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The ''iyomante'' is a traditional [[Ainu]] ritual practice, often described in English as a bear-spirit-sending ritual, or simply as the bear ceremony.
The ''iyomante'' is a traditional [[Ainu]] ritual practice, often described in English as a bear-spirit-sending ritual, or simply as the bear ceremony.
The practice centers around the ritual killing of a bear cub, followed by the appeasing and sending off of the bear's spirit.
The practice centers around the ritual killing of a bear cub raised in the community for some time (since hunting and killing the cub's mother), followed by the appeasing and sending off of the bear cub's spirit. The community would then partake of the bear meat. In many Ainu communities, bears are believed to be gods that have chosen to take form in the human world, and the ''iyomante'' is an established part of the Ainu relationship with these gods, that they help them return to the spirit world at the appropriate times.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33763405508/sizes/l/]</ref>
In the [[Tokugawa period]], Japanese officials and fishery bosses were often invited to participate in such rituals as honored guests. In the [[Meiji period]], however, Japanese became merely passive spectators, as the ritual became more strongly formalized as something to be preserved and maintained, and demonstrated or performed, as a "traditional" practice representative or emblematic of Ainu "tradition." Before long, tourists' failures to observe proper etiquette while attending these sacred ceremonies led to the performance of fake, non-sacred, ''iyomante'' ceremonies, as demonstrations for the tourists.
In the [[Tokugawa period]], Japanese officials and fishery bosses were often invited to participate in such rituals as honored guests. In the [[Meiji period]], however, Japanese became merely passive spectators, as the ritual became more strongly formalized as something to be preserved and maintained, and demonstrated or performed, as a "traditional" practice representative or emblematic of Ainu "tradition." Before long, tourists' failures to observe proper etiquette while attending these sacred ceremonies led to the performance of fake, non-sacred, ''iyomante'' ceremonies, as demonstrations for the tourists.