This bear, sculpted by the Ainu people in the 50s and 60s, is depicted with a freshly caught salmon. Ainu art was studied in its own right from 1926 onwards. The bear is the most venerated deity in Ainu culture. When a bear cub was captured while hunting, it was brought back to the village to be raised until it was old enough to return to the sacred world through the Iyomante ritual.