The facility is in Koganeyu, Minami Ward, located about a 40-minute drive outside of Sapporo City. The upper waters of the Toyohira River, which flows through the center of Sapporo, are rich in natural beauty. There are hot springs in Koganeyu, and if you drive another 10 minutes farther, you will come to the Jozankei area, which is also called Sapporo’s Annex.

There are two exhibition areas inside the facility: the History Village, where the chise (houses) in which the Ainu lived and the pu (food) have been recreated, and the Natural Village, which recreates the iyutapu (tools for milling rice) and ponds. In addition, there is a modern building with shafts of green concrete which contains the main exhibitions.

The first thing you notice when entering the building is a large tree-like monument. You then go along a gallery corridor that gently slopes down to the exhibition room downstairs. The undulating walls are symbolic of a flowing river which was a place of importance to the Ainu. Show windows on the wall display new and old Ainu cultural artifacts.

Finally, you come to the main exhibition room. There is an admission fee (200 yen for the general public). The more than 300 items displayed are tastefully arranged and lighted. The names of the exhibits are written in English, with traditional clothes and folk tools restored and produced mainly by the members of the Sapporo Ainu Association. Unlike in museums, here you are allowed to touch many of the displays.

For example, a mantle made from deer hide the Ainu wore to fend off the cold of winter.

Here, too, are shoes made from salmon skin. The fins of salmon were used to prevent slipping in the heavy snow Hokkaido gets in winter. Feeling the texture and weight of each of these items, you can better imagine what life may have been like for the Ainu.

One of the things that has attracted much attention in Ainu culture is the unique Ainu patterns that can be seen in traditional clothes and the like. Designs employing curved lines and swirls each have special meanings.

There is a corner in the exhibition room where you can fill in pictures of these Ainu patterns. You can also freely play with the grape-vine ring toss.

Also in the building is an exchange hall equipped with a stage, a library with books about the Ainu, an information corner where you can watch videos, and a kitchen as well as other areas where various events are held.

Outside there is a 15-meter long sea-going boat. From the end of the Edo period and into the Meiji period, this land to the north called Ezo was explored and later named Hokkaido by Takeshiro Matsuura, who traveled the Teshio River basin using an Ainu-made wooden boat. (Reference: Nayoro City "Public Information No. 150.”)

The land is resplendent with lush, green mountains, and the sound of rivers flowing nearby was a part of the lives of the Ainu, who held nature in great esteem, and you can experience all this, too, at the Sapporo AINU Culture Promotion Center "Sapporo Pirka Kotan." One can get a feel of how important such things were to the Ainu while also enjoying the scenery of the four seasons.


Text by: minna no kotoba sha