An amulet from the collections of the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne is returning to Japan after over 100 years. The rare piece of jewelry will be handed over to the National Ainu Museum in Hokkaido at the end of August, the Cologne museum announced on Friday. The amulet belongs to the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan, and is made of tiny glass beads that were once woven into the hair of young boys.
The Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum houses a total of 220 Ainu artifacts, most of which were acquired at the beginning of the 20th century by the Hamburg trader Johann Friedrich Umlauff, who supplied many German ethnological museums at the time. The amulet was part of this collection and is now one of only four known amulets of this kind worldwide.
Scientists from Japan discovered the amulet a few years ago while preparing for the founding of the National Ainu Museum and examining collections in Western museums. This led to a close and productive collaboration between the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum and the National Ainu Museum. The “permanent loan” of the amulet to the museum in Japan has further developed this cooperation.
The team of Japanese scientists who discovered the amulet expressed their gratitude towards the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum for facilitating its return to its rightful home. The Japanese National Ainu Museum now proudly displays the amulet as a significant addition to their collection, representing the strong connection between the two institutions.
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addendum: this well-researched short article in english contains more valuable information than any news article in german > see for example: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/seltenes-amulett-kehrt-aus-koeln-nach-japan-zurueck-102.html