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Amemasu
or is a giant whale- or fish-like creature from Ainu folklore. Some of the largest ''amemasu'' are said to live in Lake Mashū and Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaidō, with smaller ones inhabiting lakes throughout northern areas of Honshu. The ''amemasu'' are known for capsizing boats, creating earthquakes, and causing other natural disasters. Appearance An ''amemasu'' is able to take on a human appearance, usually of a beautiful woman, in order to lure young men to their deaths. The skin of an ''amemasu'' is said to be cold and clammy, much like fish skin, which is how they can be identified when they are in human form. Legends The inhabitants of Hokkaido believed that large ''amemasu'' held up the Earth. Sometimes, the fish would get tired and this could cause earthquakes, similar to the namazu. In Akita Prefecture, there is a place called . Legend says that the ''amemasu'' so powerful, it was able to kill a hawk, even though it died in the end. There is an island in the middle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Kussharo
is a caldera lake in Akan National Park, eastern Hokkaidō, Japan. As with many geographic names in Hokkaidō, the name derives from the Ainu language. It is the largest caldera lake in Japan in terms of surface area, and sixth largest lake in Japan. It is also the largest lake in Japan to freeze over completely in winter. The name Lake Kutcharo is also sometimes used. The lake's central island, Nakajima (not to be confused with another island of the same name in Lake Tōya), is a stratovolcano. It is also Japan's largest recursive island. Volcanic gases render the lake water acidic, and it supports few fish except in areas where inflowing streams dilute the water. Rainbow trout, which are also resistant to fairly acidic water, have been artificially introduced. In 1951, a rare form of cicada ('' Hyalessa maculaticollis'') was discovered, and is now protected by the government. The lake is also on the migratory path of the whooper swan. Along the lake shore are several outdoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ainu People
The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Yamato Japanese and Russians. These regions are referred to as in historical Japanese texts. Official estimates place the total Ainu population of Japan at 25,000. Unofficial estimates place the total population at 200,000 or higher, as the near-total assimilation of the Ainu into Japanese society has resulted in many individuals of Ainu descent having no knowledge of their ancestry. As of 2000, the number of "pure" Ainu was estimated at about 300 people. In 1966, there were about 300 native Ainu speakers; in 2008, however, there were about 100. Names This people's most widely known ethnonym, "Ainu" ( ain, ; ja, アイヌ; russian: Айны) means "human" in the Ainu language, particularly as opposed to , divine beings. Ainu also i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Mashū
(Ainu language, Ainu: Kamuy-to) is an endorheic Volcanic crater lake, crater lake formed in the caldera of a potentially active volcano. It is located in Akan Mashu National Park on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It has been called the clearest lake in the world. Hydrology Lake Mashū is surrounded by steep crater walls high. It has no significant inlets and no outlet. The lake is one of the clearest in the world and one of the deepest in Japan. On August 1, 1931, the transparency of the water was measured at . Around the same time Lake Baikal was measured . This is the basis for the lake's claim to be the clearest in the world. Since the 1950s the transparency has tended to range between . The loss in transparency is probably due to the introduction of sockeye salmon and rainbow trout into the lake and landslides.NHK World HD Channel At the same time, the clarity of Lake Baikal has not been measured. In summer, the surface of Lake Mashū is often obscured by fog. There is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Shikotsu
is a caldera lake in Chitose, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is a part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park. Geography Lake Shikotsu is located in the south-west part of Hokkaidō. It has an average depth of and a maximum depth of , making it the second deepest lake in Japan, after Lake Tazawa. It is the 8th-largest lake by surface area in Japan and the second largest of Japan's caldera lakes, surpassed only by Lake Kussharo. It is surrounded by three volcanos: Mount Eniwa to the north and Mount Fuppushi and Mount Tarumae to the south. The caldera formed in the holocene when the land between the volcanos subsided. Due to its depth, the volume of Lake Shikotsu reaches 3/4 of the volume of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, despite of having only 1/9 of that lake's surface area. Due to the small surface area to depth ratio, the water temperature remains quite constant throughout the year, making it the northernmost ice-free lake in Japan. The Bifue, Okotanpe, Ninaru and Furenai rivers fee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hokkaidō
