Museum of Japan's indigenous Ainu culture opens

NHK -- Jul 13

A national facility devoted to the indigenous Ainu people and their culture opens on Sunday in their ancestral region of Hokkaido in northern Japan.

The National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi has a museum, a hall for the performance of traditional Ainu dance and instrumental music, as well as a reconstructed Ainu village.

The facility, also called Upopoy, is designed to serve as a base for reviving and developing the Ainu culture, which is on the verge of extinction.

Upopoy means "singing in a large group" in the Ainu language.

Speaking at a ceremony for the opening of the facility on Saturday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide said the Ainu people's effort to uphold their honor and dignity for younger generations is vital in building a vibrant society with cultural diversity.

He also said the government will do its best to help the facility develop and promote the cause so that many people will visit it from inside and outside Japan and touch the spirit of coexistence of diversified peoples and cultures.

The facility hopes to receive one million visitors annually.

But due to the coronavirus epidemic, it plans to only accept those with reservations for the time being.

Workshops to experience Ainu culture, including one of Ainu cookery, will also be postponed.

Jul 13 (ANNnewsCH) - アイヌ文化復興の拠点となる民族共生象徴空間「ウポポイ」が北海道白老町に12日、オープンしました。  北海道・鈴木直道知事:「自然豊かななかでアイヌの歴史、文化を体験して頂いて、北海道を巡って頂く」  アイヌ文化の復興拠点となる初めての国立施設、ウポポイのオープニングセレモニーにはアイヌのルーツを持つ俳優・宇梶剛士さんなどが出席しました。入場は予約制ですが、開園前には約300人が並びました。  訪れた中学生:「すっごい楽しい。何日か入り浸りたい」  訪れた女性:「すごく広くてきれいで見やすい」  ウポポイはアイヌ文化を五感で感じることができるということです。