2 discoveries
Hokkaido's largest Ainu settlement, a lakeshore street of 30+ carving and embroidery shops run by the roughly 120 people who live there, plus Japan's first theater built solely for Ainu dance.
One of Tohoku's great summer festivals: for three August nights, thousands of dancers in flower-decorated straw 'hanagasa' hats sweep down the main street of Yamagata City to thundering drums and the cry of 'Yassho, makasho!'
