Fodor's Expert Review Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum

An excellent resource for information about the Ainu, this museum remains sadly unknown to many Japanese. Ainu artifacts, such as shoes of salmon skin, water containers made from animal bladders, and heavy blue-and-black embroidered coats, are on display, as well as implements used in iyomante, an Ainu ritual that sent the spirit of the bear back to the nonhuman world. There is an hour-long movie in English and a selection of tapes with traditional Ainu chants and songs.