Mapping Isabella Bird: Geolocation & Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880)Main MenuAboutMapping Isabella BirdIsabella Bird: A Brief BiographyWriting on the World StageIsabella's Bird's Writing Around the WorldTraveling to JapanIsabella Bird's 1878 Trip to Honshu and HokkaidoInteractive Map CollectionSeveral maps created from the content of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1878) to help visualize Isabella Bird's journey.Illustrating the BookUnderstanding the intersections between Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880) and visual culture.Why Unbeaten Tracks?Biratori & Bird's Account of Ainu CultureThe Saru River Valley TodayCitation & ResourcesCiting this Website and Resources for More Information on Isabella Bird and the AinuChristina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0Christina M. Spiker
12017-12-20T17:52:48+00:00Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f011Photograph from Good! Hokkaido!plain2017-12-20T17:52:48+00:002014Good! Hokkaido!Christina M. Spikere61b5e490351847c25b28288e317e5248c8241f0
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1media/bird_nibutani_dam.jpgmedia/bird_nibutani_dam.jpg2017-12-11T23:43:09+00:00The Saru River Valley Today9plain2018-02-13T22:39:22+00:00Biratori is a city in the Hidaka region of Hokkaido in the Saru River valley. While you can still visit Biratori today, the town of Nibutani, just a mile and a half north, is considered the area that most closely preserves Ainu culture and tradition. As of 2010, Nibutani had a population of 395 people. With over 80% of its residents claiming Ainu heritage, it makes Nibutani the largest town of concentrated Ainu residents in all of Hokkaido. Even shortly after the time of Bird's travel, it was viewed as a cultural center of sorts by outsiders.
Click on the red pinson the map above for some notable sites in the town of Nibutani in Biratori, Hokkaido.
Nibutani is also the site of the controversial Nibutani Dam. Ainu landowners Tadashi Kaizawa and Shigeru Kayano filed a landmark case in 1989 alleging that the government illegally seized indigenous land and ritual grounds. Although the dam was brought to completion in 1997, the case illustrated the systematic oppression of the Ainu people and rights that should have been recognized under Article 13 of the Japanese Constitution.