This is an Ainu artisan hand carved wooden bear carving from mid.1950. The Ainu are an indigenous people of northern Japan living and practicing their art and culture on the island of Hokkaido.
Being expert carvers as part of their way of life, it was a natural choice for them to supplement their livelihood by carving images of bears from wood. In the early part of the 20th century, the Ainu were forced to relocate to Hokkaido to cultivate the land and become farmers. Due to the harsh winter conditions, they found it difficult in doing this and instead kept their way of life hunting and gathering
