One of our JDS Hokkaido photography workshop tour leaders traces his upbringing back to the Cree Nations Community in Northern Canada and being educated in the old ways by elders, Totem poles were a part of his daily landscape.  So when he first laid eyes on Ainu Totem poles in Hokkaido, Japan, he never thought them out of place or odd.  And he always remembers the first time co-leading a NatGeo Hokkaido photography tour workshop with international photographers and their surprise to see Totem poles in Japan.  Their first question the participants asked were, who made them?  His answer was simple, his friend Shitomi of the Ainu, and his ancestors made these Totem poles.  From that day forward, on every Hokkaido photography workshop tour he leads, he introduces participants on JDS workshops to the First Nations people of Japan, the Ainu, and there is no better place then Akanko Ainu Kotan, which happens to be an energy vortex or power spot, but not everyone is meant to feel or feed-off the energy.  Akanko is in his top five favorite spots on our planet for shinrin yoku (forest bathing).  Part of shinrin yoku is regaining one’s full strength energy naturally, plus healing.  Akano for our workshop leader is like being plugged into a power plant, such as our planet’s sun. 

Ainu and all Totem poles express a powerful storied sentiment, which represents the powerful quality symbol of native culture, traditions and jurisdiction.  When totems are erected, there is a ceremony to express the people’s appreciation for the natural world and community.  There are symbols in some of the Ainu totems for the Red-crowned cranes, and there is a specific Red-crowned crane dance called the Sarorun Rimse (Crane Dance), imitating the dances of the Red-crowned crane.  The Ainu are brilliant storytellers, and they tell the story of a variety of animals and spiritual or divine beings who are composed of or possess a high level of spiritual energy.  Similar to North Americans First Nations Peoples, the Ainu tell the story of the Red-Crowned Crane, with human dancers, in which the live birds are considered to be the Kamuy (a divine being) Gods of the Marshes, and spirit dancers.

Spotting and Photographing the Red-crowned cranes is a magical experience, タンチョウ (Tancho in Japanese), stand 150 to 158 cm (4ft to 5 ft) tall weighing 8 to 11 kg (17 to 25) pounds with an amazingly large wingspan measuring 200 to 260 cm (6.5 ft to 8.5 ft) and live more than 60 years, and these birds mate for life. The Red-Crowned Cranes ritual courtship dance is a masterpiece of impassioned choreography; they bow to one another, then raise their heads towards the sky and call in unison, and as they call, they begin to dance. One pair or the entire flock will leap into the air, at the same time commencing the mating ritual ballet/dance.