Omusha

Ainu ceremonial

Omusha ceremony (1876) by Hirasawa Byōzan (ja) (National Museums Scotland)

Omusha (オムシャ), also umusa[1] or umsa,[2] was an Ainu greeting ritual that, like the related uimamu (ウイマム), became a ceremonial—of trade—full of the political symbolism of subservience, to the Matsumae Domain.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Name

The word is understood to derive from the Ainu u (ウ), referring to mutuality, and musa (ムシャ), translated and defined by John Batchelor as "to stroke the head in salutation".[8][10]

Related images

  • Ainu celebrating Omsia (from Siebold's Nippon (1832–1851))
    Ainu celebrating Omsia (from Siebold's Nippon (1832–1851))
  • Omusha involving the Hidaka Ainu (C19), by Hirasawa Byōzan (Hakodate City Central Library)
    Omusha involving the Hidaka Ainu (C19), by Hirasawa Byōzan (Hakodate City Central Library)
  • Scenes of the Ezo Fishing Grounds (C18), by Kodama Teiryō (小玉貞良) (Art Gallery of South Australia)
    Scenes of the Ezo Fishing Grounds (C18), by Kodama Teiryō (小玉貞良) (Art Gallery of South Australia)
  • Sketch for Scenes of the Ezo Fishing Grounds (C18), by Kodama Teiryō (Hakodate City Museum)
    Sketch for Scenes of the Ezo Fishing Grounds (C18), by Kodama Teiryō (Hakodate City Museum)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Omusha.
  • Invented tradition

References

  1. ^ Fitzhugh, William W.; Dubreuil, Chisato O., eds. (1999). Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People. University of Washington Press. pp. 98 ff. ISBN 0295979127.
  2. ^ a b Walker, Brett L. (1996). "Reappraising the "Sakoku" Paradigm: The Ezo Trade and the Extension of Tokugawa Political Space into Hokkaidō". Journal of Asian History. 30 (2). Harrassowitz Verlag: 181 ff. JSTOR 41931039.
  3. ^ Walker, Brett L. (2001). The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion,1590–1800. University of California Press. pp. 204–226. ISBN 978-0520248342.
  4. ^ Howell, David L. (1994). "Ainu Ethnicity and the Boundaries of the Early Modern Japanese State". Past & Present. 142. Oxford University Press: 69–93. doi:10.1093/past/142.1.69. JSTOR 651197.
  5. ^ Takakura Shinichirō; Harrison, John A. (1960). "The Ainu of Northern Japan: A Study in Conquest and Acculturation". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 50 (4). American Philosophical Society: 1–88, esp. 35 ff., 68 f. doi:10.2307/1005795. JSTOR 1005795.
  6. ^ Harrison, John A. (1954). "The Saghalien Trade: A Contribution to Ainu Studies". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 10 (3). University of Chicago Press: 283 f. doi:10.1086/soutjanth.10.3.3629131. JSTOR 3629131.
  7. ^ Godefroy, Noémi (2017). "Domination et dépendance: l'évolution du statut des chefs aïnous en Asie orientale (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle)". Extrême-Orient Extrême-Occident (in French). 41. University of Chicago Press: 226 f. JSTOR 26358426.
  8. ^ a b オムシャ [Omusha]. Kokushi Daijiten (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan 吉川弘文館. 1979–1997.
  9. ^ オムシャ [Omusha]. Encyclopedia Nipponica (in Japanese). Shōgakukan. 2001.
  10. ^ Batchelor, John (1889). An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary. Tokyo: Church Mission Society. pp. 147, 260.