A Cultural Anthropological Study on the Ainu Cultural Changes and Cultural Revitalization Movements

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Cultural anthropological data on the Ainu cultural changes and cultural revitalization movements have been collected and analyzed, on the basis of bibliographical sources and field observations. For this purpose, traditional Ainu rituals such as the first salmon ceremony and the ancestor worship, and the contemporary cultural activities including Ainu language schools and cultural lectures were investigated. Also, the subjective views of cultural changes and cultural revitalization movements by the Ainu themselves were interviewed .As a result, it is clarified that some Ainu have actively promoted the cultural revitalization movements. On the other hand, others have not been interested in the movement itself and they are just seeing Ainu culture as a means of livelihood for tourism. Such a differentiation may arise not only from different social conditions, but from the different individual character, by which the Ainu ethnic identity is recognized and operated. Further, it is pointed out that the cultural revitalization movements were developed, consciously or unconsciously, within the traditional Ainu cultural framework, i.e., theidea of reciprocity between man and deities (kamui) and the original oneness between them. Then, the shamanisticworldview has been playing a major role even in the contemporary Ainu cultural revitalization movements.