Akan-Ko ( Lake Akan ), Hokkaido

Akan-Ko ( Lake Akan ) is located in the north of Kushiro city and in the east of Hokkaido. The lake is a part of Akan National Park as well as one of Ramsar wetlands.

Lake and Volcano

Akan-Ko ( above ) is one of the most beautiful lakes in Hokkaido. Also in the right of the above, Mount Oakan is seen. The lake was formed almost 6,000 years ago by some volcanoes including Mount Oakan.

Mount Meakan, which is located to the south-west of the lake, is an active volcano. The lake is located in a volcanic area so there are some Onsen ( hot springs ) around the lake.

Sightseeing Cruiser and Marimo

Sightseeing Cruisers ( above ) are popular among tourists visiting Akan-Ko. Cruisers take tourists around the lake and an island where they could visit Marimo Exhibition and Observation Center. In Akan-Ko, Marimo ( Aegagropila linnaei ) grow into green balls as big as 30 cm in diameter.

The whole of the lake is frozen in winter and on ice lots of people enjoy winter sports such as skating, driving snowmobile and smelt fishing.

Akan-Ko Ainu Kotan

On the south bank of the lake, there is Akan-Ko Ainu Kotan ( Above ). Ainu is an indigenous people who live in Hokkaido and its surrounding regions. Kotan is a village where Ainu people live.

In Akan-Ko Ainu Kotan where more than a hundred people live, there are souvenir shops where tourists could buy their unique crafts showing an aspect of their traditional culture.

Ainu Living Memorial Hall

In the kotan, there is the Ainu Memorial Hall, in which various goods, showing the lifestyle and tradition of Ainu, are exhibited. For example, the above is Attus, which is textile made of bark.

In the hall tourists could see Cepkeri ( boots made from salmon skin ), Mukkuri ( mouth harp ), Pasuy ( sticks used for invocation ), Tamasay ( bead necklace ), Sapampe ( ceremonial crown ) and so on.

Ainu Theater

In the kotan, there is the Ainu Theater, where tourists could see the traditional performances including ceremonial dances and fire festival. The above photo, taken in the theater, shows the performance of an invocation using Pasuy ( sticks used for invocation ) and Sapampe ( ceremonial crown ).

Sarorunkamuirimuse ( Crane Dance )

In the theater, tourists could see various dancing, among which my most favourite is Sarorunkamuirimuse ( Crane Dance - above ), in which they mimic Tanchou-Zuru ( Red-Crowned Crane ). The cranes could be seen in Kushiro Shitsugen. Tanchou-Zuru is one of the most beautiful wild animals in Japan.

Ainu people do not have letters but their own language. So they inherit lots from their ancestors orally from mouth to mouth and through singing and dancing. In the 19th century, it was prohibited for Ainu people to speak their own language. Now there are less than 100 native Ainu speakers. However a certain number of people learn Ainu language now.

Kurimuse ( Arrow Dance )

The above photo, taken in the theater, shows Kurimuse ( Arrow Dance ). Traditionally Ainu people had been hunter-gatherers as Jomon people had been. So hunting was so important. The dance performace tells a story of an Ainu hunter who found a bird flying. However the bird was too beautiful for him to shoot an arrow.