Golden Kamui ゴールデンカムイ
The strength of Hokkaido!
Golden Kamui is a refreshing manga, first of all because it takes place in Hokkaido, largely in the snowy landscapes of winter, then also because it mixes the fiction of a superman and all the traditions inherited of the Ainu people transmitted by a reckless and resourceful little girl.
The Ainu highlighted
Golden Kamui is a seinen manga (intended for young adults) by Satoru Noda, an author from Hokkaido , who imagined a story more real than life. Nature which is also very beautiful on this large northern island.
This manga was originally published in Weekly Young Jump in 2014 . It quickly became popular with the public and thirteen bound volumes were released in Japan. Since April 2018, it is in anime that we can discover Golden Kamui.
The Japanese, whether they are from Hokkaido or not, are delighted to discover the customs that forged the character of the first inhabitants of Hokkaido, the famous Ainu. Very few manga had dared to deal with this subject, historically still delicate as the repressions were strong at a time not so distant and the discriminations which still exist to this day. In this case, the Ainu culture is really highlighted and it is possible for us to know and understand all its aspects with great rigor, because Satoru Noda immersed himself with the descendants to listen to all their stories. which make up the substantial marrow of his work.
It was then these last Ainu who asked Noda to show them "strong and positive" so that people's opinions and outlook would change.
It's a safe bet that this will be the case for all those who have read this superb manga.
See also: Hiroshima in manga
Docu-fiction
It all begins when Satoru Noda, researching his origins, realizes that his great-grandfather had participated as a soldier in the Russo-Japanese war , which bloodied Hokkaido at the beginning of the 20th century . His blood boiled and the idea came to him to tell the story of a soldier, named Sugimoto, but nicknamed "Sugimoto the Immortal" because his war wounds, even the most serious, heal themselves like by magic.
Sugimoto is in search of a fabulous treasure in raw gold , which the Ainu are said to have hidden somewhere on the island. He will especially meet a little Ainu girl, who will help him in his quest , while he is in danger in the forest. Together, they will learn to tame each other, get to know each other and Sugimoto will discover all the habits of the Ainu culture, what is eaten or not in nature, the animals that inhabit the forests, how to protect themselves from them or hunt them, how to survive in case of danger, protect yourself from the cold, etc....
Sugimoto will learn a lot, and the reader too, that's the whole point of this manga. Hokkaido is so well presented that we want to go there to find out more and live our own nature experience. It's totally in tune with the times, the spirit of "neo-survivalism" and "locavores" as this manga demonstrates.
To read: The Ainu minority
