A recently published photo collection put together over a span of almost two decades explores the traditions of the Ainu through a portrait of a woman and her extended family in Nibutani, Hokkaido.

The collection of around 120 photos in "An Ainu Portrait: Asir Rera" began with Tokyo-based photographer Makiko Ui's 1992 visit to Nibutani, where she met Yasuko Yamamichi, an Ainu. Asir Rera is Yamamichi's Ainu name, meaning "new wind."

Yamamichi has lived a communal lifestyle, adopting children as well as acting as a foster parent. She has also accepted lodgers from elsewhere in Japan and abroad who had a variety of aims, including studying Ainu culture and engaging in spiritual contemplation.