Japan: 'The Ainu Bear-Killing Ritual', from Ezo Shima Kikan ('Unusual Views of Ezo [Hokkaido]'), painted handscroll, Hata Awagimaro (1764-1808), c. 1840

This picture scroll is a copy of selected sections of the Ezo Shima Kikan (Unusual Views of the Island of Ezo [Hokkaido]) by Hata Awagimaro, completed in Kansei 11 (1799) and considered the most notable work depicting the contemporaneous lives of the Ainu.

The Ainu or in historical Japanese texts Ezo, are an indigenous people of Japan (Hokkaido, and formerly northeastern Honshu) and Russia (Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands).

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History