya Nakai, Joji Nakata, Maria Naganawa, Misaki Nakamura, Yuichi Nakamura, Kaori Nazuka, Hitomi Nabatame, Daisuke Namikawa, Mamiko Noto, Ai Nonaka, Kenji Nomura, Takaya Haji, Ikumi Hasegawa, Natsuki Hanae, Yumiri Hanamori, Saori Hayami, Yumi Hara, Megumi Han, Yoko Hikasa, Satoshi Hino, Daisuke Hirakawa, Ai Fairouz, Misato Fukuen, Jun Fukuyama, Fujii Hayabusa, Sarah Emi Bridcat, Shin Furukawa, Soichiro Hoshi, Takanori Hoshino, Yui Horie, Mariko Honda, Tomoaki Maeno, M・A・O, Toshiki Masuda, Machico, Masaya Matsukaze, Mitsuaki Madono, Mafia Kajita, Satoshi Mikami, Shinichiro Miki, Nana Mizuki, Hirohiro Mizushima, Kaori Mizuhashi, Hikaru Midorikawa, Inori Minase, Omi Minami, Mayu Mineta, Mamoru Miyano, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Tomoyuki Morikawa, Ryosuke Morita, Chitose Morinaga, Nanako Mori, Kunihiko Yasui, Yamaji Kazuhiro, Daiki Yamashita, Koichi Yamadera, Aoi Yuki, Yukana, Koji Yusa, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Haruka Yoshimura, Madoka Yonezawa, Naomi Wakabayashi, Azumi Waki, Misaki Watada (in alphabetical order) Overall composition, main scenario, scenario, general director Nasu Mushroom ◆ Lead character designer Takashi Takeuchi ◆ Art direction TYPE-MOON ◆Main scenario/scenario writing Yuichiro Higashide, Hikaru Sakurai Minase Hazuki, Hoshizora Meteo (TYPE-MOON) ◆ Scenario writing OKSG (TYPE-MOON) ◆ Part 2 Chapter 3 Scenario Guest Writer Urobuchi Gen (Nitroplus) ◆Guest writer amphibian, acpi, experience, Ukyo Kodachi, Makoto Mita, Koshi Tachibana, Ten Tanaka (Flagnotes Inc.), Ryogo Narita, Hiroshi Hiroyama, Enki, Jinroku Myogaya, Shunsaku Yano (Flagnotes Inc.), Lyot (in Japanese syllabary order) ◆ Character design I-IV, Takao Aotsuki (TYPE-MOON), AKIRA, Azusa, Tofuyu, Wilderness, Makoto Ikezawa, Akira Ishida, Chika Umino, Aoi Omori, Takeshi Okazaki, okojo, Yo, Itsuwa Kato, Takeshi Kawaguchi, Ki Badori Liu, Kotori Kirihara, Gingka, Chinatsu Kurahana, Kouhaku Kuroboshi, Otsushi Konoe, Rui Komatsuzaki, Hirokazu Koyama (TYPE-MOON), Hiroki Saito (LASENGLE), saitom, Mineji Sakamoto, Shonen Sasaki, Sate, Pigment , Striped Udon (TYPE-MOON), Fumikane Shimada, Shimadoriru, sime, Shimoetsu (TYPE-MOON), Shaka P (LASENGLE), Shirabi, Shiramine, Shinjiro, Makoto Soga, Taiki, Keitaro Takahashi, Minoru Takayama , Bamboo, Takenoko Alien, TAKOLEGS, Akiu Tajima, Task Oona, danciao, Central East Exit, CHOCO, Teita, Dd, Sky Sky, DANGERDROP, toi8, Toridamono, Nakahara, Namaniku ATK (Nitroplus), West Idekengoro, Nekotawawa, NOCO, pako, Kei Hayashi, Takehito Harada, Tomoya Haruno, Bsuke, left, Yukio Hirai, Rei Hiroe, Hiroshi Hiroyama, PFALZ, huke, BLACK (TYPE-MOON), Shoichi Furumi , BUNBUN, hou, Raita Honjo, Hirotaka Maeda, Matsuryu, Mika Pikazo, Miho Midorikawa, Shiro Miwa, Ryudai Murayama, Melon 22, Kei Mochizuki, Motomurajin, Shizuki Morii, Daisuke Moriyama, Kotetsu Yamanaka, Yo Hiroki Ko, La-na, luck, Rio, Ryota-H, redjuice, Redrop, Robina, Wakususa, Wada Arco (in alphabetical order) Smartphones and tablets with Android 7.0 or later, required RAM 3GB or more, recommended RAM 4GB or more. (Intel CPU is not supported) * Some models may not work even with the recommended version or higher. * Qua tab PZ (LGT32) is not supported. *OS released as a beta version is not supported. This application uses "CRIWARE (TM)" from CRI Middleware Co., Ltd. Read the full article

