In Shiraoi, Hokkaido, there were several kotan (villages) in which cotton garments known as ruunpe were made and worn. In “shiraoi kotan,” a variety of patterns and forms of ruunpe have been passed down to the present day, as Ainu culture has been introduced to people visiting the region through tourism projects since the Meiji period. This article focuses on the ruunpe tradition of the Shiraoi region and the items in our museum’s collection, as well as interviews with the families of the makers and wearers of these garments among others. From this survey, we considered what characteristics are considered to be typical of the “ruunpe of the Shiraoi region” and how they were inherited through the activities of the former Ainu Museum (otherwise known as Porotokotan). The influence of changes in clothing culture are also considered. The article describes the identities of the makers and how ruunpe, which are considered to have been protected by the region as a whole, are being produced today.

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In 1696, 8 Koreans drifted to Ezochi, a historical term used in Japan to refer to the region now known as Hokkaido. One of this group, Lee Ji-hang, described his experience after returning to Joseon. "Pyojurok" and "Lee Jihang Pyohaerok" provided scholars of the Realist School of Confucian thought with rare information about the area called Hai (the sound of Chinese characters in Korea called Ezo) in the 18th century, and greatly influenced the formation of the perception of Ezochi in the late Joseon Dynasty. Although their origins are unclear, both records describe Lee's brief biography in the preface prior to his experience in Hokkaido. This paper attempts to estimate the time when Lee’s biography was added to both records as a preface based on the social background of the late Joseon Dynasty. Lee Ji-hang passed the Mukwa examination in 1675, but was not yet appointed to the government post he held in 1696, when he drifted to Hokkaido. According to "Seungjeongwon Ilgi, the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat", he was appointed to the sixth rank of government in 1720 after returning to Joseon. Because the preface of "Pyojurok" and "Lee Jihang Pyohaerok" records that he rose to sixth rank, it is estimated that the preface was added to both records after 1720.

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[in Japanese]

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