Post date: May 4, 2014 1:39:37 AM
Last Sunday, I went to caranke festival in Nakano, it was a festival of Ainu people and Ryukyu people. Ainu language and Ryukyu language are different, but they have the word ‘caranke’ with different meanings. In Ainu language, it means ‘talking’ or ‘conference’ , and in Ryukyu language, it means ‘don’t vanish’. I saw many Ainu and Ryukyu dance and song, and I heard Kamuy yukar in the first time, it was very interesting for me. And I heard some interesting former habit and custom of Ainu people. Ainu people’s dance was very unique. They have a kind of dance battle, who can keep dancing. And some of their dance have a story, such as two women struggle for a good-looking man, the dance was very funny for me. And grasshopper dance was interesting for me. Long ago, a lot of grasshopper growth in Tokachi area, to tell the accidents, Ainu people thought up the dance which they become grasshoppers. I had thought Ainu people told their customs and histories through their Yukar or other oral literatures. But it was not true. Of course, they used oral literature for that, but they also used their dance to tell other people something. It was very interesting festival for me.
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