Growling Bear - Wooden Applique - Ainu Work, Japan 1970

Carved and stained wood. Direct carving - wear - small shocks - circa 1970--- The "human" Ainu are an aboriginal population living in northern Japan. They arrived around the 14th century BC, in the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. During the Meiji era, forced assimilation prohibited their culture, dispossessed them of their lands, until the complete annexation of Hokkaido. For the Ainu, in nature are divine spirits "kamuy", male or female, some good, others malevolent. When they come to Earth, they take the appearance of natural entities: animals, plants, rivers and mountains. Kimun kamuy, when he descends from the mountains, dons his bear costume. The bear thus becomes "a man of the mountains." Just like the Eskimo populations of Canada, the Chukchi of Siberia, the Ainu, perceive the bear as the equal of humans. - In 1933 Emperor Hirohito ordered bears, this event brought public attention, and led to the start of workshops. A detailed notice on Ainu bears and a certificate will be given to the purchaser