Shiiku Toshizo
Shiiku Toshizo, known as Toitarek
Meiji Period, Taisho Period, Showa Period
Yu-rap, Funka Bay Coast
The Greatest Memory-keeper of Ainu Culture in South Hokkaido
Shiiku Toshizo, known as Toitarek, the leader of the Yu-rap Ainu, was born in Yu-rap in the 1884. Due to his talents, he rose to leadership of the village at a young age, and engaged in farming as well as fishing, in addition to being famed as an outstanding hunter. During the Russo-Japanese War, he was recruited as an auxiliary artilleryman, and served in Manchuria, where he received honors. Until his conscription, he used both the Ainu language and Japanese in his daily life, and possessed extremely rich cultural knowledge.
