Shot in Hokkaido, among the ethnic group of the Ainu, this film shows the sacred ceremony of iyomande, the ritual killing of a bear, aimed to bring the people’s prayers to the gods through the soul of the killed bear. These two films were part of a 6 short films sequel about Japan, produced by the roman company Filmeco and screened in Rome in 1956.

Fosco Maraini

The Italian ethnologist, photographer, film-maker, mountaineer, writer, poet and professor was born 1912 in Florence.He accompanied the noted Italian Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci on two expeditions to Tibet (1937 and 1948). He wrote dozens of books and articles (many of which have been translated into several languages), he had numerous photographic exhibitions in Europe and Japan. His work in Tibet and on the Ainu people of Hokkaido is of the utmost importance as historical documentation of two disappearing cultures. He died in Florence in 2004.