Ainu Reading ― 2022/08/15
All borrowed from a local library.
① is a magazine for fairy tale lovers featuring Golden Kamui and the Ainu people. The descriptions are easy to follow and the photos of the food look delicious.
② is a manga featuring the Ainu people, starred by an Ainu girl a bit older than Asilipa san. The depictions of the live of Ainu people are more realistic than Golden Kamuy. I heard there were more Ainu-themed manga, such as Shumari (by Osamu Tezuka) .
③ is a special issued magazine wholly dedicated to the Ainu culture. It probably contains the most comprehensive contents in these four, ranging from a guide to Ainu-related places to visit to movements to restore and protect the Ainu people and their culture heritages.
④ is Isabella Bird's travelogue of Hokkaido, most of which are about staying in Ainu villages and observing their lives. It was the most interesting of these four. I found an intriguing theory in its commentary section (in fact, about half of the book was commentary and notes) that Bird was not a mere Gaijin tourist. Rather, she was with some kind of 'mission'. I see, even in the Meiji era, nosing around is the nature of an Obachan and her curiosity wouldn't have raised too many suspicions.
Although this book is amusing, and would make a nice showing-off piece in the bookshelf, a bit pricy for me （3520 yen). I might go for this bunko version (1440 yen), including stories about her tour in other regions in Japan, if I own it myself.
Image retrieved from 『イザベラ・バードの日本紀行 （下）』（イザベラ・バード，時岡 敬子）：講談社学術文庫｜講談社BOOK倶楽部 (kodansha.co.jp)
①はメルヘン好き向け雑誌のゴールデンカムイとアイヌ民族の特集。説明が分かりやすく、料理の写真がおいしそう。
②はアイヌの人たちが主人公の漫画。ゴールデンカムイよりも描写がリアルな感じでした。アイヌ漫画にはほかに『シュマリ』（手塚治虫）などがあるそうです。
③はムック本です。アイヌ関連の聖地巡礼ガイドから、戦後のアイヌ民族とアイヌ文化の保護・修復運動まで幅広く取り上げていて、内容は一番充実しているかも。
④はイザベラ・バードの北海道旅行記。この4冊の中では一番面白かったです。解説（本の半分以上が解説と注釈でした）には、バードはただのガイジン旅行者ではなく、ある種の「任務」を帯びていたと匂わせる記述があり、興味深いです。なるほど、おばちゃんがいろんなところに首を突っ込んでいっても、あんまり疑われませんものね！
でも、この本は面白いし、本棚にあると見栄えがいいけど高い！買うなら文庫本かなあ。北海道以外の旅行記も入っているし。
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