Iyomante

religious Ceremony of the ethnos group of the Aïnus (Japan).

The ceremony Iyomante (イオマンテ) is " ceremony of the spirit bear ". More exactly, ceremony of the reference of the spirits of the bears. The purpose of it is to get resources with the Aïnues families.

It is a question of ritually sacrificing adult bears which they raised, nourished and looked after since their birth. It is a powerful ritual of protection in which the spirit of the bear is sanctified. Indeed, in the Aïnue religion, the bear is the most important spirit (" kamuy "), the Master of the forest, the guard of any terrestrial life.

This Rituel can seem cruel, but it is before a a whole religious celebration in order to humbly thank the spirit for the bear for its sacrifices and to guarantee the success of the hunters. The bears make it possible the human beings to dress themselves (of skins), to nourish themselves (meat) and to obtain all other kinds of products necessary to the everyday life.

Prohibited during the periods of Japanese forced assimilation, the Iyomante ceremony was done clandestinely. Cultural tradition anchored in the beliefs Aïnues, it continued despite everything during several centuries (of XIIIe in the middle of XXe), before becoming a Russian tourist attraction and Japanese woman with the image of a Corrida. Vis-a-vis the morbid fascination exerted by the ceremony on their neighbors, Aïnus then decided to give up this tradition. In addition, they live today with the Japanese standard of living, have many other resources and do not dress any more skins of bear.

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