[honeyleesblog]

June 15 ZODIAC

They protect beliefs and the advancement of humankind. They try sincerely and pull out from nature. Your bliss depends on your internal and mental turn of events. They have brilliant recollections. They concentrate energetically and dependably, in any event, when they are overpowered. As per an exuberant and diverse demeanor, they frequently enjoy a few callings on the double. It likewise happens that they change a ton of work. They have great expert outcomes as mental laborers or writers. They can likewise be astounding shippers, assistants, legal advisors, instructors, secretaries, translators, specialists, arbiters, and so on. They have numerous companions, however they are barely ever fair or genuinely dedicated. In this way, they endure false impressions with them. His foes, albeit not excessively various, will show extraordinary ingenuity and savagery, as well as the capacity to harm. It frequently turns out that they have a great deal of sex. Nonetheless, their noxiousness and allegations don't address a huge misfortune. A lady brought into the world on this day can have two relationships or a few connections. [caption id="attachment_19229" align="aligncenter" width="612"]Icon schedule day - 15 June. Days f the year. Vector outline level style. Date day of month Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Occasions in summer June.[/caption] Zodiac sign for those brought into the world on June 15 In the event that your birthday is June 15, your zodiac sign is Gemini June 15 - character and character character: solid, scrupulous, curious, scornful, willing, melancholic calling: tiler, vocalist, PC researcher tones: orange, blue, gold stone: chrysoberyl creature: water bison plant: gardenia fortunate numbers: 11,12,25,35,44,54 very fortunate number: 34 June 15 ZODIAC 