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaidō is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only ordinance-designated city. Sakhalin lies about 43 kilometers (26 mi) to the north of Hokkaidō, and to the east and northeast are the Kuril Islands, which are administered by Russia, though the four most southerly are claimed by Japan. Hokkaidō was formerly known as ''Ezo'', ''Yezo'', ''Yeso'', or ''Yesso''. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hokkaidō" in Although there were Japanese settlers who ruled the southern tip of the island since the 16th century, Hokkaido was considered foreign territory that was inhabited by the indigenous people of the island, known as the Ainu people. While geographers such as Mogami Tokunai and Mamiya Rinzō explored the isla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honshu
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to the south and east. It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java. Honshu had a population of 104 million , constituting 81.3% of the entire population of Japan, and is mostly concentrated in the coastal areas and plains. Approximately 30% of the total population resides in the Greater Tokyo Area on the Kantō Plain. As the historical center of Japanese cultural and political power, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyōto, Nara and Kamakura. Much of the island's southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt, a megalopolis that spans several of the Japane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namazu (Japanese Mythology)
In Japanese mythology, the or is a giant underground catfish who causes earthquakes. The creature lives under the islands of Japan and is guarded by the god Takemikazuchi enshrined at Kashima, who restrains the catfish with a stone. When the Kashima-god lets his guard fall, Namazu thrashes about, causing violent earthquakes. Myth The legend or myth in Japan is that a gigantic ''namazu'' (catfish) lives inside or beneath the earth (or in the mud) which causes earthquakes. The association of the ''namazu'' with earthquake seems to have first occurred in the area around Lake Biwa, around the 16th century. The ''namazu'' had been depicted in the '' Ōtsu-e'' ("pictures from the city of Otsu") which were manufactured in that area. This earthquake-causing creature became associated with the deity and "foundation stone" in Kashima, Ibaraki. According to myth, the god Takemikazuchi enshrined at Kashima restrains the catfish underneath a stone (, perhaps "foundation stone" but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kushiro River
is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . The Kushiro originates from Lake Kussharo and flows south across the Kushiro Plain. The river is joined by two tributaries, the Kuchoro River () and the Setsuri River (), before it empties into the Pacific Ocean at the port at Kushiro. The lower reaches of the river form broad wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The .... The Shinkushiro River (), which was built roughly parallel to the Kushiro River, was completed in 1931 and flows south to the Pacific Ocean. References Rivers of Hokkaido Rivers of Japan {{Japan-river-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvelinus
''Salvelinus'' is a genus of Salmonidae, salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". ''Salvelinus'' is a member of the subfamily Salmoninae within the family Salmonidae. The genus has a northern circumpolar distribution, and most of its members are typically cold-water fish that primarily inhabit fresh waters. Many species also migrate to the sea. Most char may be identified by light-cream, pink, or red spots over a darker body. Scales tend to be small, with 115-200 along the lateral line. The pectoral, pelvic, anal, and the lower aspect of caudal fins are trimmed in snow white or cream leading edges. Many members of this genus are popular sport fish, and a few, such as lake trout (''S. namaycush'') and arctic char (''S. alpinus'') are objects of commercial fisheries and/or aquaculture. Occasionally, such fish escape and become invasive species. Deepwater char are small species of char living below 80 m in the deep areas of certain lakes. They are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvelinus Leucomaenis
''Salvelinus leucomaenis'', the whitespotted char, is an East Asian trout in the genus ''Salvelinus'', called ''iwana'' in Japanese and ''kundzha'' (кунджа) in Russian. Both landlocked and ocean-run forms occur. The landlocked form typically grows up to , and prefers low-temperature streams. The seagoing fish typically grows to long. The largest reported specimen was long and the oldest was nine years old. ''Iwana'' is widely fished in Japan. Apart from Hokkaido in Japan, the species is found in northeast Korea and in Russia in Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west .... The kirikuchi char (''Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus'' or ''Salvelinus japonicus'') is usually considered a subspecies of ''S. leucomaenis''. Two other s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ainu Legendary Creatures
Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu language, extinct language from the island of Sakhalin *Ainu music *Ainu cuisine *Ainu (Middle-earth), spirit in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium *Ainu (insect), a beetle in the family Tenebrionidae *Äynu people, of Western China **Äynu language See also * Äynu (other) *Ainur (other) *Aino (other) Aino may refer to: * Aino (given name), a first name in Finland and Estonia * Ainu people (sometimes called ''Aino''), an ethnic group of northern Japan * Ainu language (also sometimes called ''Aino''), the language of the Ainu people * Aino, Naga ... {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
