In 2020, Ghost of Tsushima gave life to an oft-overlooked slice of Japanese history. But in the new Ghost of Yotei, familiar samurai action-adventure thrills don’t quite live up to its new setting. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/10/11/digital/ghost-of-yotei-review-game-hokkaido-tsushima/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #digital #videogames #ghostofyotei #hokkaido #ghostoftsushima #samurai #ainu
Cikap-kamuy (チカプカムイ), depicted as a great owl, is the Ainu god (カムィ'kamuy') of owls and the land, overseer of human and kamuy behavior, and deity of material success. It is said his tears are silver & gold.
Spectacular origami by @Cordialess (designed by Katsuta Kyōhei)🙇♂️
https://x.com/Cordialess
Spectacular owl origami.
Photo thanks - https://x.com/Cordialess
Spectacular owl origami.
Photo thanks - https://x.com/Cordialess
Spectacular owl origami.
Photo thanks - https://x.com/Cordialess
Spectacular owl origami.
Photo thanks - https://x.com/Cordialess
Cikap-kamuy was considered a god of plenty who, importantly, made sure that rituals were being followed properly.
His central myth also established (for the Ainu) the mountain jay and crow as birds of ill omen, and the dipper as a symbol of good fortune.
Photo of a dipper (bird) bathing in a stream.
Woodblock print of a jay.
Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/
Woodblock print of an owl and jay.
Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/
Woodblock print of a crow.
Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/
#Listening to Sakhalin, a 2010 album by Oki Dub Ainu Band, which;
"... features Tonkori, the traditional stringed instrument of the Karafuto Ainu in a band setting with drums, bass, keyboard and heavy dub sound."
https://okidub.bandcamp.com/album/sakhalin-rock
I presume some of the songs, like Bekabeka, are in an Ainu language too. Like a blend of Japanese and Pacific triangle languages, maybe even a little like some South American languages I've heard bits of.
Matt Noyes
boosted
In Hokkaido, Indigenous land rights have added another layer to the division of opinions in Suttsu and Kamoenai over whether to host a permanent underground repository for Japan’s nuclear waste. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/07/06/energy/hokkaido-ainu-nuclear-waste-storage/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #environment #energy #nuclearenergy #energy #renewables #hokkaido #nuclearwaste #ainu #indigenouspeople
In Hokkaido, Indigenous land rights have added another layer to the division of opinions in Suttsu and Kamoenai over whether to host a permanent underground repository for Japan’s nuclear waste. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/07/06/energy/hokkaido-ainu-nuclear-waste-storage/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #environment #energy #nuclearenergy #energy #renewables #hokkaido #nuclearwaste #ainu #indigenouspeople