 Panama: Commemoration of the Service of Public Works (MOP). Costa Rica: Arbor Day. Argentina: Organic chemist Day. Argentina: Public Book Day. Peru: Andean Melody Day. World Day of Consciousness of Misuse and Abuse in Advanced Age. Spain: Day Against the CIEs. Denmark: Banner Day. June 15 VIP birthday celebrations. Who was conceived that very day as you? 1900: Gotthard Gდ¼nther, German savant (d. 1984). 1902: Erik Erikson, German-American psychoanalyst (d. 1994). 1905: Winifred Mary Curtis, Australian botanist (d. 2005). 1906: Lდ©on Degrelle, Belgian SS official (d. 1994). 1914: Yuri Andropov, Soviet legislator (d. 1984). 1914: Saul Steinberg, American illustrator (d. 1999). 1915: Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist (d. 2008). 1916: Horacio Salgდ¡n, Argentine arranger, guide and piano player (f. 2016). 1916: Herbert Simon, American financial analyst (d. 2001). 1917: John B. Fenn, American scientist, 2002 Nobel Prize champ in science (d. 2010). 1917: Lash La Regret, American entertainer (d. 1996). 1920: Alberto Sordi, Italian film entertainer (d. 2003). 1921: Erroll Gather, American artist (d. 1977). 1923: Erland Josephson, Swedish entertainer (d. 2012). 1924: Ezer Weizman, Israeli President (d. 2005). 1924: Marcel Domingo Algarra, French footballer and mentor (d. 2010). 1926: Marდ­a Fernanda Cartier, Italian TV host, vocalist and model (d. 2006). 1926: Shigeru Kayano, Japanese extremist (d. 2006). 1926: Milton Schinca, Uruguayan dramatist and essayist (d. 2012). 1927: Ibn-e-Insha, Pakistani comedian, artist in Urdu (d. 1978). 1927: Guillermo Murray, Mexican entertainer of Argentine beginning. 1927: Hugo Pratt, Italian visual artist and comic book essayist (d. 1995). 1932: Mario Cuomo, American lawmaker (d. 2015). 1933: Sergio Endrigo, Italian vocalist (f. 2005). 1934: Rubდ©n Aguirre, Mexican entertainer and humorist (d. 2016). 1934: Mikel Laboa, Basque vocalist and author (d. 2008). 1936: William Joseph Levada, American Catholic strict. 1936: Patricia Nell Warren, American author. 1937: Waylon Jennings, American vocalist musician (d. 2002). 1938: Jesდºs Pereda, Spanish footballer and mentor (d. 2011). 1939: Carmen Argibay, Argentine legal counselor and pastor (d. 2014). 1939: Anდ­bal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese legislator. 1940: Ramona Galarza, Argentine vocalist. 1940: Rodolfo Rabanal, Argentine author and columnist. 1941: Harry Nilsson, American vocalist musician (d. 1994). 1943: Xaviera Hollander, Dutch author and whore. 1943: Muff Winwood, English arranger and bassist, of the band Spencer Davis Gathering. 1943: Johnny Hallyday, French vocalist. 1943: Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish financial analyst and government official. 1945: Marilდº Marini, Argentine entertainer. 1946: Noddy Holder, English vocalist of the band Slade. 1946: Jack Horner, American scientist. 1946: Sergio Mulko, Argentine illustrator. 1946: Evangelina Salazar, Argentine entertainer. 1947: Fernando დ"nega, Spanish writer. 1947: Demis Roussos, Greek vocalist (d. 2015). 1949: Marდ­a Teresa Fernდ¡ndez de la Vega, Spanish legislator. 1949: Simon Young, English entertainer. 1949: Russell Hitchcock, Australian vocalist, of the band Air Supply. 1949: Jim Varney, American entertainer (d. 2000). 1950: Yolanda Angmen Chდ­o, instructor, counsel, scholarly and leader of the Chinese People group of Tampico (d. 2016). 1950: Lakshmi Mittal, Indian financial specialist. 1951: Steve Walsh, American vocalist, of the band Kansas. 1954: James Belushi, American entertainer. 1954: Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan financial specialist who assumed an outstanding part in the Rwandan Slaughter. 1955: Camilo Escalona, Chilean government official. 1955: David Kennedy, fourth child of American lawmaker Robert F. Kennedy (d. 1984); cocaine glut. 1955: Beatriz Pდ©cker, Spanish columnist. 1957: Inaki Cano, Spanish columnist. 1958: Swim Boggs, American baseball player. 1958: Riccardo Paletti, Italian Equation 1 driver (f. 1982). 1959: Alan Brazil, English footballer. 1959: Eileen Davidson, American entertainer. 1961: Miguel Angდ¡ Dდ­az, Cuban Latin jazz percussionist (f. 2006). 1961: Kai Eckhardt, German bassist and writer, of the groups Garaj Mahal and Fundamental Data. 1962: Luis Otero, Argentine columnist. 1963: Helen Chase, American entertainer. 1963: Blanca Portillo, Spanish entertainer. 1963: Nigel Walker, Welsh competitor and rugby player. 1964: Courteney Cox, American entertainer. 1964: Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer. 1965: Sixto Antonio Cabana Guillდ©n, Colombian guerrilla (f. 2010). 1969: Ice Block, American rapper and entertainer, of the band NWA. 1969: Oliver Kahn, German footballer. 1969: Cდ©dric Pioline, French tennis player. 1970: Leah Remini, American entertainer. 1970: Zan Tabak, Croatian ball player. 1971: Gloria Carrდ¡, Argentine entertainer. 1972: Luis Alberto Carranza, Argentine footballer. 1972: Marcus Hahnemann, American footballer. 1972: Claudio Marini, Argentine footballer. 1972: Hank Von Helvete, Norwegian artist, of the band Turbonegro. 1973: Tore Andrდ© Flo, Norwegian footballer. 1973: Neil Patrick Harris, American entertainer. 1973: Carlos Jean, Spanish maker and artist. 1973: Keko, Spanish footballer. 1976: Gary Lightbody, Irish artist, of the band Snow Watch. 1977: Michael Doleac, American ball player. 1978: Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer. 1978: დ‰rika Zaba, Mexican vocalist, of the band OV7. 1979: Yulia Nesterenko, Belarusian competitor. 1979: Julia Schultz, American model. 1979: Christian Rahn, German footballer. 1980: Mary Carey, American pornography entertainer. 1980: Almudena Cid Tostado, Spanish tumbler. 1980: Iker Romero, Spanish handball player. 1980: Cara Zavaleta, American model. 1981: Virginia Da Cunha, Argentine vocalist. 1981: William Senior member Martin, American guitarist, of the band Great Charlotte. 1981: John Paintsil, Ganდ©s footballer. 1981: Emma Snowsill, Australian marathon runner. 1983, Joel Barbosa, Argentine footballer. 1984: Tim Lincecum, American baseball player. 1984: Hდ©ctor Textual style, Spanish footballer. 1984: James Cabezas, Colombian footballer. 1984: Edison Toloza, Colombian footballer. 1984: Mauro Villegas, Argentine footballer. 1984: Federico Azcდ¡rate, Argentine soccer player. 1984: Hugo Sდ¡nchez Portugal, Mexican soccer player (f. 2014). 1985: Nadine Coyle, English vocalist, of the band Young ladies Out loud. 1985: Cristina Llorente, Spanish vocalist. 1985: Facundo Parra, Argentine soccer player. 1986: Stoya, American pornography entertainer. 1988: Cristopher Toselli, Chilean goalkeeper. 1990: Miwa, Japanese vocalist. 1992: Mohamed Salah, Egyptian footballer. 1993: Carolina Marდ­n, Spanish badminton player. 1994: Inaki Williams, Spanish footballer.

