iomante
The Ainu are the indigenous people on the island of Hokkaido, a part of the Japanese Archipelago. Their belief system is an animist based religion, believing that the gods took on the forms of nature around us. Of these, the god who took on the shape of a bear was among the most important.
There are two well known forms of oral tradition in Ainu culture, Epics called Kamui Yukar and Ainu Yukar, literally "god" and "man" epics respectively. Iomante incorporates an oral form of Kamui Yukar, which tells the tales of the bear shaped god.
Iyomante is a ceremony that the Ainu perform in the belief that the bear god takes the form of a bear. Historically, in sacrificing a bear, the ainu are believed that they were sending the spirit back to the spirit world.
In Modern day, the ceremony differs significanty due to Japanese government rule, as well as the current ecological conditions in Hokkaido.
