Japan Heritage story
The Kamikawa Ainu: living with the kamuy of Daisetsuzan
カムイと共に生きる上川アイヌ
In the shadow of Daisetsuzan, Hokkaido's highest mountains, the Kamikawa Ainu lived alongside the kamuy, the gods they saw in rivers, mountains and animals. Their sacred places along the Ishikari River are still places of prayer today.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Festivals and rituals
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Official name in Japanese
- カムイと共に生きる上川アイヌ
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- 〜大雪山のふところに伝承される神々の世界〜
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 北海道（上川町, 旭川市, 富良野市, 愛別町, 上士幌町, 上富良野町, 鹿追町, 士幌町, 新得町, 当麻町, 東川町, 比布町）
The story
For the Ainu, everything around people, from animals and plants to tools, has a spirit. Gods come down from the land of the gods as mountains, rivers or bears, and people and kamuy live as equals: people thank them with prayers and offerings, and the kamuy grow stronger in return. The Kamikawa Ainu, the "people upstream" of the Ishikari River, believed the river was a living thing that climbs into the mountains, and that Daisetsuzan at its source was closest to the land of the gods. They called it Kamuy Mintar, the garden where the gods play.
Downstream, the wild rapids of Kamuikotan were the river's most dangerous stretch. The Ainu saw a demon god in the swirling water and named its rocks after his footprints, his severed head and his body, from a legend of his battle with a hero god. Prayers for safe passage are still held there.
What to see
- Kamuikotan: giant rocks and rapids on the Ishikari River, a place of Ainu legend.Google Maps 神居古潭 (opens in a new tab)
- Arashiyama: the cliff the Kamikawa Ainu called "the mountain we worship", with a kotan of chise houses thatched in bamboo grass at its foot.
- Daisetsuzan: summer snow patches, creeping pine and alpine flowers, and Japan's earliest autumn colours.Google Maps 大雪山 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Hokkaido guide, and see more nature.
Good to know
- In a chise, the window at the back is sacred to the gods; never look into a house through it.
- Daisetsuzan's autumn colours start earlier than anywhere else in Japan.
- Ceremonies, including one to send the Blakiston's fish owl back to the gods, are still held, so check what is open to visitors.
Questions travellers ask
What are kamuy?
In Ainu belief, gods or spirits who come to the human world in forms such as mountains, rivers, animals and tools, and live alongside people as equals.
What does Kamuy Mintar mean?
"The garden where the gods play", the Ainu name for the Daisetsuzan mountains.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Coal, steel and port: Hokkaido's northern industrial revolution
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Masuda: a medieval masterpiece of Japan
- Otaru, the heart of Hokkaido: a merchant city saved by its people
- Sacred land of salmon: 10,000 years on the Nemuro Strait
- Takaoka: the castle town that became a merchant town
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.