[anamon-book]

風の神とオキクルミ〈アイヌの民話〉 民話のえほん・2 萱野茂・文、斎藤博之・絵 小峰書店

[the-art-librarian]

Anything for the painting "And we are not afraid" by Nicholas Roerich?

My first thought was the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic! Tales of folklore would fit the colours of the painting, the otherworldly, magical feeling—and these long-bearded, cloaked, wizard-like figures facing each other remind me of Väinämöinen and Joukahainen’s singing contest / bard-off in the beginning, after their fender-bender:

Speaks the minstrel, Väinämöinen: “Who art thou, and whence? Thou comest Driving like a stupid stripling, [...] Careless, dashing down upon me. Thou hast ruined shafts and traces; [...] And my golden sleigh is broken [...].

Then the boastful Joukahainen Spake again to Väinämöinen: “[...] He that is the sweeter singer, He alone shall keep the highway, And the other take the roadside. Art thou ancient Väinämöinen, Famous sorcerer and minstrel? Let us then begin our singing, [...] That the one may judge the other, In a war of wizard sayings.”

I love epic poetry and never tire of it but I know it isn’t for everyone! May I also suggest (based on the bear and the snow and the building in the background): Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu memoir by Kayano Shigeru, a really interesting look into Ainu history and culture and the author’s effort to preserve it. I knew nothing about Japan’s indigenous people before I read this book and it made me want to learn more.

Near the altar built to the east of Kaizawa Tomaat's house in Kohira, the thirty or so guests lined up [...]. Both men and women wore embroidered robes. Each man carried a sword from the shoulder, slung in front of the body. [...] The women covered their heads with black cloths folded in two, tied once behind their heads and draped down the back. In their left hands they held staffs. [...]

When, as in this case, someone drowns, the Ainu scolds the god of the river: "We have a victim because you were slack. You must endeavor to prevent such accidents in the future." Or if someone is burnt to death in a fire, the Ainu reprimands the goddess of fire, and when a bear mauls someone to death, not only the god of bears but the god of the mountains is reproved. In our Ainu world, humans and gods are perfectly equal; we do not consider the gods to possess absolute power.

[amer-ainu]

Ainu elder Kayano Shigeru reciting the yukar, Yay Turen-Pe Koyki (A Duel with my Guardian God).

[caelum-in-the-avatarverse]

*points up* I made myself a sign! I like it. I think I’ll use it whenever I decide to share my fiddlings here.

Just some thinky thoughts regarding Avatar Kyoshi and Kyoshi Island. Be prepared for rambling, amateur research, and my usual disregard for canon in favor of whatever I find more interesting, lol.

So one thing that bugged me about the Kyoshi duology is that it didn’t use any of the information we already had about Kyoshi Island to further develop the peninsula now known as Yokoya. FC Yee seems to have just taken the region as a blank slate. And yeah, the information on Kyoshi Island culture is pretty minimal, but there’s actually more to it than you might think at first glance! But FC Yee doesn’t seem too keen on reading that signpost and instead went and forged his own path in an entirely different direction. I find this pretty sad, so here’s my ideas about Kyoshi Island/Yokoya culture built off of the original information we had in from the show, as well as my thoughts on how to integrate FC Yee’s ideas into them.

