OKI: Music of the Ainu at Japan Society

OKI: Music of the Ainu at Japan Society
May 6. $25. 7:30PM.

OKI is the stage name used by Oki Kano, born to a Japanese mother and an Ainu father. The Ainu are the indigenous people of northern Japan, especially the island of Hokkaido, but today there are fewer than 300 people who speak the Ainu language. OKI has dedicated his career to preserving and continuing the tradition of Ainu music and storytelling. He plays the traditional lute known as tonkori, which Ainu shamans used to communicate with the spirits that controlled the natural world. He brings his interpretations of indigenous Ainu music to the Japan Society on May 6.

Here he is performing an Ainu song called "Iso Kaari Irehte" or "Bear Trap Rhythm"