YAKUMO, HOKKAIDO
YAKUMO, HOKKAIDO3 DAYS, 2 NIGHTS
Three days in Yakumo.
Look for bear traces. Carve a bear with your own hands.
Share a meal and meet the people who call Yakumo home.
00ABOUT THE JOURNEY
Bear traces in the forest. Wooden bears passed down in town.
People who live here and create new places to come together.
Walk, carve and talk: three days to get to know Yakumo.
01AINU, WAJIN & THE WOODEN BEAR
THE STORY BEHIND THE BEAR
Wooden crafts brought back from Switzerland by
Tokugawa Yoshichika inspired bear carving in Yakumo
as work for the farming off-season. In 1924, Hokkaido’s
first wooden bear was entered in a local exhibition.
AINU & WAJIN HISTORY
In the Edo period, the area now called Yakumo lay on
the boundary between Ainu lands and Wajin settlements.
Wajin refers to ethnic Japanese. Posts in Kumaishi and
Yamakoshi regulated the movement of people.
Tokugawa Yoshichika joined local Ainu people
in bear hunts and bear-sending ceremonies.
The 1924 exhibition featured both a wooden
bear and crafts made by Ainu people.
Later, wooden bears became a craft made by both
Wajin and Ainu people across Hokkaido.
Sources: Yakumo Town, Ainu Mosir and Two Seas / The Owari Tokugawa Family and the Ainu of Yakumo
02BORDER WALK
Learn → Explore & carve → Listen
DAY01
Explore ways of relating to nature in Hokkaido and Japan,
and get to know Yakumo’s history and culture.
These talks set the scene for tomorrow’s walk and carving.
DAY02
10:00–12:30Forest walk14:30–15:00Museum15:00–18:00Wood carving
10:00–12:30
Look for tracks, feeding marks and other clues.
Explore how bears live in this forest.
14:30–18:00
Learn the history of wooden bears and try carving.
Work with the wood to find your own form.
DINNER
Talk about what you saw and felt during the day
over dinner at Pecorella.
Lunch: to be confirmed (planned: Spice). Forest walk and route subject to conditions on the day.
DAY03
Turning former bathhouses and schools into meeting places.
Born in Yakumo, Mr. Akai creates experiences and spaces
that draw on the town’s local resources.
Hear what inspired him to begin, and his hopes
for Yakumo’s future.
03BORDER WALK
Forest traces, wooden bears and local voices.
Follow their connections over three days.
THE BORDERS WE WALK
Yakumo Town spans Kumaishi on the Sea of Japan and Yakumo on the Pacific.
Map: Geoshape boundary data derived from MLIT National Land Numerical Information, etc.
TWO SEAS
Uchiura Bay on the Pacific lies to the east;
the Sea of Japan lies to the west. In 2005,
Kumaishi on the Sea of Japan merged with
Yakumo on the Pacific to form a town
with two seas. Mountains run north to south
between them, shaping a changing landscape.
DAY 2 / FOREST WALK
Find evidence of bears without meeting one.
Explore how forest and human lives connect.
DAY 2 / WOOD CARVING
People living alongside bears have carved them
from wood as work for the farming off-season.
DAY 3 / MEET A LOCAL PLACE-MAKER
Turning former bathhouses and schools into meeting places.
Explore how to give existing places a new life.
Discover Yakumo through doing, sharing and listening.
04BORDER WALK
Explore the relationship between bears and people through the lives of local communities.
Observe the forest and
try your hand at wood carving.
Hear how local resources inspire
new places for people to gather.
05BORDER WALK
Full details will be published once confirmed.
06JOIN US & ENQUIRIES
Book your place through our booking site.