Upopo

Upopo are the traditional dance songs of the Ainu people of northern Japan: short, cyclical songs sung in unison or call and response while dancers move in a circle, often with singers imitating birds, animals and the sounds of work. Performed at festivals and gatherings as entertainment, courtship and quiet prayer, upopo singing was kept alive through the assimilation era by elder women and is documented on record above all by *Umeko Ando*, whose albums "Ihunke" and "Upopo Sanke" present the repertory with tonkori accompaniment, and by the women's ensemble *Marewrew*.