Celebrating Iboshi Hokuto

Oct 03, 2024

Celebrating Iboshi Hokuto

This Doodle celebrates Ainu poet and social activist Iboshi Hokuto, who wrote many tanka and haiku that aimed to improve the perception of the Indigenous people of Hokkaido.

About the Doodle

Celebrating Iboshi Hokuto

On this day in 1927, one of Hokuto’s tanka, (a 31-syllable poem), was published in the Otaru Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper.

About the Doodle:

Hokuto was born in Yoichi, Hokkaido in 1901. He attended Jinjō Elementary School, unlike most of the Indigenous Ainu children in his community. Because of this, he faced frequent and severe discrimination in school. While challenging, Hokuto developed an intense pride in his culture.

He joined youth groups and eventually started his own culture group called Chawashō Gakkai (茶話 学会). This group held study sessions and published a bulletin called Chawashi (茶話誌) to raise awareness for Ainu causes. He also attended poet gatherings and even submitted some of his work to a poetry magazine.

In 1925, Hokuto moved to Tokyo where he joined academic groups and gave lectures at the Tokyo Ainu Conference (東京アイヌ学会). After a year and a half, he realized his activism was needed more back home. In Yoichi, he wrote poetry, worked at a kindergarten in Biratori, and published the literary magazine Kotan.

Soon a newspaper published one of his tanka, opening up the door for more poetry placements. Hokuto became a regular name in the newspaper Otaru Shimbun. His work often discussed his struggle with tuberculosis and depicted his pride in his Ainu roots.

Today, Hokuto is known as one of the “three great Ainu poets,” and a monument bearing his poetry sits outside of Yoichi Fisheries Museum. Thank you for your profound prose and endless activism for the Ainu community, Iboshi Hokuto!

Illustration of blue letter G with Iboshi Hokuto
About the Iboshi Hokuto

About the Celebrating Iboshi Hokuto Doodle

This Doodle celebrates Ainu poet and social activist Iboshi Hokuto, who wrote many tanka and haiku that aimed to improve the perception of the Indigenous people of Hokkaido. On this day in 1927, one of Hokuto’s tanka, (a 31-syllable poem), was published in the Otaru Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper. Illustrated by Japan-based guest artist Koji Yuki, today’s Doodle, depicts ocean landscapes and common aspects of Ainu life and culture in woodblock print.

Making the Doodle

About the Guest Artist

Photograph of a middle aged Asian man with facial hair looking off camera wearing piece of fabric on his head.

This Doodle was created by Japan-based guest artist Koji Yuki. Below, Koji shares his thoughts behind the making of this Doodle:

Where this Doodle appeared

The Doodle Celebrating Iboshi Hokuto launched Oct 03, 2024

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