Changes

Lake Akan became a major tourist destination in the 1920s; the increased market for tourist goods led to many Ainu craftsmen setting up shop in the town to sell woodcarvings, especially in bear forms, as well as other craft goods. Though these Ainu craftsmen were originally largely seasonal, returning to their hometowns in the off-season, by the 1950s Ainu workers' appeals to the local land owners yielded an agreement by which Ainu could lease the land for free, establishing an Ainu village (''kotan'') in the area. The Lake Akan Ainu community is today one of the most significant in Japan, and is home to the annual Marimo Festival, the largest annual Ainu gathering in the world, in which rituals are performed to protect the [[marimo]] algae balls which grow naturally in the lake.

Lake Akan became a major tourist destination in the 1920s; the increased market for tourist goods led to many Ainu craftsmen setting up shop in the town to sell woodcarvings, especially in bear forms, as well as other craft goods. Though these Ainu craftsmen were originally largely seasonal, returning to their hometowns in the off-season, by the 1950s Ainu workers' appeals to the local land owners yielded an agreement by which Ainu could lease the land for free, establishing an Ainu village (''kotan'') in the area. The Lake Akan Ainu community is today one of the most significant in Japan, and is home to the annual Marimo Festival, the largest annual Ainu gathering in the world, in which rituals are performed to protect the [[marimo]] algae balls which grow naturally in the lake.

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