Upopoy festival to celebrate Ainu culture and Esashi Oiwake folk music

The National Ainu Museum and Park, known as Upopoy, will host Upopoy Festival 2025 on July 12 and 13 to mark its fifth anniversary. The two-day event will highlight cultural exchange through performing arts and food, pairing Ainu traditions with the Esashi Oiwake folk song.

Organised by the Ainu Culture Foundation, the festival seeks to deepen appreciation of diverse heritages and encourage a society in which cultures coexist. The foundation aims to “delve deeply into the appeal of local performing arts, while also providing an opportunity to reconsider a society that respects different cultures and coexists.” Esashi Oiwake dancers will wear costumes featuring Ainu patterns, symbolising the long-standing link between the song and the indigenous culture.

The first day of celebration will centre on Esashi Oiwake. Multiple-award-winning singer Kasumi Kimura will give a special performance, and visitors can join a workshop to learn the song, regarded as one of Japan’s most demanding folk pieces. Staff will serve 300 portions of nishin sanpeijiru, a herring stew.

The second day will shift the focus to Ainu culture. The Akan Ainu Culture Preservation Society and the Obihiro Kamuito Upopo Preservation Society will present traditional ceremonial dances and invite guests to try the movements first-hand. To celebrate the milestone year, organisers will offer 500 servings of chep ohaw, a fish soup. A themed programme will allow visitors to learn about the link between Ainu culture and Hokkaido folk music.

Opened in 2020 on the shore of Lake Poroto, Upopoy houses the National Ainu Museum, the first national museum in Hokkaido, and an open-air facility where visitors experience Ainu life through interactive exhibits. Engaging with Ainu stories broadens social understanding of diversity, enriching a plural society for a more inclusive Japan.