So first off, as a lot of people seem to have figured out by now, Kyoshi Island is based on Japan. It is, in fact, the most Japanese place in all the Four Nations - Kyoshi, Suki, and Oyaji are all Japanese names, and the Kyoshi Warriors’ uniforms are reminiscent of samurai outfits.

But the architecture and the fashion of the regular villagers don’t look very Japanese at all. Why is that? It’s because they’re inspired not by the Japanese, but by the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan.

Traditionally, the Ainu were a hunter-gatherer society who emphasized the importance of sustainable foraging, fishing, and hunting. They have a lot more in common with circumpolar cultures like the Inuit than they do with the Japanese. Unfortunately, they’ve also been the victims of a massive assimilation campaign by the Japanese over the last few centuries, so a lot of their cultural knowledge has been lost. But they’re still around, and over this past century they’ve put a lot of effort into preserving their culture. Information on Ainu culture is out there - more of it in Japanese than in English, but there are still quite a few books and articles written in English for anyone who cares to look.

It doesn’t seem that FC Yee looked at all, nor did he use the vaguely Ainu foundation that Kyoshi Island had and build upon it. He went down a completely different path. The people of Yokoya in the Kyoshi novels are described as farmers, not hunter-gatherers. Ainu were definitely not farmers - in fact, many of them starved to death in the 1800s when the Japanese forced them to become farmers.

So in my headcanon, I’m thinking that these farmers were actually newcomers to Yokoya. Relative newcomers, perhaps - maybe they’ve been there a few decades or a century or so. I think the people we see in The Warriors of Kyoshi are the true native inhabitants of the Yokoya peninsula, and that their society is much more like that of the Ainu. And like the Ainu, perhaps they were pushed out of their land to make way for farms and livestock. Or they still live nearby, but are now beholden to new laws about hunting and fishing that interfere with their traditional way of life. In his memoir Our Land Was A Forest, Kayano Shigeru talks about how his father was arrested by the Japanese for salmon poaching - but the only reason there were laws against catching salmon was because the Japanese had overfished and decimated the population in the first place!

There are other details that could be hammered out here, but the gist of it is that I don’t think the Yokoyans we see in the novels are the same people we see living on Kyoshi Island. I think the Yokoyan farmers are newcomers, Yokoya’s native inhabitants are still around, and after Kyoshi Island is formed those farmers are the ones who either leave or get assimilated into the indigenous population. “I created Kyoshi Island so my people could be safe from invaders” heck yes you did.

Which brings us to my next topic - Kyoshi herself, and her heritage. In ATLA, Oyaji says that Kyoshi was born on Kyoshi Island/Yokoya, and we have no reason to suspect she might not be a native to the area. FC Yee pretty much blew that out of the water - her dad’s from a family that originated in Ba Sing Se, and her mom’s a renegade Air Nomad. This actually seriously annoys me, because Kyoshi looks like the Kyoshi Islanders - you might say it’s because her genetics have filtered down over the centuries, but no, she looks like the people in that painting of Kyoshi Island’s creation too. Kyoshi looks like the Kyoshi Islanders, and the Kyoshi Islanders look like Ainu. How do I justify this?

I’m thinking there has to be a native Yokoyan person somewhere in her family tree. Jesa would be easiest - maybe Jesa’s only half Air Nomad herself? If her mother met a guy in Yokoya and they hit it off but didn’t sink into a fully committed relationship, and then Jesa was brought up amongst the Air Nomads, that could explain her looks, which she would then pass down to Kyoshi. It could also explain why she dumped Kyoshi on Yokoya - Jesa was likely familiar with the place from visits, maybe even thought her father’s family would take Kyoshi in. Makes more sense than Kyoshi just happening to get dumped in a place where by complete chance she looks like the people who live there but shares no genetics with them. Heck, it’d explain why those farmers happily threw her out too - maybe Jesa was unable to leave Kyoshi with family for whatever reason, so she left her with the farmers instead, and if there’s tension between the farmers and the native Yokoyans and this kid looks just like them....

It’s all kinda convoluted, but I think it works.

[eye-of-tengri]

Ainu boats (cip チㇷ゚) in Shiraoi

The first 2 pictures are a 丸木舟 made from one whole tree. The next 2 pictures are a larger vessels made from several parts, for traveling on the ocean. The Ainu stuffed moss into the space between the boards. When the moss got wet,  it swelled, and blocked more water from leaking into the boat.

