Hokkaido is also home to one of Japan’s small ethnic groups, the Ainu, descendants of Caucasian peoples from Russia. There are some cultural centers and museums with information about Ainu culture and people, but in Hakodate I found it as easily as possible at the Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples.
It is a small collection but it focuses on various topics of Ainu culture, located in a lugubrious building that was once a bank.
Places to find more about the Ainu people:
- Shiraoi Porotokotan Ainu Museum: //www.ainu-museum.or.jp/en/
- Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum (Nibutani town where about 80% of the population is Ainu) //www.town.biratori.hokkaido.jp/biratori/nibutani/
- Foundation for Ainu Culture: //www.ff-ainu.or.jp/web/english/
- Hokkaido Museum (Sapporo): //www.hm.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/en/
- Hakodate City Museum of Northern Peoples: //www.zaidan-hakodate.com/hoppominzoku/#sisetu
In April 2020, a large museum dedicated exclusively to Ainu culture is expected to open in Hokkaidō. //www.ainu-upopoy.jp/en/
