Guests

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  Hideo Akibe

  Ainu Performing Arts Creative Director

  After graduating from high school, he apprenticed with his father as a woodcarver. He learned Ainu dance and its techniques under the tutelage of Toko Nupuri, Toyojiro Yontaku, and others in the village of Kotan.

  In addition to running a folk craft store, he is a member of the Akan Ainu Craft Cooperative Association, the Akan Ainu Association, and the Akan Ainu Folk Culture Preservation Society, and contributes to the promotion of understanding of Ainu culture in various genres, including artistic activities, cultural preservation and cultural lectures.

  He also served as the director of the ""Ainu Culture Creation Council"" established for the purpose of promoting Ainu culture at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and successfully led the Ainu Culture Creation Performance.

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  Satomi Igarashi

  Art Historian
  Curatorial Director, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art

  Born in Kushiro, Hokkaido in 1964.
  Igarashi graduated from Hirosaki University in 1986, Faculty of Humanities, majoring in Japanese art history. She has worked as a curator at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern, served as deputy director of the Yoshitaro Mikishi Museum of Art & others in Hokkaido before assuming her current position. She has curated exhibitions such as "AINU ART: Kaze no Kataribe" (2013, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art) and "Show Up. The Life of Morira: The World of Woodcarver Takeki Fujito" (2017, Sapporo Art Park Museum), "Beautiful Handicrafts of the Ainu People" (2019, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art), & others. She received the BIRENKYO Grand Prize for Outstanding Paper Award in 2019 & her publications include "Ainu Emaki Exploration: Unraveling the Mystery of Historical Drama" (Hokkaido Shinbunsha). She has given numerous lectures on Ainu paintings and sculptures.

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  Chuk Besher

  Moderator

  Born in Kobe, Japan, Besher is a Japanese citizen of Russian heritage―a son of stateless Russian refugee parents.
  Besher is the creator/producer of an award-winning documentary series―Future is MINE―featuring Japanese women in their journey of self-empowerment. Current film, Ainu My Voice, is being nominated by multiple international film festivals.
  Besher has a broad range of experience in communication and government?spanning careers in politics, marketing, broadcasting, and government relations. Most recently, Besher was in charge of communication planning for the Olympics and FIFA World Cup as well public affairs and sustainability at Coca-Cola Japan. Besher is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs―where he received a graduate degree in East Asian Studies and Communication. Besher’s publications include books in Japanese, Japan and the World Seen from Columbia University, and Corporate Crisis Management. Besher is a columnist for Tokyo Headline. Besher currently works for Japan’s leading IT firm, GREE, and its subsidiary 3Minute Inc., where he is involved in its Media and Advertising business. Besher lives in Tokyo, with wife Yuki, and two sons Noah (8), and Luka (6).