Next weekend is the annual ship-sending festival Cipsanke (チㇷ゚゚゚゚゚゚゚゚゚゚゚サンケ) in Biratori Town. Unfortunately, I can’t watch. Because of coronavirus restrictions, only Biratori locals can come. Biratori’s festival was begun in 1972 by the great Ainu linguist and politician Kayano Shigeru. Boats travel on the Saru River, which is blocked by Nibutani Dam. The dam was built in 1997 against the wishes of local Ainus. The Ainu sued and won in the Sapporo Court, but too late - the dam had already been built before the court recognized their land rights.

Nibutani dam is one of many construction projects the Japanese government has undertaken against local wishes. I’ve also visited Yanba Dam in Gumma Prefecture, which is also hated by local people.

[fablecore]

May I ask what the status is on “I Carry Your Heart”? Are you on hiatus/lost interest in the fandom? I’m sorry if my phrasing sounds rude/aggressive!

It’s totally valid to take a break from a WIP or if you did abandon it, I just want to know if it was put on hold for a bit or if you are writing a new chapter :)

Anywho! Please take care of yourself and stay safe!

oh you’re not rude at all! icyh is on hiatus because i’m not feeling much inspiration/energy for it, especially since i really want to finish mnp.

as you can probably tell i have quite a few things going on at the moment, but i’m still really happy you’ve enjoyed kizuna’s story! i attempted to learn a tiny bit of ainu grammar in the shizunai dialect (it was the only comprehensive ainu language book i could find online), and researching ainu history in order to write kizuna was... emotionally very moving. i think anyone who’s a fan of manga or japan should take time to learn about kayano shigeru, his book our land was a forest, and the ongoing obstacles of modern day ainu rights.

[miragestation]

Your Voice Touches My String playlist for October 6th, 2021

1. Early Steps / Sainkho Namtchylak 2. Scat / Phew 3. Inonnoitaku Apehekote イノンノイタクアペヘコテ (Prayer for the god of fire) / Shigeru Kayano 萱野茂 4. Kamuy-Yukar / Yoshi Shikato 5. Lullaby / Tatyana Sat 6. Love Song / Mungo Martin 7. Bungbung Mangmang (Magindanaon lullaby) / Unknown 8. En écorçant les cocos (Husking coconuts) / Harold Tomson 9. Jibarayek Jirlap Kitsen Cin Rap (Let Us Sing and Let It Ring) / Laszlo Vikar 10. Unknown song in Ethiopian Style / Uncredited singer 11. Alundé dodo basé / Loje kiki dai / Dibiti ovajiran / Dodo pisé titi (medley) / Uncredited singer 12. Wiegenlied / Decha 13. Feet Live Their Own Life / Langston Hughes 14. Smoked Like Lightning / Horace Sprott

[shu-of-the-wind]

I will be adding this to the sotb page eventually when it's ready for proper viewing again (it's kind of in uhhhh construction mode) but here are the books that I've shortlisted in my research for Swallows on the Beam.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST. I will continue adding to this list as I find titles I know I've read before. These are just the books that I personally own. And as a side note I am only including George Kerr's Okinawa because it's one of the only histories of Okinawa in English, it's NOT good and the guy wrote it in 1958 so his perspective on Okinawans, Chinese, and Japanese people is EXTREMELY skewed by the Second World War being so recent in his memory.

(ID: Eight photos of books. The first photo is a stack of six books on a table. From bottom to top, the books are The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia by Mamoru Akamine, The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford, Cults Inside Out by Rick Alan Ross, Okinawa: The History of an Island People by George Kerr, Our Land Was a Forest by Kayano Shigeru, and The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk. The other seven photos are photographs of covers of books on a Kindle screen. Those books are in order: Hokkaido: A History of Japan's Northern Isle and Its People by Ibrahim Jalal, China from Empire to Nation-State by Wang Hui, trans. by Michael Gibbs Hill, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell, God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan by Jonathan D. Spence, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen by Liliuokalani, Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age by Stephen R. Platt, and The Romance of Three Kingdoms translated by C.H. Brewitt-Taylor.)

[studentofetherium]

do you know good resources for learning about Hokkaido and Ainu culture and history?

unfortunately, i don't. English information about the Ainu is scattered and hard to find, owing in no small part to the fact that the Japanese government has spent a century trying to pretend the whole affair never happened. as such, most of what i know about the Ainu and history of Hokkaido comes from learning it piecemeal; I can't really link you anything there because it's dozens of websites ive looked at over the years, plus other reading ive done

that said, as far as dedicated reading goes, i recommend Our Land Was a Forest, by Ainu activist and politician Shigeru Kayano (i have a bunch of other books downloaded but i haven't finished any of them so i don't feel confident blindly recommending them)

[jojotier]

how do you feel about those gk-critical blogs?? they've been everywhere in the tag lately... can't they stop stirring up drama and let people read?????

