Collection consists of VHS copies of films created and collected by Kazuo Okada.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Contact the repository for terms of use.
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Received from Kazuo Okada in 1993.
Kazuo Okada videos, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Edited film created from contemporary and historical footage by EC Japan Archives, the Shimonaka Memorial Foundation, and Tokyo Cinema, Inc. Film contains footage from a 1925 film, AINU LIFE IN SHIRAOI-KOTAIR, shot by Saburo Hatta. Film depicts aspects of daily and ceremonial life in the Ainu village of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, northern Japan. Scenes of men and womens' work include fishing in canoes on the Chitose River, using tumplines to haul loads, drawing water, and making thread and cloth from elm bast. Other depictions include a marriage ceremony, the treatment of sickness, a funeral, and a Bear Festival. Ainu mortuary practices observed include the binding of the corpse, processing the corpse to the grave, and setting up of the grave pole. Documentation of the Bear Festival shows the making of shaved wooden fetishes, ceremonial libations of sake, sacrifice of the bear, and the feasting and dancing that follows. Film contains Japanese and English intertitles.
Ethnographer: Mari Kodama
Legacy Keywords: Marriage Ainu Hokkaido, Japan ; Drinking ceremonial Ainu Japan ; Curing Ainu Japan ; Mortuary practices Ainu Japan ; Corpses binding of Ainu Japan ; Sacrifice bear festival Ainu Japan ; Libations sake Ainu Japan ; Feasts Bear Festival Ainu Japan ; Fishing leisters Ainu Japan ; Dancing Bear Festival Ainu Japan ; Processions funerals Ainu Japan
HSFA 1993.6.1
Edited film created from contemporary and historical footage by EC Japan Archives, the Shimonaka Memorial Foundation, and Tokyo Cinema, Inc. Film contains footage shot in 1934 by anthropologist N.G. Munro in the village of Nibutani, Hokkaido, Japan. Contemporary footage shows memorial to Dr. Munro, Saru River, countryside with mountains and fields, and thatched homes in Nibutani. 1934 footage depicts house warming rites including
HSFA 1993.6.2
Edited film created from contemporary and historical footage by EC Japan Archives, the Shimonaka Memorial Foundation, and Tokyo Cinema, Inc. Film contains footage shot in 1933-1934 by anthropologist N.G. Munro in the village of Nibutani, Hokkaido, Japan. Historical footage depicts an exorcism including: a
HSFA 1993.6.3
Edited film by Tetsuo Inukai depicts a Bear Festival in Chikaphumi near Asahikawa on Hokkaido, Japan. Footage includes: men chanting and walking a bear with ropes attached to its neck, dancing, feeding the bear, elders painting
HSFA 1993.6.4