Hokkaido Carved Bears and Ainu Culture

In the mid-1970s, I took my first college course regarding environmental issues on Grizzly Bears in the Yellowstone Basin. It was based on Frank and John Craighead’s ecological research, now known as the Craighead Institute. Bears are fascinating creatures no matter what your cultural background.

Still today there are Asiatic black and Ezo brown bears in the higher elevations of central and northern Japan.  The bear population is estimated to be about 10,000. The brown bears of Hokkaido are related to the Grizzly Bears of North America. The Ainu, an ethnic group that is distinct from the Japanese are now living on the major northern island of Hokkaido. These indigenous people were hunter-gatherers and fishermen. They hunted bears and other wild animals and fished for salmon and other sea-faring creatures. Currently there are several archaeological and anthropological research studies looking at the Ainu people and their culture of bear-worship.

 Vintage Humorous Bear Carrying a Fish Over His Shoulder

Unsigned and Undated 

The Ainu and their ancestors had great respect for the bear-spirit through rituals and celebrations, as a bear has a body, soul and spirit. The concept is “somewhat” like the Japanese Shinto religion, where animals and locations (mountains, streams, and forests) can have a soul and a spirit. This can be controversial when trying to relate these two religions, but both use a similar name for “divinity” - kami in Japanese and kamuy in the Ainu language. In clarification, the Ainu deities provide humans with daily necessities, conveniences, and assistance to human abilities; it can also have evil spirits. So this ferocious animal serves as a distant cousin to the Ainu people. During ancestral times, they both fished the same salmon rich rivers, searched the land for edible tubers and walked the trails in the forests.

Vintage Mother Bear and Cub, Dated Oct. 16, 1970, Signed

Ainu hunted bears for meat, clothing and the bones that were made into tools. Annually they captured a cub and killed the mother sow. That bear cub was used as pets until they were ready to sacrifice it at a ritual called iyomante, or the bear sending ritual. These funeral rituals were conducted in the spring, intended to give the bear and mountain gods a proper offering before returning the bear’s spirit to the mountains.

The spring ritual was a festive occasion where the Ainu wore their best clothes and there was feasting and drinking. Prayers and offerings were sent to the gods, and the bear was taken out of confinement and killed with arrows and strangled between two logs, freeing the bear’s spirit. After the bear’s death, the bear was skinned and butchered and placed before the altar, with its head decorated. During the four-day ceremony, the bear’s spirit was sent back to the mountain gods as an honored messenger from the village. Carla S. Stansifer, a curator of Japanese art, also points out that salmon ceremonies were also performed in order to petition the spirits for this vital food resource.

Vintage Bear Carving, Dated 1960, Signed

This bear deity and this quick overview explains why there are bear carvings all over Hokkaido. The Ainu were and still are remarkable craftspeople. At the Nibutani Ainu Cultural Museum, there are several craft operations including numerous wood carvers. Many historic Ainu carvings would have been more abstract then the carving we see today, and most likely not figurative. Now the iconic bear with a salmon in its mouth is king, it is what Hokkaido visitors want to see. This iconic bear was inspired by the German - Swiss carved bears that Tokugawa Yoshichika (1886-1976) saw during a European trip in 1921 and 1922. According to Atsuko Matsumoto, Yoshichika brought them back to Japan and introduced them to settlers in the Yakumo region of Hokkaido. Therefore the marriage between the Ainu bear worship and the fact that the Ainu used similar carving techniques as the Swiss-made bear carvings. Bear carving first started as an industry during the not-agricultural winters, now they are produced as Hokkaido livelihood.

There are no iyomante ceremonies today, but the bear spirit now lives on in a Hokkaido bear mascot. Many Ainu carvers create wildlife creations, it is important to note that not all Hokkaido bears are carved by Ainu craftspeople. Yet, Ainu carvings highlight interesting artistic adaptability and expertise. Ainu carvers hold a kinship with North Pacific indigenious carvers blending genres and techniques. Both groups use an assortment of carver’s tools including: rasps, rifflers, chisels and gouges. The Ainu use the right shallow gouge to create the textured look of bear’s fur, and some artisans use glass eyes. Hokkaido carved bears come in several varieties: Humorous, Kitch, Folk Art, Vintage Figurative Carvings, Master Carver and National Icon. No matter your selection, always select a bear that speaks to your soul and your bear worshiping spirit.

Contemporary Hokkaido Carved Bear

Reference Notes:

There are numerous scholars that influenced this short story, they include:

• H. Byron Earhart, Japanese Religion Unity and Diversity, Third Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1982, page 23.
• Jude Isabella, How Japan’s Bear-Worshipping Indigenous Group Fought Its Way to Cultural Relevance, Hakai Magazine, Oct. 2017.
• Carla S. Stansifer, Ainu Art at the Denver Art Museum, Arts of Asia Publications Ltd., Vol. 37 Number 1, Jan-Feb 2007, pages 110-115.
• Chisato O. Dubreuil, of Ainu heritage and Ainu Scholar, Smithsonian Institution.  
• Ainu:  Their History, Art, Life, Rituals, Clothes and Bears; “Ainu” Carved Wooden Bear, FactsandDetails.com/Japan, 2008-2019.  _______________________________________________________________________

©2021. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and © art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act. #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot #Hokkaidobears #carvedbears #ainuculture #ainu #hokkaido