Yasuko Uetake

Yasuko Uetake (, née Yasuko Muromura; 26 November 1934 – 16 March 2024) was an embroidery artist and Ainu cultural activist from Japan. Born in Muroran, Hokkaido, she was a prominent figure in the preservation and promotion of the Ainu culture in Noboribetsu. She was active in the Noboribetsu Branch of the Hokkaido Utari Association, the Club for Talking about Mashiho Chiri, and the Women's Society for Learning and Inheriting the Ainu Culture. A self-taught but accomplished Ainu embroidery artist, she created various works in traditional Ainu clothing, trained younger artists in embroidery seminars, and taught other Ainu cultural traditions, including dancing.

Early life Yasuko Uetake was born as Yasuko Muromura in Motomuroran (currently part of Sakimoricho), Muroran, Hokkaido, on 26 November 1934. Her mother died when she was one and a half years old, and she was raised by her father, grandmother, and siblings. During her school years, she suffered verbal abuse due to her Ainu heritage, but she resisted discrimination with determination.

Cultural activism In the late 1970s, Yasuko began her activism as an Ainu, triggered by the Noboribetsu Branch of the Hokkaido Utari Association's criticism toward the mayor of Noboribetsu, who had built a tomb for himself by destroying Ainu graves. She became head of the branch in April 1996, continuing her work until she retired from the post in 2005. In 1998, she founded the Women's Society for Learning and Inheriting the Ainu Culture. She was welcomed and well received by local people when Ainu exhibitions were held in the United States.

As an artist and educator Her work as a consultant in the Hokkaido Utari Association inspired Yasuko to learn Ainu embroidery. Due to a stagnation of the branch's activities, no folk costume for traditional ceremonies were available, which made her to study distinct textile patterns in Ainu clothing and to sew garments for the preservation of the Ainu culture. In 1997, she started a project to create faithful reproductions of traditional Ainu clothes from the late Edo period to the mid-Showa period in collaboration with 20 women in Sapporo and Iwamizawa. She died on 16 March 2024.

Awards

1994 – Award of Excellence, Hokkaido Ainu Craftwork Contest,Education Award, Hokkaidō Prefectural Board of Education 1997 – Promotion Award, Hokkaido Ainu Craftwork Contest, Ainu Cultural Promotion Award

Works