An Ainu Living Room, Shôwa period, before 1965

This woodblock print documents the interior of an Ainu living room, recording the domestic architecture and material culture of Japan's indigenous northern people. The Ainu, historically centered in Hokkaido, maintained distinct building traditions, furnishings, and decorative arts that differed fundamentally from mainstream Japanese aesthetics. Kawanishi, who traveled beyond his Kobe base to document subjects across Japan, renders the interior with ethnographic attention to the room's layout, carved wooden objects, woven textiles, and hearth placement. The Showa-period dating indicates the print was made before Kawanishi's death in 1965, during a period when Ainu culture faced increasing pressure from assimilation policies. The print functions both as an artwork and as a visual record of a way of life that was already receding when Kawanishi visited and observed it.