This morning I would be leaving Sapporo and leaving Hokkaido Island, travelling back to the main central island where Tokyo is situated. Before I was to stop and visit one of the Ainu Folk Villages. The Ainu people are the local indigenous people of the island and maintain their folk way of live in certain areas of the island.

Researching online there are several places to experience Ainu culture but all not easy to get to. http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/sceni c/hokkaido/hokkaido_05.html. Most would involve a day trip detour to get there and back as transport infrastructure on Hokkaido is not what it is on the more densely populated mainland.

The closest I could try to experience is the Shiraoi Ainu village on route from Sapporo back to Hakodate. Unfortunately this station has limited service so you have to research your arrival and departures times or you could be stuck here with nothing else to do for most of the day.

I was going to take the 7.38 limited express train to Shiraoi arriving 8.28 and had to leave on the 10.40 back to Tomokamai. Once again the Green Car was empty.

On arrival at Shiraoi it was a small station with nobody there. I'd researched on google maps the walking route to get to the village and had to figure how to cross the tracks to get to the north side. It was an easy walk but I had my luggage with me again.

Entrance was 800Y ($10) and the lady said I could leave my bags there though she spoke no english. I was the only person here this early and I wandered if anyone else was interested to come.

The village was deserted and when a man saw me he ushered me to the museum building and switched the lights on.

It was an interesting ethnography museum showing traditional way of life and crafts.

I was trying to catch the 9am music and dance show I read about online and figuring which building since this was the largest building but it wasnt in here.

I wandered thru the buildings and they were all deserted. Perhaps they werent going to do the show since this wasnt peak season and nobody was here.

I saw a lady in local dress and tried to ask her. She didnt speak english but showed me on a brochure the show time was 9.15am. Relieved it was still going ahead I explored the rest of the small village.

By 9.15 I made my way back to the hut where the show was to take place and was the only one. Then a large Japanese tour group arrived filling half the hall, followed by a Korean group who filled the second half. I guess I came early and they timed their bus arrivals for the show.

First there was a guy for 15 mins who tried to do a one man comedy act in Japanese and Korean and I felt it was a bit of a waste of time as I'd come to see local folk culture not a comedy stand up club. The show was only meant to last 30 mins.

For the final 15 mins the ladies came on stage and did a circle dance. This was followed by a mouth instrument which they make plucking sounds with using a long string.

Video 1 : Circle Dance https://youtu.be/9C75CBZQrp8

Video 2 : Throat Plucking https://youtu.be/JCavCT6vDaY

Then an older lady made owl noises as she cradled a baby to sleep on her back. Finally there was another group song and dance. They were joined by a male dancer who used a sword.

Video 3 : Song & Final Dance https://youtu.be/h2qanlIh08A

The tour groups wandered the village as it now came to life. I went to explore the zoo area. There were wild dogs and bears kept in cages. You could buy food to feed the bears down long metal pipes.

I've seen online reviews about how cruel the zoo was but aside from being kept in cages they were not shackled and could move around freely and I didnt see any overt abuse. I would expect wild dogs and bears to be kept in a cage. Did the people complaining expect to pat a wild bear or give the bear a cuddle?

It was now about 9.45 and I had to make my way back to the station for the 10.40 train to Tomokamai to catch all my connections to Nikko later today.

It was ok as in introduction but there was no group finale or photo option as in other folk villages. The best one I've been to was the Sandimen Aboriginal Park in southern Taiwan which had a musical love story which culminated in a large village wedding. I would certainly make the extra effort to go back to the Taiwan village again if I have the chance (see entry http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/24/1359811432/tpod.html)