Discovering the Ainu i ‘Twas the season for welcome parties, and the Eastern HAJET welcome event just so happened to be in Akan, a place I had wanted to visit since I got here. Home to the Ainu Kotan, a village of the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido, Akan sits tucked away in a national park, and the town itself boasts beautiful views over its lake and nearby volcano. I had read about the Ainu during a day of prearrival Hokkaido research, and as a lover of cultures and
languages, I hoped I could learn quite a bit by visiting. It seemed fitting, considering the Ainu have left their touch on the island, that I should do some investigating. The itinerary said we were going to be staying at the campsite nestled in the trees and across from the lake. The campsite sat directly across the street from the Kotan, which meant we would be able to hear the music over the speakers from there. Camping
sounded like a great idea, except I didn’t own a tent or a sleeping bag. I managed to swing a tent from the organizer of the event and decided I would just make a bed roll instead of buying a sleeping bag. A thin comforter, my patch blanket, and a pillow, and I could sleep in sweatpants and a hoodie. Surely that would be warm enough? (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.) I hitched a ride with two other local JETs, and headed out at around 8:00 on Saturday morning, as we were coming from central Hokkaido, and this shindig was happening in eastern Hokkaido. Four and a half hours of drive time laid before us—not factoring in the stops for breakfast—so our gracious driver popped in some tunes and we headed off. The drive over was almost as striking as the pictures of Akan itself. I was initially worried about keeping from boredom on the ride over, but being from a relatively flat area of Texas, the mountain ranges and dramatic river drop-offs Birch Trees at Akankohan Campsite
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