AKAN AINU ART WEEK 2025: An art festival exploring Ainu culture and the nature of Lake Akan

Loftwork is presenting AKAN AINU ART WEEK (AAAW) in Lake Akan (in Japanese, “Akanko”), Hokkaido, from October 12 (Sun) to October 31 (Fri), 2025. Commissioned by Hokkaido’s Kushiro City, the event takes place across Lake Akan Onsen and the Akanko Ainu Kotan area.

Held over three weeks, AKAN AINU ART WEEK celebrates the harmony between the indigenous Ainu culture and the magnificent nature of Lake Akan. The festival features a vibrant collection of artworks by artists from the Ainu Kotan alongside contemporary creators from diverse backgrounds.

Entering its second edition, the 2025 festival expands into a “wandering exhibition,” with installations placed across Lake Akan Onsen and the Ainu Kotan area. Along with artworks created through residency programs deeply rooted in the natural environment, visitors can look forward to new large-scale symbolic installations that highlight the dialogue between art and landscape.

Throughout the event period, a rich lineup of programs ranging from guided nature tours to performing arts will take place across multiple venues, inviting visitors to experience the deep connection between art, culture, and the living environment of Akan.

Ahead of this year’s AKAN AINU ART WEEK, a special traveling pre-event titled the AAAW Yoi Matsuri (“Night Festival”) Tour was held across Japan, starting in Tokyo on August 30. The tour revisited highlights from last year’s festival and introduced the 2025 program.

The program features screenings of two short films directed by Masashi Sogawa — urar suye and cupki mawe — created during last year’s project, along with online talk sessions with Ainu artists.

Each stop on the tour also offered original collaboration menus inspired by this year’s festival theme. Drawing from the nature of Akan and the spirit of Ainu culture, these one-of-a-kind culinary creations invited visitors to experience a taste of the festival’s world before it officially began.

The AAAW Yoi Matsuri served as a warm-up celebration. It was a gathering that enriched future journeys and encounters through art, food, and shared stories.

In 1959, a small settlement was formed on the shores of Lake Akan.
That place came to be known as Akanko Ainu Kotan.

Here, life has long been shaped by the Ainu belief that every part of nature carries a spirit.
People carved wood, sewed cloth, and prayed. Their way of life was quietly passed down through generations.

This autumn, AKAN AINU ART WEEK returns for its second edition, guided by the theme “Eiwanke Ya?”, which means “How are you?” in the Ainu language.

In the rush of everyday life, how often do we pause to reconnect with ourselves?

As you walk through this land, surrounded by great lakes and mountains, a journey begins, tracing the memories of those who lived here and inviting reflection through encounters with nature and art.

May the landscapes and moments you discover through art gently linger in your heart.

The Akanko Ainu Kotan is one of the largest Ainu settlements, or kotan, in Hokkaido, home to around 120 residents. Rooted in the Ainu belief that spirits dwell in all things, the kotan serves as a place where visitors can experience Ainu culture through moments of connection, creation, sharing, inheritance, and living in harmony with nature.

Here, surrounded by the vast landscape of Hokkaido, visitors can encounter the rich and spiritual world of the Ainu people. This is a culture that has long coexisted with nature and cultivated a deep sense of reverence for the living world.

In 2024, AKAN AINU ART WEEK connected art with the local context of Akan, fostering creative exchanges between Ainu and contemporary artists. The event welcomed visitors from across Japan and abroad, and many new art works were born from these collaborations.

A short film produced during the same project, urar suye by director Masashi Sogawa, portrayed the beauty of contemporary Ainu culture and received the Grand Prize in the Travel Movie category at the Japan International Tourism Film Festival 2025, drawing significant attention nationwide.

For the 2025 edition, the exhibition area and number of artworks will be further expanded, along with a wider range of related programs. Below are some of the key highlights and reflections from last year’s event.

Centered around Akanko Ainu Kotan and Lake Akan Onsen, the event features art exhibitions and interactive programs held at cultural landmarks, local facilities, and outdoor sites across the area. By exploring these spaces, visitors can experience both the majestic nature of Lake Akan and the deep cultural heritage of the Ainu people.

The exhibition showcases works by Ainu artists who blend traditional craftsmanship with modern creativity. From wood carving and glass sculpture to embroidery and live performance, each piece reflects a meeting point between heritage and the present.

In 2024, Shinjiro Nishino from Gas As Interface Co. Ltd., curated a lineup of domestic and international contemporary artists for the Art Week. Through field research and residency production in and around Lake Akan Onsen and the Akanko Ainu Kotan, these artists created and unveiled new works inspired by the land and its stories.

During the art week period, Akanko Ainu Theater Ikor presented performances that reimagined traditional Ainu heritage through a modern perspective. In addition, guided tours and hands-on programs allowed visitors to experience the natural environment of Lake Akan and Ainu craft.

Discover more

The teaser website is now available ahead of AKAN AINU ART WEEK 2025. The site offers photos and information about the event schedule, participating artists, and featured programs. Visitors are invited to explore the world of AKAN AINU ART WEEK, where art unfolds in harmony with the nature of Akan.

If you’re interested in exploring how Loftwork can collaborate with you to design or produce an art festival, or to develop a creative project that connects people, culture, and place, we’d love to hear from you.
Please get in touch with us through our contact form.

For inquiries specifically about AKAN AINU ART WEEK, please reach out directly to info@akan-ainu-artweek.com