"Imagine this place," says Italian photographer Laura Liverani, as she tries to conjure up a picture of Nibutani, the village where she spent two months living with and photographing the indigenous people of Hokkaido. "There's about 400 people that live there, it's not very well connected to other areas so it's very rural. There's a strong presence of the Ainu, not only because 70 percent is of Ainu descent, but because it is culturally very active.

"I would call Nibutani, if not second home, a very familiar place." One, she says, that will stay with her "forever."

The first fruit of Liverani's time in Hokkaido is "Ainu Nenoan Ainu" ("Human-like Human" in the Ainu language), a photographic portraiture series now being exhibited at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo.