Ainou Doll - Japan 1950-60

This figurine is an Ainu production from the 1950s-60s. The "human" Ainu are an aboriginal population living in northern Japan. They arrived around the 14th century BC, in the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin (1000 years before the Wa people, ancestors of the current Japanese people). They were gradually pushed back to what is now Hokkaido. During the Meiji era, forced assimilation prohibited their culture, dispossessed them of their lands, until the complete annexation of Hokkaido. Animists, the Ainu respect divine spirits "kamuy", male or female, scattered in nature, some good, others malevolent. The character wears a tunic embroidered with recognizable traditional patterns. Ainu art was not studied as such until 1926, in a work by SugiyamaSueo. Tomawak Yoshichika, 19th Ainu leader from 1924, promoted this art, organized exhibitions. In 1927 Prince Chichibu received a bear as a gift - Having become emperor, (Hiro Hito) he encouraged crafts. From 1932 the government of Hokkaido sent several missions to study Ainu culture. The association for the promotion of Ainu folk crafts was created in 1939 by a group of artists. This figurine is part of the post-war productions intended to revive the economy (simple materials) Box dimensions 41 x 19 x 14.5 cm - A tab glued on the box. A note on the Ainu will be given to the buyer.