Hoo boy. This is not an ask I ever wanted to see, anywhere, in my inbox. But I’ll answer anyway.

Personally, I think that people should pay attention to what they’re saying, regardless of their own personal feelings for the manga as a whole. 

I’ll be honest with you, when they first started posting, I was pretty taken aback. I was, admittedly, pretty upset. Because for about a year now, I’ve been invested in this manga and the characters, to the point where I started writing fanfic upon meta upon analysis of it. It’s struck several chords with me, with its stellar depiction of PTSD and complex characters. It was an upsetting prospect, to think of something being so wrong with the manga that I should drop it (which these blogs really aren’t saying to do), and an even more upsetting one to see the flaws in Noda’s work being unwittingly reflected in some of my own work.

But, after a bit where I blocked them and checked their blogs on my own terms, I calmed my shit and got over it. 

The media critique they’re writing- incredibly valuable critique- brings up multiple issues with the source text that I had overlooked before which made me more aware of the real world implications of Golden Kamuy. Because there are real-world implications to Golden Kamuy. 

This isn’t to say that you need to stop reading the manga or producing content for it- hell, I’m still writing Golden Kamuy fanfiction, and I’m gonna be coming out with some Ogata meta later this week- just to be critical of the source text itself, and to stop touting it as amazing Ainu representation. Because it really. Really. Is not.

If you’d like to learn more about Ainu culture, may I recommend these:

- Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir, by Kayano Shigeru. There aren’t many ethnographies of Ainu culture in the first place, but this is one of the few written by someone who’s actually Ainu, recalling the conflicts between traditional ways of life and the lifestyle being slowly forced upon his family by the Japanese.

-  Ainu Spirits Singing: The Living World of Chiri Yukie’s Ainu Shinʼyōshū, translation by Sarah M Strong. While this one isn’t written by someone who is Ainu, it draws on the diary of Chiri Yukie, an Ainu woman who transcribed many kamuy yukar- epics about feats of the Gods, told in meter by her grandmother, the yukarkur (one who yukar) Monashnouk. It also has 13 direct transcriptions of some of those yukar, my personal favorite being The Young Wolf Sings About Himself (”Hotenao”)

- The Thirteen Kamuy Yukar from the Above Book are also on this website: http://www.okikirmui.com/

- Harukor: An Ainu Woman’s Tale, by Honda Katsuichi. Admittedly I haven’t started this one yet, since I just managed to nab the only physical copy from my uni library, but it certainly seems promising- the first part is an ethnographic walkthrough of Ainu culture, but the second half is the fictional story of an Ainu girl named Harukor. The second half is meant to be an ethnographical reconstruction, drawing wholly from research on Ainu culture to depict it through literature, set during a time period when wajin weren’t in contact with the Ainu and therefore, no political subterfuge of their culture was taking place. If it’s anything like Waterlily though, I suspect it’ll be a good read!

- https://www.akarenga-h.jp/en/hokkaido/ainu/a-01/ 

EDIT (just bc I thought of this now and it’s been pointed out a lot): It’s also perfectly fine to block these blogs as well, if you’d like a wholly different experience in the gk fandom. That doesn’t mean that anyone should harrass them, but the block button is there and available.

[naruto-oc-critiques]

Then perhaps, a clan based off Ainu people? Or is that already done?

I think it could be done, if well-researched and respectfully done, as one would do with any culture they aren’t immediately a part of.  

I’m very excited at how timely this discussion is, because Japan is finally taking steps to recognize the Ainu as indigenous peoples. 

Because it’s a vanishing culture and has been especially on the decline since Japan’s industrial revolution, it’s really nice to see more people taking an interest or at least being aware of Ainu peoples. 

Here are a couple links to resources:

Ainu Language

Ainu Museum

Ainu Beliefs 

If you’re feeling ambitious, I read a really great book when I was getting my undergrad called ‘Our Land Was A Forest: An Ainu Memoir’ by Kayano Shigeru that has a lot of really interesting and important details on Ainu culture. 

Hope this helps!

~Murasaki