Sunday, January 2, 2011

tonkori (ainu zither)

Posted by at 5:10 PM

10 comments:

  1. Hello! I found your blog after you left the comment on my blog. Your Ainu blog is fantastic. Have you seen the documentary films about Ainu directed by Tadayoshi Himeda? He is over 80 years old now and he has been making so many documentary films of Japanese traditional culture for around 50 years. http://www31.ocn.ne.jp/~minneiken/films.htm Shigeru Kayano is in his Ainu film.

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  2. Hi Kazuko, Yes I've seen Director Himeda's films. I interpreted for him at a BBC interview many years ago, and have spent some time with him. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  3. I thought you knew him! His son is my friend for a long time, so Ainu culture is familial to me.

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  4. I'm glad to see that this blog is still being updated! It took a lot of searching to find it, I'd have been quite saddened if you'd stopped writing last year... it's great to finally have this kind of resource-concentration available in English, and I hope the project behind it continues to prosper.

    Apologies for the anon comment - I did have a blogspot account, but the password and indeed the username were lost to me with my last computer, several years ago.

    -Lee

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  5. @Lee, thanks for posting your comment. I've been amiss at keeping the blog freshly updated, but other priorities took over for a while. Now we are waiting for word whether we can get funding for a new Ainu picture book translation, The Stingy Wolf (working title). Please keep an eye out for updates!

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  6. Hi, I read The Ainu and The Bear today at Pirka Kortan in Hokkaido, and I would like to buy a copy. The staff were very kind, but were unable to locate a copy for me. How can I buy it? I`m on holidays in Japan, but I live in Australia
    Thanks, Cindy.

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  7. @Cindy, thanks for your query. I think the book is for sale at various bookstores in Japan (have your tried Kinokuniya?). It is also available through Amazon JP, but you have to search for it in Japanese under its original Japanese title of Iyomante, even though it's an English language book. (I've complained about that, but they haven't done anything to improve the situation.)

    To order online in English, you'll need to go to the RIC Publications, Tokyo website at www.ricpublications.com and click "ordering" from the menu bar at the top of their page. Send them an email with your request. It should have been in their children's picturebook section, but I can't find it. Since RIC has its home base in Australia, you may even be able to order it from their Australia headquarters. Good Luck!!

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  8. Hey Debbie, thanks! I have tried a few kinokinuyas while I`m here (including Sapporo) and none of them had it. I even tried to get the Japanese version, but still no luck. I`ll try when I get home. Thanks, Cindy.

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  9. Hello there,
    I work for an Indigenous Film Festival in Toronto, Canada called imaginenative (www.imaginenatve.org). We present over 100 film,video,radio and new media works created by Indigenous artists. We're looking at doing our International Spotlight on the Ainu next year, and just trying to do some research into Ainu who have been a creative in the directing, writing or producing role for a film. Is Himeda Ainu himself? I would love any suggestions for tracking down some Ainu media artists in Japan.

    Regards,
    Daniel Northway-Frank
    Programming and Industry Manager
    imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
    programming@imaginenative.org

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  10. @Daniel,

    Thank you for your comment. Mr. Himeda is not Ainu. I'll dig around a bit and get back to you with info about people who might fit your needs.

    Meanwhile, you can contact me more directly via the email address on my blogger profile. Click my photo in the sidebar. : )

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