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Repun Kamuy
Repun Kamuy is the Ainu ''kamuy'' (''god'') of the sea. Depiction Repun Kamuy is sometimes depicted as an orca. In other instances, he is a carefree, somewhat mischievous young man armed with a harpoon.Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 238-239 Mythology Repun Kamuy is an important figure in Ainu mythology because the sea represents opportunities for harvests that could not be found on land: fishing, the hunting of whales, and maritime trading expeditions. One of his myths displays his carefree nature and his generosity. In the story, he harpoons a whale and her young, and throws them ashore near a human village. When he arrives at home, he is visited by a sea wren, who tells him that the humans are cutting up the whales using sickles and axes — that is, not showing proper respect to the animal or to Repun Kamuy as the gift-giver. Rather than growing angry, he laughs, saying that the meat belongs to the human ...
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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 ...
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Kamuy
A ''kamuy'' ( ain, カムィ; ja, カムイ, kamui) is a spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology, a term denoting a supernatural entity composed of or possessing spiritual energy. The Ainu people have many myths about the ''kamuy'', passed down through oral traditions and rituals. The stories of the ''kamuy'' were portrayed in chants and performances, which were often performed during sacred rituals. Concept In concept, ''kamuy'' are similar to the Japanese ''kami'' but this translation misses some of the nuances of the termAshkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 187-188 (the missionary John Batchelor assumed that the Japanese term was of Ainu origin).John Batchelor: ''The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore'', London 1901, p. 580–582. The usage of the term is very extensive and contextual among the Ainu, and can refer to something regarded as especially positive as well as something regarded as especially strong. ''Kamuy'' c ...
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Orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, orcas can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Southern Ocean, Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Orcas have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as Pinniped, seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales. Orcas are apex predators, as they have no natural predators. They are highly Social animal, social; some populations are composed of very stable matrilineal family groups (pods) which are the most stable of any animal species. Their ...
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Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, seal hunting, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal and securing it with barb or toggling claws, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the projectile to catch the animal. A harpoon can also be used as a weapon. Certain harpoons are made with different builds to perform better with the type of target being aimed at. For example, the Inuit have short, fixed foreshaft harpoons for hunting seals at their breathing holes while loose shafted ones are made for attaching to the game thrown at. History In the 1990s, harpoon points, known as the Semliki harpoons or the Katanda harpoons, were found in the Katanda_Territory, Katanda region in Zaire (called the Democratic Republic of the Congo today). As the earliest known harpoons, these weapons were made and used 90, ...
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Whale Beaching
Cetacean stranding, commonly known as beaching, is a phenomenon in which whales and dolphins strand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole. Cetacean stranding has occurred since before recorded history. Several explanations for why cetaceans strand themselves have been proposed, including changes in water temperatures, peculiarities of whales' echolocation in certain surroundings, and geomagnetic disturbances, but none have so far been universally accepted as a definitive reason for the behavior. However, a link between the mass beaching of beaked whales and use of mid-frequency active sonar has been found. Subsequently, whales that die due to stranding can decay and bloat to the point where they can easily explode, causing gas and their internal organs to fly out. Species Every year, up to 2,000 animals beach themselves. Although the majority of ...
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Rebun Island
is an island in the Sea of Japan off the northwestern tip of Hokkaidō, Japan. The island sits off the coast of Hokkaidō. Rebun stretches from north to south and from east to west. The island covers approximately . Rebun Island is located northwest of Rishiri Island, and the two islands are separated by the Rebun Channel. Rebun Island is known for its alpine flowers and the 8-Hour Hiking Course which runs from one end of the island to the other, north to south. The hiking course can be broken into two sections, known as the 4-Hour Hiking Courses. Rebun Island is home to a chashi, or hilltop fortification of the Ainu people. The highest point on the island is Mount Rebun (). The island is part of the Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park. Fossilized remains of long-finned pilot whales that are now extinct in the north Pacific have been excavated on Rebun Island, and remains of funerals for orcas, possibly referring them as Repun Kamuy (God of Sea/Offshore) have been fo ...
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Brown Bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is known as the Kodiak bear. It is one of the largest living terrestrial members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear (''Ursus maritimus''), which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on average. The brown bear's range includes parts of Russia, Central Asia, the Himalayas, China, Canada, the United States, Hokkaido, Scandinavia, Finland, the Balkans, the Picos de Europa and the Carpathian region (especially Romania), Iran, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries. While the brown bear's range has shrunk, and it has faced local extinctions across its wide range, it remains listed as a least con ...
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Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and 1.33 million for its evening edition as of July 2021, was second behind that of the ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. By print circulation, it is the third largest newspaper in the world behind the ''Yomiuri'', though its digital size trails that of many global newspapers including ''The New York Times''. Its publisher, is a media conglomerate with its registered headquarters in Osaka. It is a privately held family business with ownership and control remaining with the founding Murayama and Ueno families. According to the Reuters Institute Digital Report 2018, public trust in the ''Asahi Shimbun'' is the lowest among Japan's major dailies, though confidence is declining in all the major newspapers. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest ...
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Animal Worship
The term Animal worship (or zoolatry) is an umbrella term designating religious or ritual practices involving animals. This includes the worship of animal deities or animal sacrifice. An animal 'cult' is formed when a species is taken to represent a religious figure ( Teeter et al., 2002, p. 355). Animal cults can be classified according to their formal features or by their symbolic content ( Thomas 1911, p. 51). The classical author Diodorus situated the origin of animal worship in a myth in which the gods, threatened by giants, disguised themselves as animals. The people then began to worship these animals and continued even after the gods returned to their normal state ( Lubbock, 2005, p. 252). In 1906, Weissenborn suggested that animal worship resulted from humans fascination with the natural world. Primitive man would observe an animal that had a unique trait and the inexplicability would engender curiosity ( Weissenborn, 1906b, p. 282). Wonder resulte ...
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List Of Water Deities
A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Another important focus of worship of water deities has been springs or holy wells. As a form of animal worship, whales and snakes (hence dragons) have been regarded as godly deities throughout the world (as are other animals such as turtles, fish, crabs, and sharks). In Asian lore, whales and dragons sometimes have connections. Serpents are also common as a symbol or as serpentine deities, sharing many similarities with dragons. Africa and the Mediterranean Sub-Sahara Africa Western Niger-Congo Benin * Ezili, goddess of sweet water, beauty, and love. Dogon *Nommos, amphibious spirits that are worshiped as ancestors. Serer * Mindiss (or Mindis) is not a deity in Serer religion, but a pangool with goddess–like attributes. She is ...
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Ainu Kamuy
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 ...
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Sea And River Gods
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, as well as certain large, entirely landlocked, saltwater lakes, such as the Caspian Sea. The sea moderates Earth's climate and has important roles in the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. Humans harnessing and studying the sea have been recorded since ancient times, and evidenced well into prehistory, while its modern scientific study is called oceanography. The most abundant solid dissolved in seawater is sodium chloride. The water also contains salts of magnesium, calcium, potassium, and mercury, amongst many other elements, some in minute concentrations. Salinity varies widely, being lower near the surface and the mouths of large rivers and higher in the depths of the ocean; however, the relative proportions of dissolved salts vary li ...
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