2025 Expo Osaka: Ainu Groups Present Dance, Music Performances at Expo; Audiences Wowed by Traditions, Respect for Nature

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:10 JST, May 18, 2025

OSAKA — Clad in traditional clothing, Ainu dancers and musicians performed at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Saturday.

About 200 performers from 24 Ainu organizations presented a variety of traditional Ainu dances that have been passed down through generations, including those themed around animals and offerings to gods, in an event held at Expo Hall “Shining Hat” on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka’s Konohana Ward. The organizations are working to carry on Ainu culture.

Audiences were attracted by Ainu music played with traditional instruments. The event was organized by the Foundation for Ainu Culture to introduce to the world the culture of the indigenous Ainu people which was cultivated mainly in Hokkaido.

“My soul was shaken [as I watched their performance]. I felt their hope for peace and their determination to value nature,” said a 76-year-old homemaker from Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka. A 24-year-old visitor from Poland said she was deeply moved by their way of respecting nature.