Chishima, Karfuto, Hokkaiido

Life of the Ainu Featuring the collections from Germany

An exhibition by the Staatliche Ethographische Sammlungen Sachsen
August 5 to September 25, 2011
Sapporo Historical Museum of Hokkaido, Japan
October 6 to December 6, 2011
National Museum of Ethnology Osaka, Japan

Official contribution of the SES to "150 Years of Friendship between Germany and Japan"

The Ainu are an indigenous people who were originally a hunter-gatherer society relying mainly on hunting and fishing who lived on Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. There are currently around 27,000 Ainu, most of whom have, however, largely given up their traditional way of life. For centuries they were marginalised and were driven out of their ancestral homelands.

In Japan only very few Ainu historical objects still remain. In order to provide the public with an impression of the original culture and also to increase awareness of this largely vanished culture among the descendents of the Ainu themselves, the Ainu Foundation takes advantage of internationally significant collections around the world, loaning objects from them for display in exhibitions in Japan.

The Staatliche Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen (SES) play a particularly important role in that regard. They enjoy an excellent worldwide reputation on account of their valuable and extensive collection of historical objects relating to Ainu culture.