Guardian Of The Forest

Director: Alex Ichiro Okuma

Producer: Alex Ichiro Okuma

Country: JP

Synopsis

Ainu are the indigenous people of Northern Japan.Ainu chief talks about "Kamuy" which is tremendously difficult to translate.None of the usual renderings "gods","spirits",captures its meaning.Kamuy or their incarnations are found in every phenomenon and object, including natural phenomena from the sun, moon,water,fire,to animals,plants and implements that are related to human life.Everything is endowed with a ?spirit?.Ainu believe interactions between Kamuy and human are the basis of this world. 


Objectives

To raise awareness of little-known Ainu culture of Northern Japan, which was recently officially recognized as "indigenous people of Japan" and to promote area tourism based on it's cultural backgrounds.