Held an event to introduce Ainu culture, ``Ainu Crafts: Tradition and Innovation - From Lake Akan.''

Notice of live event cancellation

The "Kapiw & Apappo Live Event" scheduled for October 13th (Sunday) from 18:00 has been canceled due to Typhoon No. 19.
We apologize to all customers who have made reservations. Please note that there are no plans to reschedule the live performance.
*The reception scheduled after the live performance will also be cancelled.

It has been decided that a live performance will be held on October 18th (Friday) from 18:30 to 19:00. For details, please see the "Events" section below.

Hiroyuki Shimokura / Metal engraver

Born in 1975 in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Started carving when he was 20 years old. In 1998, after graduating from metal engraving school, while working and training at a jewelry workshop in Tokyo, I traveled to Hokkaido by motorcycle and was shocked by the mysterious patterns on traditional Ainu costumes that I saw at a museum in Nibutani, Biratori Town. . She returned to Tokyo and studied Ainu culture, and a year later began making jewelry with Ainu patterns based on what she had seen. In 2003, he married Emi Toko, a native of Lake Akan Onsen, whom he met through his work. In 2013, he moved to Lake Akan Onsen, inherited the atelier of his wife's uncle, the late Toko Nupuri, one of the leading Ainu wood carvers, and began operating his own workshop. In 2019, the atelier opened as “cafe & gallery KARIP”.

Emi Shimokura / Ainu crafts artist, Ainu song/singer

Raised in Ainu Kotan. From an early age, he became familiar with Ainu songs, dance, and the traditional musical instrument mukkuri, and learned traditional crafts from his grandmother and mother. Since 1997, he has been active as a singer. Since 2001, she has run an art jewelry brand ``Ague'' in Tokyo with her husband, Hiroyuki Shimokura, who is a metal engraver. In charge of Ainu pattern design. In 2006, she formed "Kapiw & Aapppo" with her sister Fukiko Goukon to convey the charm of Ainu songs. Currently runs ``cafe & gallery KARIP'' in Lake Akan Onsen with Hiroyuki Shimokura.

Fukiko Goukon / Ainu crafts artist, Ainu songs and singer

Raised in Lake Akan Ainu Kotan. The family runs Poronno, a folk cafe that serves Ainu cuisine. While diligently producing the Ainu handicrafts inherited from her grandmother and others, she also performs live Ainu music as a sister unit "Kapiw & Aappo" and often collaborates with other musicians. In addition, he engages in a wide range of activities such as lectures and cultural exchanges regarding Ainu culture.

Kengo Takiguchi / Woodworker

Born in 1982 as the eldest son of sculptor Masamitsu Takiguchi in Lake Akan Onsen, he grew up in the Ainu Kotan of Lake Akan until junior high school. Studied at high school in Adelaide, Australia. He became interested in wood carving after encountering bird carving in Australia. After returning to Japan, he returned to his parents' home and worked at his father's workshop and souvenir shop, ``Ichinge-no-ten'', but then started working in the dairy industry in Hamanaka-cho and Betsukai-cho. Last year, after his father's death, he took over the shop and decided to settle down in Lake Akan Onsen, and currently works as a woodworker in addition to running the shop.

Erika Katsuya / Embroidery artist

Raised in Lake Akan Ainu Kotan. At the age of 17, she became interested in embroidery after seeing her mother's work. After that, she learned how to embroidery by completing numbers while watching her mother work. Her grandmother also does embroidery, and she continues the tradition by adding her own colors to the things her grandmother and mother inherited. Besides being active in Ainu dance, she also continues to make embroidery.

Taeko Kimura / Ainu craft artist

Raised in Urakawa-cho, Hokkaido, she grew up learning traditional songs, dances, and handicrafts from her Ainu grandmother and mother. After graduating from high school, he moved from Sapporo to Hyogo and then the United States, and at the recommendation of his mother, became a member of the first generation of the Ainu culture successor training program in Shiraoi District, Hokkaido. He specializes in making indigo-dyed T-shirts with Ainu patterns and saranip bags made from halibut tree bark. Currently, as a member of the Asahikawa Chikappuni Ainu Folk Culture Preservation Society, she performs songs and dances at Ainu-related events and school visits.